Notes: Canadian drivers turn out for home race

MONTREAL -- Eight drivers with Canadian roots will be attempting to qualifying for Saturday's NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

That surprised Toronto's Ron Fellows, the most experienced of the bunch -- with three Busch Series wins to his credit.

"Is there that many? Wow, that's cool," Fellows said. "I hope we're all top-eight, with Fellows at the top."

Welcome to Montreal

Veterans and youngsters were both happy with how the Montreal road course drives, but they're cautious, too.

• Complete story, click here
• By the Numbers, click here

A total of five of Canada's provinces will be represented. Fellows will be joined by fellow Ontario natives John Graham (Toronto), J.R. Fitzpatrick (Cambridge) and D.J. Kennington (St. Thomas). Graham made four Busch Series starts in 2004, while Fitzpatrick and Kennington have both run Busch Series races this season.

Open-wheel veteran Patrick Carpentier, from Montreal borough Villa LaSalle, raced here twice with Champ Car, finishing in the top three on both occasions. Michael Valiante, one of Ganassi's top sports-car talents, is from New Westminster, British Columbia.

"I'm surprised there's not more, given the status of this racetrack and the event," Fellows said. "But it's no surprise that Pat's here and Michael Valiante has a tremendous opportunity there with Ganassi."

Others in the field include Maritime Pro Stock Tour founder Mike MacKenzie, from Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, across the harbor from Halifax, and Calgary, Alberta's Trevor Boys, who has posted two top-10 finishes in 102 career Cup appearances.

"I just hope this becomes a fixture and let's hope one of us is waving a Maple Leaf on the podium on Saturday afternoon," Fellows said.

Winner to wall-banger
Last Saturday, Jason Leffler was celebrating Toyota's first Busch Series win at O'Reilly Raceway Park at Indianapolis.

On Thursday, he was climbing out of a badly damaged No. 38 after finding the wall in Turn 3 during the second practice. The car, left a few yards from its hauler, was heavily damaged on the right front and right rear and won't be easily repairable.

"I just rolled over the curb and picked the gas up a little too soon and it just hooked to the right and drove right into the fence," Leffler said. "I was going only about 40 mph but concrete doesn't move.

"It was a minor mistake but it turned into a major problem."

Still, Leffler feels things may work out for the best.

"This car, I ran eight-tenths quicker in it my second lap, so this is actually a better car for me," he said of his backup machine.

Leffler's biggest concern could be on Saturday, when 43 cars try to survive more than 70 laps around this tight track.

"There's not a lot of runoff area here," Leffler said. "There's going to be a lot of torn-up stuff in the race."

Making it on your own
Robby Gordon is certainly an interested bystander when it comes the recent NASCAR mergers and partnerships. At one point last season, he was linked to a possible merger with Robert Yates Racing, which recently announced a technology partnership with one of Champ Car's most successful teams.

Still, Gordon said his primary concern is on the track, not off it.

"We're sitting 27th in the points and obviously our goal is to concentrate on getting inside the top 20 and make a big deal for next year, as far as support levels and finance levels," Gordon said. "If you can run a top-20 without a multi-car team today, you're doing something. That's our primary focus.

"Obviously, we're looking at opportunities that could surface with us, but at the end of the day, it's still all about racing. If you take your eye off the ball and start worrying about mergers and transactions, maybe you're not paying attention to the job at hand."

Gordon said the new chassis design should give him a better opportunity as a one-car operation to compete with the Hendricks and Roushes of today's NASCAR.

"I think the Car of Tomorrow, the last three times we've raced those cars, we've been very competitive, a top-10 car every weekend," he said. "I look forward to going to that car. I think that's going to take away the little bit of disadvantages not being a three- or four-car team, because you lose out on the aerodynamic edge. We all have the same bodies now, so that's one more piece of the equation that's not there any more."