NASCAR is within a few signatures of coming to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in 2007. The renewal of a 10-year lease for racing on Ile Notre Dame, a contract between the city of Montreal and motorsport promoter Normand Legault, is the final turn to be negotiated, one that’s expected to be rounded in the next couple of weeks. And when it is, Legault will announce that the NASCAR Busch Series will unleash 43 of its 3,400-pound Chevy, Ford and Dodge lookalikes for a fender-rubbing, paint-trading race on the Expo 67 island. On May 2, a delegation of seven high-ranking officials headed by Steve O’Donnell, NASCAR’s managing director of events and operations, flew to Montreal for a five-hour operational visit to the racetrack. Included in the group was Busch Series director Joe Balash, NASCAR vice-president of competition Robin Pemberton, and events, logistics, and timing and scoring officials. O’Donnell hails Legault and his team and calls the circuit “a world-class facility, a challenging course in a unique setting, with access to a great city.” He says the track is essentially NASCAR race-ready, save a few things like the lengthening of pit road for 43 cars. That’s an easy fix, given that the long pit exit beyond the F1 garages could be modified. As for the tight Senna Corner and Casino hairpin? If you love NASCAR for the wrecks, buy your seats here. “We were definitely impressed with the facility,” O’Donnell said from NASCAR headquarters in Daytona Beach, Fla. “Montreal obviously is a great market. There’s a possibility for (a race here) as early as 2007.”(more at the Montreal Gazette)(5-16-2006)
