Full Throttle

NASCAR will visit Montreal for the next three seasons, after International Speedway Corp. reached a deal with the Parc Jean-Drapeau, which controls the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve road course. NASCAR debuted at the circuit with a Nationwide Series race in 2007.

The announcement comes as something of a consolation prize for the track and city, which lost its Formula One race for this year due to a dispute between promoters and Formula One’s Bernie Ecclestone. The track has also hosted Champ Car World Series races in the recent past, but that event disappeared with last year’s unification of Champ Car and the Indy Racing League.

“We are thrilled with today’s announcement and our team looks forward to hosting this unique motorsports event for years to come,” said Francois Dumontier of Stock-Car Montreal, an ISC subsidiary.

“With the experience we’ve gained over the last two years, the on-track performances of Canadian drivers such as Ron Fellows and Patrick Carpentier and the growing popularity of NASCAR in our province, we are confident this third edition will be a resounding success,” Dumontier said. “Furthermore, with this year’s race occurring on an off weekend for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, we plan to attract some of the biggest names in racing to challenge the tight turns and fast straights of the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve.”

The dates for this year’s NAPA Auto Parts 200 are Aug. 29 and Aug. 30 — a Saturday and a Sunday. In its first two years, the Montreal event was held earlier in August on Friday and Saturday, on the same weekend as a race in the higher-level NASCAR Sprint Cup series in another city.

Some of the best drivers, who race in both series when they can, did not compete in Montreal because of travel difficulties between the two events, although others dashed between the two venues on private jets.

The fate of the Nationwide series event was up in the air after the city lost its popular F1 race in October and promoter Normand Legault announced he was pulling out of the business.

International Speedway Corporation, which previously owned 50 per cent of the event, bought out Legault’s half so the stock car race could continue, said Dumontier. It’s one of the best-attended races on the Nationwide schedule.

Dumontier said the previous lease for the track was with Legault and it became invalid when he pulled out, so a new agreement had to be negotiated.

Last summer, Canadian drivers posted a 1-2 finish as Ron Fellows won and Patrick Carpentier was second in a race shortened from 74 to 48 laps due to pounding rain and a flooded track. The thousands of fans in the grandstands stayed to the end despite being soaked by the downpour.

“This is the best thing that could happen for Montreal’s racing future,” Legault said in a statement. “I’ve promoted races with ISC for a few years — they have an excellent reputation and sincerely wish to develop a long-lasting relationship with Montreal and its thousands of race fans.”