Maryeve Dufault

Maryeve Dufault

Dufault with her ARCA car at Daytona in 2011
Nationality Canada Canadian
Born (1982-02-16) February 16, 1982
Sorel-Tracy, Quebec, Canada
ARCA Racing Series career
Debut season 2011
Current team Team Stange Racing
Car no. 46
Starts 20
Wins 0
Poles 0
Best finish 16th in 2011
NASCAR Xfinity Series career
2 races run over 2 years
2013 position 81st
Best finish 77th (2011)
First race 2011 NAPA Auto Parts 200 (Montreal)
Last race 2013 Dollar General 300 (Joliet)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
NASCAR Pinty's Series career
2 races run over 1 year
Best finish 44th (2010)
First race 2010 GP3R 100 (Trois-Rivières)
Last race 2010 NAPA Autopro 100 (Montreal)
Wins Top tens Poles
0 0 0
Statistics current as of May 3, 2014.

Maryeve Dufault (born February 16, 1982 in Sorel-Tracy, Quebec) is a Canadian[1] racing driver, model and advertising spokeswoman. She has raced in the Skip Barber, Formula BMW, Formula Renault, Star Mazda, NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, ARCA Racing Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series. She has appeared on numerous television series.

Personal life

In the early 2000s Dufault moved from her native Quebec to Los Angeles to pursue her racing career.[2] She currently resides in Mooresville, North Carolina.[2]

Racing career

Dufault's father and brother raced motorcycles in Quebec.[3][4] She began riding as a four-year-old,[2] then racing motocross and turned to go-karts as an eight-year-old.[3] By the time that she was nine years old she had broken both arms while racing.[5] She began racing karts nationally in Canada and the United States in several series, including the Rotax International Series, winning several karting championships. She later moved up to formula racing, including Formula BMW USA,[3] the Skip Barber Racing Series, Formula Russell, Formula Renault, Pro Star Mazda, and Formula 3, scoring podium finishes on several occasions, and captured victories in several series. Dufault has also performed precision driving for Honda, Polaris and Yamaha, and has also extensively tested Formula cars in China and Great Britain.[6]

Dufault began Stock Car racing in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series in 2010 by racing in two events. She signed as a driver development contract with the FAZZT Race Team in 2010,[4][7] and was the first female race car driver selected to be part of the Dodge Motorsport driver development program.

In early testing of her ARCA Racing Series car at New Smyrna Speedway and Daytona International Speedway in January 2011, Dufault impressed NASCAR driver Brad Keselowski.[8] She made her ARCA debut at Daytona in February 2011; by December she had made fourteen starts in the ARCA Racing Series with one top 10 and six top 13 in her first year in stock car racing;[9] her first top 10 being a tenth-place finish at Chicagoland Speedway.[10] She finished the ARCA season sixteenth in the series points standings,[11] despite missing five races during the season because of a lack of sponsorship.

Dufault made her NASCAR Nationwide Series debut at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on August 20, 2011 driving for MacDonald Motorsports.[10] As the team was in the top 30 in season car-owner points, she was guaranteed a starting position;[12] she started 39th and finished 30th with a transmission mount broke.[9][13] She was the first Canadian woman to race in the NASCAR Nationwide Series since it took that name.[14] Dufault was listed as one of the "Top female drivers in racing today" by Fox Sports,[15] and was also named as one of the "Top 12 Up-and-Coming Female Drivers in Motorsports" by Bleacher Report.[16] In addition, Dufault competed in the inaugural Dodge Viper Celebrity Challenge at Miller Motorsports Park in October 2011, competing alongside racing legends such as Roger Penske, Kurt Busch and Allen Johnson.[17]

Dufault was featured on a Press Pass trading card in 2012.[18] A lack of sponsorship delayed the start of her 2012 season.[19]

In 2012, Dufault participated in the 'Drive for the Fans' social media contest, representing Fiat Abarth.[20]

