Nascar In Canada?

[muggle not]

Start your engines: NASCAR on way to Montreal
Saturday, 13 May 2006
DAVE STUBBS, The Montreal Gazette

Stock-car fans can prepare to book their seats in high-octane heaven - NASCAR is within a few signatures of coming to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 2007.

The renewal of a 10-year lease for racing on Ile Notre Dame, a contract between the city of Montreal and motorsport promoter Normand Legault, is the final turn to be negotiated, one that's expected to be rounded in the next couple of weeks.

And when it is, Legault will announce that the NASCAR Busch Series will unleash 43 of its 3,400-pound Chevy, Ford and Dodge lookalikes for a fender-rubbing, paint-trading race on the Expo 67 island.

At the same time, Legault can formally roll out more details of his race-promotion company, GP F1 du Canada Inc., having signed a five-year extension of his deal with F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone to keep the Grand Prix running in Montreal through 2011.

The Champ Car World Series, which will stage its fifth annual Montreal race on Aug. 27, is the odd car out, unless it returns as a companion or support race to the NASCAR event, whose date is not yet known.

But that spot could go to the Indy Racing League, Champ Car's main competitor.

"We think that NASCAR could be as big as Formula One in Montreal, but with a totally different crowd," Legault said last night. "Fans wouldn't be coming from Tokyo or Paris, as they do for F1, but from the U.S. and other parts of Canada.

"This could be a huge event for Montreal. It would give us a tremendous window of visibility in the U.S., where NASCAR racing is one of the top television properties.

"And we feel it's a new kind of entertainment we can offer Montrealers."

It's no secret that NASCAR, North America's most popular and fastest-growing form of motorsport, has had expansion into Canada, and specifically Montreal, in its sights for some time.

Last year, the Busch Series, second only to NASCAR's flagship Nextel Cup series and contested by both established Cup and up-and-coming Busch drivers, moved into Mexico City, where it's been wildly popular.

On May 2, a delegation of seven high-ranking officials headed by Steve O'Donnell, NASCAR's managing director of events and operations, flew to Montreal for a five-hour operational visit to the racetrack.

Included in the group was Busch Series director Joe Balash, NASCAR vice-president of competition Robin Pemberton, and events, logistics, and timing and scoring officials.

O'Donnell hails Legault and his team and calls the circuit "a world-class facility, a challenging course in a unique setting, with access to a great city."

He says the track is essentially NASCAR race-ready, save a few things like the lengthening of pit road for 43 cars. That's an easy fix, given that the long pit exit beyond the F1 garages could be modified.

As for the tight Senna Corner and Casino hairpin? If you love NASCAR for the wrecks, buy your seats here.

"We were definitely impressed with the facility," O'Donnell said from NASCAR headquarters in Daytona Beach, Fla. "Montreal obviously is a great market. There's a possibility for (a race here) as early as 2007."

More than a possibility, in fact. Contracts have been drawn up, some signed and some needing only a signature or two.

Montreal mayor Gerald Tremblay fought in 2003 to keep the F1 race in the city when it was threatened by federal tobacco legislation. He's a man who values the millions of dollars that racing pours annually into Montreal's economy, and needs merely renew a lease between the city and Legault that's been largely unchanged since the late 1980s.

This year's F1 race, scheduled for the June 23-25 St. Jean Baptiste weekend, could promote the newcomer, with NASCAR drivers and show cars on site.

A veteran racer, probably Nextel Cup star Jeff Burton, would turn four or five hours of hard laps in a stock car early that week, on a fully race-configured track, to generate setup data and gain a driver's perspective of the circuit. This data would then be shared among all teams that would race here next summer.

NASCAR knows the potential of the untapped market in Canada, where many of the sport's Fortune 500 and lesser sponsors have commercial interests. Officials have been north several times, and typically, have done their homework thoroughly.

"We all agree that this must be a success from the get-go," Legault said. "For NASCAR, their first ever race in Canada has to be perfect. They're willing to help us in any way to stage the event to make sure it's a roaring success, and likewise here."

O'Donnell said this week that NASCAR would move on the project within 60 to 90 days. The sooner the better for Legault, who's eager to begin preparing and marketing the event and securing sponsors. And he's clearly excited about the day when, not if, he stages a NASCAR race.

"We have fans who've been watching F1 for 28 years, connoisseurs of racing," he said. "They have the top product in open-wheel racing, and we feel we'll be offering them something that's totally different.

"If Mr. Tremblay were to say tomorrow that the lease was done, I could announce it next week. Unless city hall decides it doesn't want racing on Ile Notre Dame, then NASCAR is coming.

"But it's the mayor's call. He's the boss."

[Rich D]

NASCAR in Wine and Cheese Land? Dunno if this will work.... Montreal is not exactly Redneck country....

[StuiE]

Canada has plenty of CASCAR short tracks doesn't it? why not run on one of them? Montreal is a nice track though, should suit the cars.

[enemy-ace]

None of Canada's short tracks have the facilities to handle a Busch race IMO.
I think the race would be very successful and it wouldn't be just Montrealers at the race. You can bet a lot of fans from Ontario and the US will be there. Montreal is a beautiful city and a lot of fun too.
It will be interesting to see how these cars manage to stop themselves at the end of the straight leading into the "Welcome to Quebec" chicane.

[R59]

Mind that wall on the outside too....
World Champion's wall welcomes Busch!!

[Purist]

I don't know about this one. We saw how much yellow there was and how many guys went partially or wholly off at Mexico City. Montreal has quite a bit less run-off and all those not quite straights with esses/chicanes to break the runs. Then there are the hairpins and the chicane as you guys mentioned.