High hopes for NASCAR's Canadian debut
Busch series race joins Formula One and Champ Car on Canadian calendar
The Record.com
Jan 25, 2007
Whether Jacques Villeneuve is there or not, promoters of the first NASCAR Busch series event in Canada this summer are convinced it will work.
Famous names are less important to motor racing fans than the prospect of stock cars piling into the tight Senna corner off the starting grid at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, race spokesperson Normand Prieur said yesterday.
"The emphasis is on the show and the fact that for the first time we'll have 43 cars on the track,'' said Prieur. "Imagine the roar going into that first corner.''
The Aug. 3-4 Busch Series race weekend at the Formula One track that is home to the annual Canadian Grand Prix promises to be a highlight of the racing season in Canada.
It bumped the Champ Car event that was there the last five years to the newly redesigned track at Mont-Tremblant, Que.
While the Champ Car event in Montreal was held in late August, in Mont-Tremblant it will be July 1 and start a run of three straight races in Canada, with Toronto on July 8 and Edmonton on July 22.
The Canadian Grand Prix is set for June 10 at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve.
The 2007 racing season began this week with Champ Car testing in Sebring, Fla., where Paul Tracy of Toronto was back in his Forsythe car and Alex Tagliani of Lachenaie, Que., was driving for RuSport.
Andrew Ranger of Roxton Pond, Que., who drove for Conquest Racing last year, has been left looking for a ride. Still sorting out sponsors, Conquest sat out the Sebring tests. It will not have Ranger back this season.
Tracy is also scheduled to take part in the Daytona 24 Hour Race this weekend, although the 2003 series champion intends to concentrate on Champ Cars this year after dropping to seventh while experimenting with stock cars in 2006.
The Busch Series is a class below the Nextel Cup NASCAR series, but many top drivers compete in both. Prieur said there should be no shortage of familiar names.
One may be former Champ Car champion and former Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya, who is launching a new career in stock cars.
"You never know which of the big names in NASCAR will be here, but we know there will be a good number of them and we know we'll have those 43 cars,'' said Prieur.
They should also have former Champ Car and IndyCar star Patrick Carpentier of Joliette, Que. He is driving in the Grand Am series, which will also race that weekend in Montreal.
And veteran Ron Fellows, of Mississauga, usually gets a ride when NASCAR or Busch gets off its usual oval tracks onto road courses.
Without supplying numbers, Prieur said ticket sales were strong before Christmas for the Busch Series.
It will have fewer grandstand seats available than the F1 race, which annually draws more than 300,000 spectators for race weekends, and substantially lower ticket costs.
Top price for three days of F1 is $495 Cdn, while general admission (no seat) is $100. For the Busch Series, top price for the two days is $150, while a spot on a grassy knoll is $50.
Jacques Villeneuve, who recently moved his young family into a posh house in Montreal, hopes to be in NASCAR this year, but no announcement has been made.
The Iberville, Que., native, who has IndyCar, Indy 500 and F1 titles in his career, is slated to drive on a six-man, two-car team in the famous Le Mans 24-hour race for Peugeot. The team includes Champ Car champion Sebastien Bourdais of France.
The Busch season opens Feb. 17 at Daytona.
A 17-race Champ Car schedule includes a return to Europe for the first time since 2003 for races in Belgium and the Netherlands. The season starts April 6 at Las Vegas.
Robert Wickens, a 17-year-old prospect from Toronto who was part of the Red Bull driver development program, is slated to steer a Champ Car Formula Atlantic series car for Forsythe team.
James Hinchcliffe, 19, of Toronto, enters his second Atlantic season.
The IndyCar series, formerly IRL, starts March. 24 at Homestead, Fla.
One of Canada's best drivers is Bruno Spengler, who competes in the German Touring Car (DTM) series. Last year, Spengler had four wins and finished second overall to Mercedes Benz teammate Bernt Schneider. That series begins April 22 at Hockenheim in Germany.
Autosport magazine had only two Canadians on its list of the world's top 50 drivers of 2006 -- Villeneuve at No. 18 and Spengler at No. 43.
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Last edited by mrsmopar12 : 01-25-2007 at 12:00 PM.
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