   |
Zippo 200 at the GlenAugust 11, 2007
|
|||||||||||||||||
|
Derrike will be driving in the Busch race this weekend. Derrike told us, "I am pleased to announce that I will be driving the US Border Patrol Chevy this weekend at Watkins Glen. I am indeed excited and proud to be representing the US Border Patrol once again. We have had a couple of very good races in a row and I look forward to continuing the teams positive momentum and good finishes for the U.S. Border Patrol. "The team had a great effort last week at the venue in Canada, so I am excited to get back on track and continue the momentum. We will have to be very conservative in practice and qualifying because we have no backup car, due to extensive damage to the car that raced in Canada. So we probably will run minimal laps to ensure that we do not make a mistake before the race starts. We will race hard though once they throw the green flag. It has been quite awhile since I have been to Watkins Glen, but I am very excited to get back there." This week joining car 28 as Associate Sponsors will be Checkers / Rally’s, Smith Transport, and CMO Music. In the first practice, Derrike was 34th fastest with a time of 77.161 and speed of 114.306. Derrike updated us on Friday. He said, "Weather was an issue here today, but we managed to get a practice session in anyway. We ran 7 laps and were only 34th quick. We were struggling with the car not wanting to turn in the right hand turns as well as needing the pedals fixed a bit so I can get my footwork more efficient. It has been awhile since I have been on a road course so my timing is a bit off as well. I need some more laps which I should get under my belt in the first part of the race. I am looking forward to getting started on Saturday. Our plan is to use the first part of the race to get comfortable and stay on the lead lap and hopefully use a strategy later in the race to get some track position. I hope that our day goes well. I will update you after the race and fill you in on how it all worked out." In Qualifying, the team decided to just run one lap with a time of 76.661 and speed of 115.052. At the end of the qualifying, the #28 US Border Patrol Chevy was in 35th position.
Derrike started the race in 35th position and finished in 35th.
After the race Derrike said, "When it came to Qualifying we just made a one lap effort. It was just a controlled lap just to not take any chances because of no backup car. In qualifying 35th it obviously was going to be a challenge. "When the race started we were able to find our way to about 24th when all of a sudden we broke the track bar mount in three pieces and it also broke the rear sway bar. This track bar locates the rear end so it was mandating a stay in the garage to repair it. The crew did a great job and we were able to return and pick up a few spots. We probably would have been a 21 to 24 place car provided we did not have a problem. The US Border Patrol was out in full force as they were marching in the color guard. We spent quite a bit of time with some of the agents and had a really enjoyable weekend."
|
||||||||||||||||||
