Bourque on track

INSIDE TRACK EXCLUSIVE // FROM ITMN 10.03

Canadian political junkies will know about Pierre Bourque. The Ottawa resident’s site, Bourque Newswatch (www.bourque.org), is one of the most popular of all Canadian websites, featuring a mix of political scoops, news headlines and off-beat stories.

What you may not know about him, however, is that he’s also an accomplished racer – with a history of road racing success from the late ‘70s to the early ‘90s – and that he’s hoping to get back into the sport on the stock car side of things.To that end, he recently participated in several racing schools south of the border, including stints at the well-known Finish Line Racing School (in New Smyrna Beach, FL), the Buck Baker School, and the Fast Track School at Rockingham, NC’s North Carolina Motor Speedway.

Beyond just his school experiences, Bourque – with the support of Full Metal Minerals, a Vancouver-based gold company with vast Alaskan holdings – has embarked on an aggressive ARCA-testing schedule, aimed at gaining experience for potential U.S. speedway outings in 2006.

He recently took part in an open test at Nashville Superspeedway, which also featured reigning ARCA champ Frank Kimmel, Rusty Wallace’s son Steve Wallace, Bobby Gerhart and Robert Yates Racing driver Matt McCall.

According to Bourque, he turned almost 70 laps behind the wheel of one of Fast Track school owner Andy Hillenburg’s 810 HP Pontiacs. His times, in the low 32-second range, would put him mid-pack in the race, said Hillenburg.

Of the test, Bourque said, “Overall, I am very pleased, given this was my first time in this car with this kind of power on this kind of track with this kind of competition. I would like to thank Full Metal Minerals for their support of my pre-season testing program.”