Michelle Theriault, driver of the No. 37 GLOCK, Inc. Chevrolet Monte Carlo SS headed to Stafford Motor Speedway (SMS) this past weekend looking to redeem her Spraker Racing Enterprises team following a tough outing at South Boston Speedway the week before.
In all accounts, Theriault was doing what she needed to do. Unfortunately, engine fatigue took the female driver from competition, resulting in a tough finish.
The Spraker Racing Enterprises development driver headed to SMS without any prior experience. Learning the track was crucial for the NASCAR Busch East Series rookie and she noted that during her practice runs.
During the two sessions of practice, Theriault maneuvered the 21st and 20th fastest times respectably. Theriault credits car owner and mentor Jeff Spraker for her improvement in lap times during the practice but knew she was needed to find more speed heading into qualifying.
“We were okay in practice, ” offered Theriault. “This is a tough place to maneuver but I was trying to get myself familiar with the track. We made some changes from the first practice to the second one and they worked, but we’re still looking for more. ”
The Spraker Racing Enterprises team made several key changes to her GLOCK, Inc. Chevrolet hoping to find the needed time and speed the rookie was looking for. In qualifying, Theriault posted her fastest time of the weekend at 20.144 seconds at 89.357 MPH netting her 17th on the starting grid.
“It’s a good feeling to keep gaining throughout the entire day, ” said Theriault. “I want to thank my team and sponsor GLOCK, Inc. for supporting me throughout practice and qualifying. I feel we have a good racecar, we just need to finish. ”
At the start of the event, Theriault held her own. While not being a threat to take the lead, Theriault maintained to hover inside the top-20 and keep her No. 37 GLOCK, Inc. Chevrolet on the lead lap. Reporting a tight condition to crew chief Spraker, the team informed their driver they would be making some chassis changes during the first round of pit stops.
Before the pit stop, the field would educe a long span of green flag racing trapping the GLOCK, Inc. machine one lap off the pace. Luckily, the yellow flag would fly a few laps later putting Theriault back onto the lead circuit and into battle.
After a round of pit stops, Theriault tried to motor her way through the pack. Normal short track beating and banging produced some damage to the front of her automobile. However, as the race would progress, the engine water temperature rose which reduced horsepower for Theriault. She reported the issue to the crew and brought her machine to the GLOCK, Inc. team where they determined the motor was beginning to seize forcing a withdraw from the remainder of the event. The final rundown would put the GLOCK, Inc. team 25th in the standings completing 115 of 150 laps.
“I’m really disappointed, ” sounded Theriault. “We had a good car again; we just didn’t make it to the end. I’m really sorry to all my guys and GLOCK, Inc. I know everyone wanted to finish this race as did I. I’m not really sure what happened with the motor, but it took us from a solid top-15 finish tonight. The only thing we can do is plan to turn our season around in the right direction in a couple of weeks. ”
GLOCK, Inc. Director of Sales Craig Dutton offered, “There are days where everything goes right and everything goes wrong in racing. We are a team and the goals remain the same for this program. “
Next up for the NASCAR Busch East Series competitors is the first of two trips to New Hampshire International Speedway (NHIS) for a 125-lap event on June 29th. Theriault will make her NBES debut at the flat 1.058 mile track with hopes of collecting her third top-10 finish of the 2007 season.
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