After competing in three ARCA Racing Series events for Carter 2 Motorsports in 2012, Dufault joined Go Green Racing for the 2013 season, impressing the team during testing and being assigned to drive in a Nationwide Series race for the team at Chicagoland Speedway.[21]

In November 2013, it was announced that Dufault would drive in the full 2014 ARCA Racing Series season for Team Stange Racing,[22] as well as competing in twelve NASCAR Nationwide Series events for Go Green Racing.[23]

Media career

Dufault won Miss Hawaiian Tropic International in 2000,[4] beating over 35,000 competitors for the honor, becoming the only Miss Hawaiian Tropic International ever from Quebec and only the third Canadian winner. She, along with co-winner Lisa Kessous won the Miss Hawaiian Tropic Canada competition and both represented Canada at the world competition in Las Vegas in 2000. She narrowly beat the more curvaceous and exotic Kessous for the world title in Las Vegas. Her main participation reason was winning prizes included a motorcycle and Jet Ski,[8] as well as prize money to keep racing.[24] She was invited to the United Service Organizations "USO" tour, Operation in Kosovo, Bosnia and Macedonia.[5] She has appeared on a number of television shows and movies like Driven, Entourage', Relative Strangers', The Bold and the Beautiful,[2] Jay Leno's opening show and including the American game show "The Price Is Right" during the Bob Barker era.[10][25][26] She modeled in the August 2011 issue of Maxim.[2][25] She also acted as a stunt driver for the movie Fast Girl.[27] Dufault was invited to participate on the show The Insider,[28] as well as on E! News to talk about women in racing and the difficulties of competing in a male dominated sport.[29] She has also been featured by Sports Illustrated as their "Lovely Lady of the Day".[30]

Dufault said that she models to earn money to be a race car driver. "I wasn’t buying myself clothes. I was buying tires," Dufault said to the New York Post. "I am a racer who uses modeling jobs to pay my bills."[3] Dufault said she still gets the questions and the puzzled looks as some folks struggle to understand her preference for the noise and smoke at the race track over the glitz and glamour of the modeling world.[24]

"Sure, some people think it is crazy, but I know where my heart is. I'm a race car driver, and I want to be known first for what I accomplish on the track. We all took different routes to get here, but every driver wants the same thing. You want to compete, and you want to win. My passion is here at the track."
— Maryeve Dufault, Toledo Blade interview, May 12, 2011.[24]

Charity work

In 2010 Dufault raised US$10,000 to the National Breast Cancer Foundation, as well as participating in a Bermudan trip to raise funds for the Syncairly Yours Foundation, a charity for uninsured mothers with premature babies.[31]

Motorsports career results

NASCAR

(key) (Bold – Pole position awarded by qualifying time. Italics – Pole position earned by points standings or practice time. * – Most laps led.)

