Tire Dealers Association of Canada Convention - Autosphere

I ndeed,
NaSCar in Montreal
Tires save The show
The Montreal NASCAR Nationwide held at Le Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve was, once again, a spectacular and
unique event. Last year, local driver Patrick Carpentier made the show by finishing second to veteran Kevin
Harvick. This year, Carpentier once again finished second, this time to Canadian Ron Fellows,
who was driving the JR Motorsport Chevy. But Montreal’s event will go down in history as
as the race was only a few laps old, it started
to rain. NASCAR had never raced in the rain. But its
only tire provider, Goodyear, was ready with a trailer full
of rain tires that were made almost ten years ago but
never used. Many of the drivers in the Montreal road
course event had some kind of experience in road racing
and driving in the rain. That decided Nationwide director
Joe Balash to run the first ever NASCAR race in the rain!
Taking time for a lengthy red flag, he allowed teams to
switch to rain tires. Balash’s decision was also based on
the fact there was no rain date for a next race.
The decision paid off. Almost every fan stayed to watch,
very few drivers went off-course, and the event was a
real success, not only for fans, but also for NASCAR and
Goodyear who, the weekend before, had to go through
a disastrous Indianapolis race where its race tires selfdestroyed
in less than seven laps. This time, Goodyear
had the right answer.
Earlier during the morning, the NASCAR Canada race
saw last year’s champ Andrew Ranger win the race with
his Tide Ford Fusion.
Pirelli was there too
Less celebrated, on late Friday afternoon before the
Nationwide race (held on Saturday afternoon), was the
Rolex Grand Am endurance race. Last year, all teams had
to use Hoosier tires. This year, Italian tire maker Pirelli
stepped in and it was a wise choice. The Montreal race
was among the most interesting—and with one of the
biggest crowds—of the season. At the end, the Canadian
team of Brian Friselle and Mark Wilkins got to the checkered
flag first, driving a Riley Ford. tn
24 Tire News tn October 2008
NASCAR’s very first official race held in the rain!
photos: Éric and Guillaume Descarries
The Todd Braun Racing team serviced Jacques Villeneuve’s Camry very well. (É.D.)
A Pirelli-shod Grand Am Daytona Prototype car in action. (É.D.)
Pirelli was ready for any weather in the
Grand Am series. (É.D.)
Goodyear pulled out its NASCAR rain tires
for the first time. (É.D.)