NORTH EAST, PA (July 11, 2006) – After a season best qualifying effort at Lake Erie Speedway last Saturday, Pierre Bourque’s solid night and debut at Lake Erie Speedway were demolished by an unavoidable incident on lap 63 resulting in a season’s worst 23rd place finish.
The Fast Track Racing (FTR) team was especially looking forward to the event to unveil a brand new racecar. The car included a 105 inch wheelbase compared to the 110 inch wheelbase they’ve used thus far this season. The Charlotte, North Carolina based crew worked overtime to put it together.
The weekend started out slowly for the Ottawa, Canada native as his FTR racing crew led by Dave McClure tried to dial their new car to the racing surface. In the first and only practice session of the day, Bourque and his Fast Track Racing team could only produce the 24th fastest lap during the session maneuvering a lap of 16.600 seconds equaling a speed of 81.325 mph just over a second off the leaders. “We’re not comfortable with where we are on the charts,” said the Rookie-of-the-Year candidate. “Our No. 10 Full Metals Minerals-Pollara Strategic Public Opinion Chevrolet is solid and I think by the end of the session, I really learned a lot about the track. We should be good in qualifying and we’re all looking forward to the race.”
In time trials, Bourque turned two laps around one of the finest short tracks in the country amounting a fast lap of 16.225 seconds or 83.205 solid enough for 19th on the starting grid, a career best. “I’m really satisfied with our lap,” Bourque mentioned. “Andy Hillenburg, Dave McClure (crew chief) and the Fast Track Racing team have put an awesome racecar underneath me after making some minor miracle changes and I’m looking forward to the race.”
At the start of the race, Bourque was one of the sturdiest cars on the track, quickly and quietly moving his way towards the front of the pack. Despite dealing with some minor handling woes, Bourque was enduring the seat time his rookie team was looking for. Bourque was hovering inside the top-15 before two cars made contact ahead of him forcing Bourque into the mess with no place to go and forcing the FTR team their first DNF (did not finish) of the season.
“We broke the steering on our No. 10 Chevrolet and that’s what put us out,” explained Bourque after the event. “It’s a shame. We had a great car. Bottom line. We’re making strides here in the NASCAR Busch East Series and this is our first real “bad luck” of the season. While we’re disappointed with the outcome, there is nothing we can do to change it.”
“I’m really proud of the Fast Track Racing team this weekend,” he said. “We overcame some early struggles and appeared to be heading towards a good night. It wasn’t meant to be.”
Before Bourque joins the rest of his competitors on the NASCAR Busch East Series tour, he will spend a day with Hillenburg’s Fast Track Racing team at Gateway International Raceway Tuesday testing in the open test session for the ARCA RE/MAX Series.
“I’m really looking forward to getting back into an ARCA RE/MAX Series car,” Bourque added. “It’s been a while since I’ve competed in that series, but I’ll be back in ARCA later this season. We’re going to use the session to adapt me further in the ARCA cars and more seat time, that’s the key.”
Next up for the NASCAR BES is an event from New Hampshire International Speedway a triple-header weekend competing with the NASCAR Busch and Nextel Cup Series. Bourque’s event is set for Friday, July 14th.
In addition to running the full NASCAR Busch East Series in 2006, Pierre Bourque and Fast Track Racing will make limited starts in the ARCA RE/MAX Series. Bourque will also make three CASCAR Series races later this year with Whitlock Motorsports.
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From: Chris Knight, Fast Track Racing
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