Nationwide Series

* Season still in progress
1 Ineligible for series points

References

  1. ↑ Stubbs, David (August 17, 2011). "Quebecer Dufault takes fast track to race goals". Ottawa Citizen. Ottawa, Ontario. Retrieved 2013-09-12.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 McCann, Zach (February 21, 2012). "Maryeve Dufault racing unique path". ESPN Page 2. ESPN. Retrieved 2012-02-27.
  3. 1 2 3 4 Rosen, Daniel Edward (August 19, 2011). "NASCAR gets a new, beautiful face". New York Post. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
  4. 1 2 3 Jennings, Joe (February 19, 2012). "Maryeve Dufault, not just another pretty face in racing". Motorsport.com. Retrieved 2012-02-05.
  5. 1 2 Stubbs, Dave (17 August 2011). "Nascar 2011: Quebecer Dufault takes fast track to race goals". Montreal Gazette. Retrieved 2 February 2012.
  6. ↑ Lewinski, John Scott (February 2, 2012). "Maryeve Dufault - The Model NASCAR Driver". Crave Online. Los Angeles: Evolve Media Corp. Retrieved 2012-02-05.
  7. ↑ "FAZZT Race Team Begins Development Program Signs Canadian Maryeve Dufault". FAZZT Race Team. January 26, 2010. Archived from the original on January 29, 2010. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
  8. 1 2 Noel, Burke (February 12, 2011). "Beauty queen's true love: speed". The Daytona Beach News-Journal. Daytona Beach, Florida. Retrieved 2012-02-26.
  9. 1 2 "Maryeve Dufault". Racing Reference. Retrieved 1 February 2012.
  10. 1 2 3 Nick, Bromberg. "Former Price is Right model to make NASCAR debut Saturday". Yahoo! Sports. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  11. ↑ "Final 2011 Driver Point Standings, ARCA Racing Series Presented by Menards". Automobile Racing Club of America. October 16, 2011. Retrieved 2012-02-05.
  12. ↑ "Former Price is Right model Maryeve Dufault making NASCAR debut". The Sporting News. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  13. ↑ Markovich, Tony (November 17, 2011). "Interview: Maryeve Dufault Talks NASCAR, Women in Racing & Dan Wheldon". Complex.com. New York: Complex Media Network. Retrieved 2012-02-05.
  14. ↑ "Canadian driver, model set for Nationwide debut". NASCAR.com. Turner Sports. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  15. ↑ "Top female drivers in racing today: Maryeve Dufault". Fox Sports. January 11, 2012. Retrieved 2012-02-05.
  16. ↑ Schmidt, Russell (April 19, 2011). "Danica Patrick and the Top 12 Up-and-Coming Female Drivers in Motorsports". Bleacher Report. San Francisco, California. Retrieved 2012-02-05.
  17. ↑ "Share Download Print 'The Duel in the Desert' – Inaugural 'Dodge Viper Celebrity Challenge' – Premieres on Versus at 3 p.m. (EDT) Sunday, Oct. 9". Chrysler Group. October 5, 2011. Retrieved 2012-04-12.
  18. ↑ "2012 Press Pass Total Memorabilia". Press Pass, Inc. Retrieved 2012-02-06.
  19. ↑ "In the News: Dufault Still Pursuing Opportunities". Automobile Racing Club of America. April 10, 2012. Retrieved 2012-04-12.
  20. ↑ http://www.marketwatch.com/story/fiat-brand-kicks-off-drive-for-the-fans-social-media-contest-2012-04-20
  21. ↑ Mahoney, Larry (June 26, 2013). "Mainer's Nationwide team features Earnhardt, to include TV model as drivers". Bangor Daily News. Bangor, ME. Retrieved 2013-06-27.
  22. ↑ "Dufault to be first Canadian woman to race full-time on U.S. circuit". Canoe.ca. November 20, 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-20.
  23. ↑ "Dufault to be first Canadian woman to race full-time on U.S. circuit". Toronto Sun. Toronto, Ontario. November 20, 2013. Retrieved 2013-11-22.
  24. 1 2 3 Markey, Matt. "Modeling used to fuel career". The Blade. Toledo, Ohio. Retrieved 31 January 2012.
  25. 1 2 "Maryeve Dufault". Maxim. Retrieved 18 August 2011.
  26. ↑ Newton, David (August 19, 2011). "Dufault not just another pretty face". ESPN. Retrieved 2012-02-05.
  27. ↑ Manfred, Tony. "This Former Bikini Model Will Race In The NASCAR Nationwide Series Next Month". Business Insider. New York. Retrieved 19 August 2011.
  28. ↑ de los Santos, Brian (December 1, 2011). "Video: Maryeve Dufault, model turned racer". Eye On NASCAR. CBS Sports. Retrieved 2012-02-06.
  29. ↑ "Dufault Making National TV Appearance on E! News". Automobile Racing Club of America. August 30, 2011. Retrieved 2012-02-06.
  30. ↑ Traina, Jimmy (August 18, 2011). "HotClicks". Sports Illustrated. Retrieved 2012-02-05.
  31. ↑ Pearman, Mikaela Ian (January 18, 2012). "Charity gala had plenty of star appeal". Bermuda Sun. Retrieved 2012-02-05.
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