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BackMartin second at Bristol, but always first in class (cont'd)

3. You're Ron Fellows. Of the 12 international drivers competing in Saturday's Nationwide race at Montreal, do you have the best chance to win?

David Caraviello: I feel fairly confident that a non-American driver will win on Saturday, which would be kind of fitting given the international flavor of this event. But barring rain, I'll take Marcos Ambrose. With no Cup event to worry about this week, and as well as he's been running on the senior circuit, he's your man in Montreal.

Getty Images

Victory Lane

Ron Fellows celebrates his win last year at Montreal.

Dave Rodman: Familiarity with the venue, with the equipment and with the crew counts for a lot -- beyond just pure driving ability, which most of these foreigners have. My money is on the defending champion Fellows amongst that group, though Ambrose has a lot going for him.

Raygan Swan: Fellows knows it is going to be a strong field, especially with the Cup regulars there all weekend. He is looking for Ambrose to be a huge threat with the roll he has been on. But I agree with David, look for a non-American driver to win.

David Caraviello: It's strange -- the era of ringers seems to have passed on the Sprint Cup tour, given how much better the regular guys are at road racing. But on the Nationwide circuit, they still dominate. I think that's cool. It's neat to have a race where you actually might see someone out of the ordinary win. I mean, Fellows, Ambrose, Patrick Carpentier in the No. 55 -- have to think all those guys have a chance. And how crazy would the locals go for Jean-Francois Dumoulin? OK, maybe that's a reach.

Raygan Swan: Fellows' Victory Lane moment last year was amazing to watch. So much emotion.

Dave Rodman: This race has a pretty impressive cast of road-racing talent. The Canadian Tire Series runs on a number of road courses, like Trois-Rivieres and Mosport, so as Fellows himself pointed out, don't leave out someone like Alex Tagliani, even though it's his first time in a Nationwide car.

Raygan Swan: Or what about some of the younger talent that will be there this weekend? Colin Braun, or Andrew Ranger from the Canadian Tire Series. But when it's all said and done, I look for either Ambrose or Fellows to be in Victory Lane.

Dave Rodman: Now people jawed about "the classic Bristol," but in a lot of ways, le Circuit could be the road course equivalent and if it came down to it, Marcos for sure would have no qualms about ramming anyone out of his way to win.

David Caraviello: Yeah Dave, Marcos has done that before, hasn't he? Both the Montreal races have been kind of wild. Who knows what we may see this weekend -- four cars doing celebratory burnouts at the same time? In a hailstorm? OK, for the sake of the fans -- who have been terrific in the way they've embraced this event -- you hope the latter is not the case.

Dave Rodman: God no, you don't. Ol' Ron and Marcos, I believe, are head-and-shoulders above the rest in these cars, on this circuit. Fellows has five wins at Watkins Glen alone, plus the one at Montreal last year. It'll be interesting to see if the economic malaise that's affected most of our American venues also hits Montreal, which has had pretty stout crowds for two years.

David Caraviello: But there is a 40 percent chance of rain in Montreal on Saturday -- good thing Goodyear has those new rain tires ready to go!

Raygan Swan: David, don't forget the Swiffers! Maybe this year Carl Edwards will bring a ShamWow!

David Caraviello: Are we on the ShamWow again? What is this, the third time it's been mentioned this year in Track Smack? Raygan, do you have a personal endorsement deal with them?

Raygan Swan: I wish, then I could get some free ones! I go to Bed Bath and Beyond a lot, and they are at the checkout counter! I see them often, and I laugh every time!

Dave Rodman: As strange as it seems, I bet teams have done a minimal amount of work on any rain systems. Last year's event was unusual, to say the least, and that track drains water so poorly that if it rained to any degree again, it's game over.

David Caraviello: But you know what? I love this race. It's fun, it's different, and hopefully they serve that great Canadian bacon for breakfast in the media lounge. I'm glad it's found a place on the schedule by itself, and not opposite a Cup event. Outside of Daytona, this is about as big as it gets for the Nationwide boys, so let them have their moment.

Raygan Swan: Ah, Canadian bacon -- low in fat, high in protein, and way better than American bacon, but from the same animal, no less.

David Caraviello: Yeah. For all our American ingenuity, Raygan, it's amazing we haven't figured that one out by now.

The opinions expressed are those solely of the participants.

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