Full Throttle

No matter how you slice it as the weekend gets underway at Talladega those not normally associated with NASCAR, ARCA or stock cars in general have been the story this far.

The outlanders have been led by Juan “Don’t Call Me Pablo” Montoya’s outside pole winning effort for Friday’s ARCA event. Montoya trailed pole sitter Bobby Gerhart by less than 4 tenths of a second in his first attempt in a tin-top.

Also in the field is Brampton, Ontario native Pete Shepherd starting from the 13^th spot and St. Marie, Quebec resident Mario Gosselin who rolls off from 25^th.

Over on the NCTS side of Talladega’s “house” is Australian Marcos “The Tasmanian Devil” Ambrose. The 2-time Champion Australian V8 Supercar veteran was 25^th fastest in opening practice and 11^th fastest during rookie practice.

He followed that by laying down the fifth fastest lap in the final practice session.