Solid field heads to Montreal for Nationwide race
Carl Edwards thought he had no chance of catching Marcos Ambrose in the waning laps of last year's Nationwide Series race in Montreal.
As he slogged his way around the rain-soaked Circuit Gilles Villeneuve road course, Edwards decided on one final desperate attempt to get past the leader. He ducked wide in ''a last-ditch effort to rattle him a little bit,'' causing Ambrose to miss the entrance to the final turn and give Edwards the opening he needed to pounce for his first career victory on a road course.
''It gives me chills thinking about it,'' Edwards recalled this week. ''That victory lap last season, and the response I got from the crowd, that was one of the neatest wins I've ever had in my life.''
And one that won't be easy to defend.
Edwards and the Nationwide Series return to Canada this weekend for NASCAR's only trip outside the United States in any of its three national series. The event typically attracts the top road racers from North America, and the fourth running of the event will be no different.
Among Edwards' challengers will be Ambrose, who coughed up a Sprint Cup Series win on the road course at Sonoma in June, but rebounded to win the Nationwide race at Watkins Glen earlier this month. Ambrose is still smarting from his many near-misses, including the inaugural Montreal event in 2007, when Robby Gordon spun him in a controversial sequence of racing over the final laps.
Ambrose has a seventh, third and last year's second-place to show for his three trips to Montreal.
''It's frustrating and disappointing because we should have won Montreal multiple times,'' Ambrose said. ''This time, no dramas. We're going there to win, and I'll keep racing there until we do win.''
Former Formula One world champion Jacques Villeneuve is entered in Sunday's race and will try to drive a stock car to a victory on the circuit named for his late father. Villeneuve was fourth in last year's race, and was running behind winner Edwards at Road America in June until an electrical problem took him out on the last lap.
He'll be back for a third consecutive year driving for Braun Racing and searching for a win in NASCAR.
''We are coming in aggressively,'' Villeneuve said, noting the team has a new braking system in the car this year to suit his style. ''We are pulling out all the stops for Montreal so we can compete. The first year when it was the heavy rain, we led the lap and then I crashed under a caution. That was a little bit annoying. And we were quite competitive last year. So I think we are coming this year to try and win it.''
Also in the field will be Gordon, who is making his first appearance in the race since his dramatics in 2007.
Gordon passed Ambrose to take the lead, but Ambrose spun him, all at the same time a caution was called for an accident far behind them. Gordon believed he should have been second on the restart, but NASCAR ruled he was actually in 13th because he had not maintained reasonable speed after his spin.
Gordon refused to drop back in the field, held his second position on the restart, then spun Ambrose to deny Ambrose the win. Gordon then continued on and was the first driver to cross the finish line and celebrated as if he were the victor.
NASCAR disqualified him for disobeying a black flag, Kevin Harvick got the victory, and Gordon was suspended for the next day's Sprint Cup Series race at Pocono for his disregard of a NASCAR directive.
Edwards, upon learning this week that Gordon had entered this year's race, couldn't help but laugh out loud.
''That's another guy we have got to beat,'' Edwards said. ''Robby, he'll be going there for one thing and one thing only. Marcos, too.''
It's setting the stage for what is expected to be one of the most exciting races of the season, and one many hope will get even better beginning next year. Montreal is scheduled on an off weekend for the Cup Series this season, so many of NASCAR's top stars aren't racing on what is the final scheduled off date of the year.
The race shifts to a Saturday afternoon next August, with the Cup Series scheduled to run the next day in Michigan. Some believe that could lure a few more Cup drivers into the field.
But, there's also a cry for Montreal to land a date on the actual Cup calendar some day. NASCAR only has two road courses on its current Cup schedule, at Sonoma and Watkins Glen, and doesn't take its premier series outside the U.S.
Edwards believes the Cup Series would be a tremendous success in Canada.
''I was standing in Victory Lane and we had just won the race last year and the crowd was singing in unison ... singing songs and cheering. I had never seen anything like it,'' he said. ''So if you had guys up there, like Tony Stewart and you know, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and people like Richard Petty walking around, I can't imagine.
''I assume the fans would be very excited about that and I don't think you can build enough seats.''
