From Soup Sandwich to Star Show in Canada
It was going to be hard topping last years NNS event at Circuit Villeneuve with its wild finish and two drivers declaring themselves the victor.
But somehow NASCAR and Goodyear did just that.
Last week Goodyear produced a soup sandwich, this week aided and abetted by Mother Nature, Goodyear produced a star show by carrying out a long held threat of rain tire usage - and pulling it off with nary a hitch.
It wasn’t the prettiest event ever, rain races hardly ever are, but no dissenting voices were heard decrying the fact NASCAR and Goodyear made the attempt. In fact the opposite occurred, with one driver lamenting the fact it was red flagged:
“Racing in the rain was a lot of fun,” Carl Edwards said. “I’m glad we didn’t wreck. I just wished it wouldn’t have started raining so hard and we could have raced a little longer.”
The only down vote, so to speak, was by one crew chief who voiced concern over NASCAR switching tire change procedure from was was laid out during the drivers meeting. In the end that was of no consequence as the event ended early after the heavy rain refused to drain off what is essentially an Las Angles type flood channel, something that is common to all street races that give nowhere for rain to runoff.
RACE NOTES: Ron Fellows took the checker, his fourth NNS win overall, and first since the 2001 Watkins Glen event, and first ever in any category at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
Marcos Ambrose is snakebit. He was part of the race ending bruhaha at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve last year that may have cost him a win and has had several other possible wins yanked from his grasp. Saturday was no different as he dominated from the drop of the green flag.
At one point he slid off course and lost his then 6 second lead and allowed Jacques Villeneuve to close up to a single car length. But not for long, in only a couple corners Ambrose gathered it up and quickly motored away from the former F1 champion. His final undoing ironically enough was caused by what gave him the advantage over most of the field, the rain.
Coming in for a pitstop he aquaplaned under breaking and slid over the pit demarcation line and was tagged for speeding. The resultant drive thru penalty dropped him down the order but he regained third place at the red/checker flag his best ever NNS event finish.
It’s also safe to say Patrick Carpentier was also bit by a venomous species of the elongate reptile variety. He finished second to give Canada a 1-2 finish, a fete he accomplished in last years event.
Speaking of Jacques “LeBebe” Villeneuve - just how embarrassing is it for a former F1 champ and aknowledged master of his home track to be passed by Joey Logano, a rank rookie who had never raced on either a road course or obviously under rainy conditions before?
The Phenom would eventually finish in 16th a spot under “LeBeBe.”
All-in-all a very entertaining afternoon despite the rain, actually because of it, and shortened event.
Kudos to both NASCAR for the attempt and Goodyear for pulling it off.
Technorati Tags: Ron Fellows, Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, Joey Logano
I thought I heard several drivers complaining about the lack of visibility due to the wipers being inadequate. Hard to keep the blade on the windscreen at 190 mph! Not to mention the INSIDE of the windscreen fogging over due to the humidity.
It was entertaining while it lasted.
Those were the only complaints I heard George.
As someone who watches the Aussie V8’s this race makes me wonder what they have done to keep the blades down at high speed and also alleviate the fogging problem.
The V8’s have a completely enclosed cockpit whereas the NNS cars had at least one and many had both side windows open. You would think fogging wouldn’t have been a problem but it was.
Pretty good points about the fogging there, Marc. Apparently the teams had a pretty good idea that it would be an issue heading in, though, or I doubt Carl Edwards woulda been carrying a squeegee around with him.