Derrike and the Quest Motor Racing team are busily preparing for the upcoming Winston Open at the Charlotte Motor Speedway. Derrike shared the following regarding the Open, “We have done thorough evaluations of our handing and engine durability issues. That included extensive testing to simulate long runs on the spintron machine and as a result we have made changes to address the valve train problems that we had experienced with our power trains. On the handling side, we have made several modifications that we believe will increase downforce and improve the car’s turning. We are representing Great Barrier Reef Online this week as well as the United States Coast Guard. Saturday is National Armed Forces Day and we hope to make a good showing for The Coast Guard and Great Barrier Reef.”

In the first practice, Derrike was 18th fastest of 27 drivers with a time of 30.418 and speed of 177.526. In the second practice, he was 19th fastest with a time of 30.382 and speed of 177.737.

In qualifying, Derrike took the track as the 24th of 26 cars and produced a first lap of 30.274 and speed of 178.371. The second lap was a bit slower at 30.463 and speed of 177.26. This put the #37 Great Barrier Reef Chevrolet in 20th position at the time. At the end of the round, Derrike was left in 21st position where he will start the race.

Derrike start the race in 21st position. After the first 20 laps of the race a caution is thrown and the top 14 cars are advanced to the next 10 lap segment. Derrike was in 21st position so was not able to advance to the final 10 laps.

Derrike informed us, "As far as The Winston Open went...well, not as good as I had hoped for. We had to change engines prior to qualifying and start at the back, which got us behind, plus we had the car a little too tight and could not come back from it in 20 laps. We are at the chassis dyno at this very moment to get a fix on where we are at...and to see if there are any problems that we can change for Qualifying on Thursday night. We will be taking the Friendly's car, along with Great Barrier Reef Online as an associate sponsor back to Charlotte. We continue to struggle, but as I have said we are not going to feel sorry for ourselves or give up. We are capable and will continue to strive to get better each week...until we do.

"Next week we will be testing at Pocono which is one of Friendly's races... as is Dover. So after the test we will head straight to Dover for that race, and then we will be back at Michigan in the Great Barrier Reef Online car there with Friendly's as an associate Sponsor."