Full Throttle

Last year, the NASCAR Nationwide series made history in Montreal when it raced in the rain using windshield wipers and rain tires that had been sitting in trucks for years.

A year later and the rain again caused all kinds of headaches on Circuit Gilles Villeneuve as it limited morning practice for Sunday’s NAPA Auto Parts 200 to only a few laps for some drivers and canceled the afternoon practice session altogether.

And while the rain held off for a good part of the afternoon Saturday and allowed the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series to qualify on a dry track, the Nationwide teams were forced to qualify in the rain.

The rain also delayed the start of the qualifying session by nearly an hour, but in a credit to Montreal racing fans, the grandstands were still teeming with people despite the chilly temperatures, and steady wind and rain.

Of course, the fact the field was filled with several local racers helped keep their interest, with some of the loudest cheers reserved for Alex Tagliani, Andrew Ranger, Patrick Carpentier and Jacques Villeneuve.

And the crowd loved it when Villeneuve clocked the second-fastest time on the grid during the second of his four qualifying laps.

Villeneuve held that second spot for a few minutes before being dropped to sixth, meaning he starts Sunday’s race on the third row, next to Brad Coleman.

“I find the rain a lot of fun, I’ve always enjoyed it,” said Villeneuve, who hopes the weather stays the same for the race. “There’s a chance I’ll wind up in the fence, but you can pull something out. I’ll be happier with the rain.”

Marcos Ambrose, who set the fastest time early in the qualifying session and then had to wait nearly 90 minutes while the rest of the field made its way around the wet track, will start from the pole. His time was two minutes and .542 seconds.

“Our strategy worked out perfectly. I had a great draw, I went out first and got a clean track and I was able to focus on my lines in the rain, and the rest is history,” he said.

“We got lucky, but we’ll take it.”

“I grew up in the rain,” said Ambrose. “I’ve lived half my life in one of the wettest places in the world. In Tasmania, we get about 200 days of rain, probably scattered throughout. I’m used to running in the rain. I’ve raced go-karts in the snow and all those things.

“I guess we’re trying something new here today, and it’s entertaining for the fans and it sure is entertaining to drive.”

Ambrose will be flanked by Carl Edwards, who had a rough start to his day when he totaled a car in the warm-up lap of the Grand-Am Rolex Montreal 200.

“I was fairly conservative,” said Edwards, who clocked 2:01.728. “It took me a second back in the car to get my mojo (after the earlier crash) and it may have helped me to be a bit more cautious.”

Ron Fellows, who won the race last year, will start from the second row in third position after a time of 2:02.338.

“We’ve got an interesting top three, so it will be fun,” said Fellows, a resident of Mississauga, Ont., who grew up as a huge fan of Gilles Villeneuve.

He said the experience from last year helped, but he added that visibility was worse because of the time of day, with qualifying wrapping up around 7:20 p.m.

Jacques Villeneuve, who had a time of 2:03.601, was a victim of the rain here last year after he ran into the back of another car in horrible conditions. But Saturday’s rainy conditions didn’t bother him at all, and he said he would welcome more of the same Sunday.

“I find the rain a lot of fun,” he said. “I always enjoyed it. The chances are you end up in the fence, but sometimes you pull something out of your hat.”

Edwards echoed those sentiments.

“I had a lot of fun. I really love running these cars in these conditions,” said the driver of the No. 60 Ford.

Edwards added he was surprised qualifying was even held given the conditions.

“I thought they were crazy when they (NASCAR officials) said we were going to qualify,” he said. “I think after I got out of the car and saw the fans that were still here and how excited they were, I thought it was the right call.”

Fellows and Ambrose also expected the qualifying round to be called off.

“It was absolutely the right move considering the long day for the fans,” Fellows said.

While Villeneuve enjoyed success, most of the other Quebecers in the field were not so lucky.

Ranger, of Roxton Pond, who also is in Sunday’s NASCAR Canadian Tire Series race, qualified in ninth spot for the Nationwide event in 2:04.620.

Alex Tagliani, who like Ranger will be in two races Sunday, starts on Row 12 in 23rd spot after a fastest lap of 2:06.794.

Tagliani will start behind little-known Jean-Francois Dumoulin of Trois-Rivieres, who qualified 16th with a time of 2:05.769.

Joliette’s Patrick Carpentier, who finished second here the last two years, finished 40th in qualifying in a time of 2:11.934.

Points leader Kyle Busch was only 12th while Brad Keselowski was 19th. Max Papis was 28th despite having dominated the only practice session of the day.

“It’s not too much fun,” said championship leader Busch. “These cars aren’t made for this so it’s just a fiasco. We’re making the best of what we got. I had windshield wiper problems, defogger problems, staying on course problems - it’s problems overall.”

Goodyear recently developed a new wet-weather tire, which will probably get its race debut on Sunday after being run by teams for the first time Saturday.

Showers are in the forecast for the race, and teams have fitted windshield wipers and defrosters to their cars in order to be ready to race in the wet, after last year the Nationwide Series ran the first NASCAR race ever held in such conditions.