Carpentier hopes Montreal the start of a second career

One minute, Patrick Carpentier was washing tools used in his Busch debut in Montreal. The next he was being whisked to North Carolina, where he met new teammates and was fitted for a seat for his first Nextel Cup start.

The former open-wheeler's runner-up finish in Saturday's event at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve earned him a full weekend of work at Watkins Glen, where he will pilot Armando Fitz's Busch car on the New York road course before strapping into the No. 10 Dodge of Gillett Evernham Motorsports for Sunday's main event. It's but another step toward what the former Champ Car driver hopes will be a gradual progression into NASCAR, a discipline he's tried to break into for two years.

Beginner's luck?

Patrick Carpentier had an upfront view for much of his first NASCAR start. He started on the pole, led three times for 14 laps and finished second.

• Video: Carpentier runner-up

"It's been hard work," said Carpentier, who turns 36 next week. "We've been knocking on doors for quite some time. I have been to quite a few NASCAR races, and the one in [Las] Vegas also, and it finally worked out. We had one shot at it for that race [in Montreal], and it paid off. We'll see how it goes this weekend, and hopefully it goes well and it will keep going."

It all follows what Carpentier's manager, Robert Desrosiers, called a "fairy tale" weekend in Montreal, where the Quebec native won the pole and spun celebratory doughnuts in the grass after finishing second behind Kevin Harvick. Over the last 15 laps, he said, he was having so much fun he found himself laughing in the car. But the days preceding the race weekend were hectic, as Carpentier and Desrosiers worked to pull money and sponsorship together in what they knew was a one-shot deal in Fitz's No. 22 car.

Fitz had mentioned the possibility of giving Carpentier another chance at Watkins Glen, but the driver still awoke on Monday with no concrete plans. Desrosiers spent the morning fielding a flurry of calls, first from Fitz and then from Sammy Johns and Rick Russell of the newly formed Gillett Evernham team. GEM wanted a road racer to spell usual driver Scott Riggs in its No. 10 car, and first choice Boris Said wasn't available. Would Carpentier be interested?

Desrosiers finally reached his driver cleaning tools in his shop. "Are you standing up or sitting down?" he asked him. Desrosiers told him to sit, and then broke the news that Fitz wanted Carpentier back in the No. 22 for Watkins Glen. As the driver celebrated, the manager stopped him. "The next thing you don't have a clue about, buddy," Desrosiers said.

The news of the GEM ride left Carpentier, a multi-race winner on the Champ Car circuit, overwhelmed. Soon he was on an airplane to Charlotte, where on Tuesday he was fitted for a seat and renewed acquaintances with Gillett, who also owns the Montreal Canadiens hockey team. The two had known each other since Carpentier's Champ Car days, when the driver -- always wildly popular in Quebec -- would occasionally drop the puck at a Canadiens game or help with other promotional activities. As part of a news conference prior to the Montreal race, Carpentier was among a few drivers given a Canadiens jersey with his name on the back. (Continued)