Bourque Runs In Top 10 At NHIS
Bourque Runs In Top 10 At NHIS “New Hampshire Return Strong and Noticeable�?? Loudon, New Hampshire (September 18th, 2006) - - With NASCAR fans pouring into Loudon by the thousands for a giant weekend stock-car-athon, Pierre Bourque appeared to be headed towards his first top-ten in NASCAR Busch East Series competition, but late race contact from another competitor clipped his wings and forced a frustrating 25th place finish, albeit on the lead lap, for the NBES rookie Saturday afternoon. Returning to NHIS for a second time this season, the only full-time NASCAR Canadian driver had high hopes and planned to surpass his July finish of 26th. Mother Nature greeted the teams with overcast skies and a major chance of rain. The teams were able to get on the track for a ½ hour before rain drenched the track. In the first session, Bourque posted a competitive lap of 32.175 seconds at 118.378 mph putting him 22nd on the board. “Our DRIVING.CA CANADA.COM-WORKING.COM-DOSE.CA Chevy Monte Carlo is good,�?? said Bourque, “we’re very close to the pack and that’s a great feeling for the Fast Track Racing team. We’re going to make some minor adjustments for qualifying with the intent to get more speed out of our hot rod, hopefully it will work to our advantage.�?? In the past weeks, Bourque has stepped up his qualifying efforts, he planned to do the same on Thursday, but the rain wouldn’t subside. The starting line-up for the Sylvania 125 was set by 2006 NASCAR Busch East Series car owner points, placing Bourque 17th on the grid. “We would have definitely liked to have the chance to qualify, I feel we had a car capable of starting inside the top-15, but we’ll take what we were handed. I’m really confident heading into Saturday’s race.�?? At the start of the race, Bourque took off and headed towards the top-ten. Under fast and furious race conditions, Bourque only had 104 laps to make his presence known, he did. Rallying into the top-ten he maneuvered his Chevrolet up to a strong seventh, before being tapped from behind, sending Bourque spinning on the track. Luckily, he escaped with barely a few bumps and dents to the body and was able to return to competition, fast enough to save NASCAR from having to throw a caution. But the incident happened so late that the Ottawa, Ontario native couldn’t recover from the misfortune, settling for 25th at the checkered, and leaving him tied for 15th now in the overall championship, a substantial jump of two positions from 17th, and leaving him well poised to claim an invitation at the season-ending east-west shoot out. “We ran so good, it’s devastating to finish the way we did, the car was great, my chief Dave McClure and his crew did an awesome job. This was the strongest run we’ve had all season, we just couldn’t put a period to it. We still have the “Big Mo�?? heading into Dover next week and I know we can back up our performance there.�?? Following the race, NASCAR official Brett Bodine chatted with Bourque about his performance, expressing encouraging words about the race and for the rest of his season. “Brett told me he watched me and thought I did a good job and that means a lot to me. When people in the higher ranks are keeping an eye on you and take the time to tell you what they’re feeling, you can only take that as a good sign and I did. I thank him for that.�?? _DRIVING.CA_ (http://www.driving.ca/) continued the primary sponsorship role last weekend. _DRIVING.CA_ (http://www.driving.ca/) is Canada's premier one-stop resource for automotive listings and consumer information. In addition, _CANADA.COM_ (http://www.canada.com/) , Canada's leading destination for news and information, _WORKING.COM_ (http://www.working.com/) , one of North America's top career sites, and _DOSE.CA,_ (http://www.dose.ca/) a cool site that caters to hip Canadian urbanites coast-to-coast, all served as secondary sponsors on Bourque’s machine at NHIS. All four sponsors are part of Canwest-Global, Canada's largest media company, with interests in television, radio, newspapers and the internet. All four are backing the remainder of Bourque’s NASCAR Busch East season and his forays into ARCA. In addition, Full Metals Minerals and Pollara Strategic Public Opinion, both of whom shared the primary sponsorship role in the first NHIS race this season, also backed Bourque’s racing effort last weekend as associate sponsors. “We had a great racing weekend which was a great bonus for our sponsors,�?? added Bourque. “To run in the top ten did a lot for everyone from the driver to the crew to the sponsors. It’s important to utilize the success we had at NHIS and keep our confidence up heading to Dover, especially for them. I appreciate all of their support.�?? With his strong run at NHIS, Bourque has propelled two positions to 15th in the championship standings, a tie with veteran Scott Bouley. This week, Bourque is spending a few days attending a business event in Puerto Vallarta, Mexico, before heading to Dover this weekend looking to make his “Monster Mile�?? debut on Friday, September 22. “I had a chat with my fellow rookie Ruben Pardo at the driver's meeting about his home country, I've never been, and he told me I would love it. I'm really looking forward to the trip. “After that, I’m anxious to get to Dover,�?? he said. “It should be a good track for me. I have some concrete experience from running the ARCA race at Nashville and I think that can benefit me on Friday. We’re just looking for another strong for the Fast Track Racing team.�?? Following Dover, Bourque will board a plane and head south to compete in the ARCA RE/MAX Series open test session at Talladega Superspeedway on September 25, before returning north for the following day's NBES test at Lime Rock. In addition to running the full NASCAR Busch East Series in 2006, Pierre Bourque and Fast Track Racing is making limited starts in the ARCA RE/MAX Series. Bourque also made three CASCAR Series races with Whitlock Motorsports. For further in site on Canwest-Global and its associates please log onto _http://www.Driving.Ca_ (http://www.driving.ca/) , _http://www.Canada.com_ (http://www.canada.com/) , _http://www.Working.com_ (http://www.working.com/) and _http://www.Dose.Ca_ (http://www.dose.ca/) For more information on Full Metals Minerals, please visit _http://www.fullmetalminerals.com_ (http://www.fullmetalminerals.com/) For additional input on Pollara Strategic Public Opinion, please logon to _http://www.pollara.ca_ (http://www.pollara.ca/) To learn more about Pierre Bourque please click onto _http://www.pierrebourque.com_ (http://www.pierrebourque.com/) ### NAME: Chris Knight, Bourque Racing PHONE: 734-660-2333. EMAIL: _Knight849@aol.com_ (mailto:Knight849@aol.com)