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)
UPDATE: NASCAR will hold its first top tier race in Canada in 2007 the Toronto Sun has learned. NASCAR’s managing director of events and operations told the Sun yesterday that he expects to make it official within 60 days that the NASCAR Busch Series will race at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve next season. Steve O’Donnell said in an exclusive interview that only some minor contract language needs to be straightened out before the race date is confirmed. “We feel good about Montreal,” O’Donnell said. “There are still some contractual things that need to come together, but it is in our interests to put an event there in 2007.”(AutoNet.ca)(6-18-2006)
UPDATE 2: Current speculation has Montreal getting the NBS race on the third Saturday in July that currently is held at Martinsville Speedway.(Toronto Sun)(6-19-2006)
UPDATE 3: A Busch Series race in Montreal might have moved a step closer to becoming a reality on Friday. While Formula 1 cars practiced at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, the city’s mayor announced that it had renewed a five-year lease for the circuit’s rental to Normand Legault, president and CEO of Grand Prix F1 du Canada. Legault has been working with NASCAR to bring the Busch Series to Montreal for several years now. The new lease is believed to give Legault exclusive rights to promoting races at the track and the length of the deal would also bring stability for the Busch Series if the venture proves successful.(SceneDaily.com)(6-23-2006)
