Dufault scored an opportunity to race the 2011 ARCA Series presented by Menards for the No. 12 Tony Marks Racing Dodge team. She scored one top 10-finish and put together several consistent runs, but also crashed several times, as she acclimated to the heavier handling of 1.5 ton machines. Then Dufault got a one-of-a-kind opportunity. In August, she piloted the No. 81 MacDonald Motorsports Dodge in front of a hometown crowd at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve road course, finishing 30th in a field with several fellow Candians and a race won by Aussie Marcos Ambrose. While the result was not what she wanted, Dufault’s persistence to race (she has modeled for both Maxim and been a display girl on The Price Is Right to fund her racing efforts) paid off.
As exciting as that step was, Dufault’s status for the 2012 racing season is uncertain. She tells News/Talk WSB that Jared Marks will drive the No. 12 Dodge for the ARCA Season opener at Daytona on February 8th, though she did go and help the team shake that car down at a three-day test this past weekend. Dufault says that despite the marketability of female drivers, the economy is tough on motorsports as a whole and limits everyone’s opporuntities to climb the motorsports ladder.
