Pierre Bourque Rallies to 17th-Place Finish at Edmonton

Pierre Bourque raced on a road course this past weekend during the Edmonton Grand Prix, but for the most part he was a rally driver all weekend long.  No, Bourque did not try to enter a rally car in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series event, but he did rally back after practice and rally after starting deep in the pack during the race.

Opening practice was a short affair for Bourque and that translated into qualifying setbacks as well.

“We broke a motor early in practice,” said Bourque.  “I was 16th fastest when my engine broke, barely five laps into the opening practice. The Whitlock team did a yeoman's job to diagnose the problem and swap engines in time for qualifying.  We didn't get back out on the track until qualifying though and I was 25th.

“The nine minutes of practice I got compared to the 60 minutes everyone else got rally set us back a step when we went to qualify. I really think we could have qualified near the Top 10.”

From deep in the pack, Bourque advanced forward during the race.  He stayed on the lead lap and passed eight cars, finishing 17th.

“It was a shame because we had a Top seven car for the race finish itself and I'm disappointed that the mechanical break prevented us from seeing it through.  The team worked very hard though and we made the best of the race weekend.”

Now Bourque is looking ahead to his next race in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series.

“I really want to thank my sponsors Driving.Ca, Canada.Com, the Conservative Party of Canada, as well as Working.Com and Dose.Ca for their ongoing support. We're all very excited and looking forward to our next event in the series in mid-august at Trois-Rivieres, Quebec.”

Before that, Bourque will attempt his NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series debut this Friday night at O’Reilly Raceway Park (IN), driving an entry fielded by Andy Hillenburg’s Fast Track Racing team.