OTTAWA, ONT. (August 27, 2006) - - In his final CASCAR race of the 2006 season, Pierre Bourque headed to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, a track named after the famous Canadian Formula One driver who was killed at the wheel of his Ferrari at the 1982 Belgium Grand Prix, looking to enhance his racing resume with his first career top-ten finish.“I am really looking forward to competing at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve", said Bourque before arriving at the track, "the track is a challenging mix of ultra-high speed straightaways and tight moderate-speed corners. The cars roar up to 165 mph down the straights before we have to brake hard and throw the car into the tight corners, a major test of both man and machinery.”
The weekend started off well for the only full-time Canadian NASCAR driver, putting his No. 29 Driving.Ca Canada.Com Working.Com Dose.ca Dodge Charger 14th of 24 cars on the starting grid.
The CASCAR 100 was a smooth race for Bourque. Using veteran-like patience, Bourque used the race not only as another learning experience, but a race to perfect his technique in the twists and turns that characterize a road course.
The Ottawa, Ontario native brought home his machine 12th in the final rundown, beating 12 other competitors to the line, including five-time and reigning CASCAR champion Don Thompson.
Earlier this season, Bourque also collected a 12th place CASCAR finish in the Grand Prix de Trois-Rivieres.
“Not a bad finish today, but I am still chasing that elusive top-ten finish in my first ever-stock car racing season, and the first season back in the cockpit of any race car since 1989. I would like to thank the entire Whitlock Motorsports team for its tireless efforts to put me in a strong car this season. We’ve had some great runs and I’m looking forward to a stronger 2007 season.”
DRIVING.CA leaped over from the Busch East Series and play the primary sponsorship role last weekend. DRIVING.CA is Canada's premier one-stop resource for automotive listings and consumer information.
In addition, CANADA.COM, Canada's leading destination for news and information, WORKING.COM, one of North America's top career sites, and DOSE.CA, a cool site that caters to hip Canadian urbanites coast- to-coast, also served as secondary sponsors on Bourque’s machine in Montreal.
All four new sponsors are part of Canwest-Global, Canada's largest media company, with interests in television, radio, newspapers and the internet. All four back Bourque’s NASCAR Busch East season, last weekend’s CASCAR race, and his periodic forays into ARCA.Full Metals Minerals and Pollara Strategic Public Opinion who have been with the Ottawa, Ontario native since his racing inception this season also supported Bourque’s racing effort last weekend as associate sponsors.
"It was another Canadian race and we had a lot of great sponsor from this region. It’s important for me not only as a driver but as a representative to yield the best finish possible. We had a great weekend, we qualified solid and put another competitive finish together. I am looking forward to the remainder of our racing season together.”
Reflecting on his performance from Saturday, Bourque spent Sunday with his family at home, a rare occurrence during this busy racing season.
Bourque will return to the ARCA RE/MAX Series for an open-test Tuesday at Chicagoland Speedway gaining additional Superspeedway experience behind the wheel of a 3400 pound stock car.
“I’m looking forward to getting back into the ARCA seat with Andy Hillenburg's Fast track Racing Team,” he said. “We finished 21st at Nashville in my first Superspeedway race a couple weeks ago and that was an accomplishment in itself. The ARCA RE/MAX Series is a very intense and competitive series. I’m looking to get my feet wet around the 1.5- mile Speedway, but clock off some decent lap times."
Following the test, Bourque will turn his concentration towards the NASCAR Busch East Series, his biggest racing project of the season. The series returns to action after a three-week break from competition at New Hampshire International Speedway on September 15.
For the first time this season, Bourque will return to a track he’s seen before. “We’re looking for our first top-ten at NHIS. It’s a great track filled by the best of the NASCAR Busch and Nextel Cup Series, we’re looking forward to running strong in front of a big crowd.”
Currently, Bourque and the Fast Track Racing team lock the 17th position in the point standings, but feel a top-15 in reachable. “We only have a few races remaining in the season and we hope to turn up the wick and go out with a bang. This has been a great learning year for everyone, we hope the rest of the season will bring good fortunate and solid finishes.”
For further in site on Canwest-Global and its associates please log onto //www.Driving.Ca,
www.Canada.com,
www.Working.com and
www.Dose.Ca // For more information on Full Metals Minerals, please visit http://
www.fullmetalminerals.com // For additional input on Pollara Strategic Public Opinion, please logon to
www.pollara.ca // To learn more about Pierre Bourque please click onto
www.pierrebourque.com###
Prepared by Chris Knight
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