Nationwide’s Wet and Historic Day in Montreal
The final race scheduled for the weekend at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve – today’s NASCAR Nationwide Series event – made the history books. As the commentary described it, it was the first ever NASCAR points race to be run on grooved rain tires. This was only partially true however, as other series’ governed under the NASCAR title, such as the Canadian Tire Series, have been known to run in the rain when the need calls for it. Though from the main three branches of NASCAR – Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Craftsman Truck – this was indeed a historic first.
As expected, most of the race was dominated by the “road course ringers”, with several of the nine Canadians entered giving an exceptional performance. In the end however, the NAPA Auto Parts 200 had to be called early due to heavy rainfall. The track conditions became too dangerous for the drivers to continue racing, so the end of the event was officially called 26 laps early.
The leader when the race was officially called was Canada’s own road-racing veteran, Ron Fellows, who celebrated his win indoors. “That was different,” Fellows said, recalling the race. “This is incredible.” The win marked his fourth victory in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. In second place was another road-racing ace from Canada, Patrick Carpentier, followed by Australia’s Marcos Ambrose in third.
NAPA Auto Parts 200 Results:
No Driver Make Laps Status 1 Ron Fellows Chevrolet 48 Running 2 Patrick Carpentier Dodge 48 Running 3 Marcos Ambrose Ford 48 Running 4 Ron Hornaday Chevrolet 48 Running 5 Boris Said Ford 48 Running 6 Carl Edwards Ford 48 Running 7 Jason Leffler Toyota 48 Running 8 Greg Biffle Ford 48 Running 9 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 48 Running 10 Steve Wallace Chevrolet 48 Running 11 Scott Wimmer Chevrolet 48 Running 12 Brad Keselowski Chevrolet 48 Running 13 David Ragan Ford 48 Running 14 Landon Cassill Chevrolet 48 Running 15 Mike Wallace Toyota 48 Running 16 Jacques Villeneuve Toyota 48 Accident 17 Joey Logano Toyota 47 Accident 18 David Reutimann Toyota 47 Running 19 Mike Bliss Chevrolet 47 Running 20 Max Papis Chevrolet 47 Running 21 Brad Coleman Ford 47 Running 22 Scott Pruett Dodge 47 Running 23 Jason Keller Chevrolet 47 Running 24 Kelly Bires Ford 47 Running 25 Stanton Barrett Chevrolet 47 Running 26 Alex Garcia Chevrolet 47 Running 27 D.J. Kennington Dodge 47 Running 28 Andrew Ranger Dodge 47 Running 29 Scott Gaylord Ford 46 Running 30 Brian Simo Chevrolet 44 Running 31 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet 42 Electrical 32 Wheeler Boys Chevrolet 37 Brakes 33 Justin Marks Toyota 19 Transmission 34 Trevor Boys Chevrolet 13 Transmission 35 Burney Lamar Ford 8 Ignition 36 Jeff Fuller Chevrolet 7 Vibration 37 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 7 Handling 38 Brandon Whitt Ford 7 Brakes 39 Stan Barrett Chevrolet 7 Brakes 40 Don Thomson Jr. Chevrolet 2 Ignition 41 Scott Steckly Chevrolet 2 Transmission 42 Dale Quarterley Chevrolet 2 Handling 43 Derrike Cope Chevrolet 1 Brakes