It's a fast elevator ride from the mezzanine to the John Lennon Suite on the 17th floor of Montreal's Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth hotel, but there's plenty of time for driver Jason Leffler to needle Joe Balash, the Nationwide Series director.

"When am I going to get my five laps back?" Leffler deadpans.

Balash laughs.

"I don't have to get them back all at once," Leffler says. "One per race will be fine."

Leffler and Balash have come a long way since Daytona, where Leffler drew a five-lap penalty for aggressive driving after his No. 38 Great Clips Toyota tapped Steve Wallace's No. 66 Chevrolet and ignited a wreck that sidelined Wallace and rookies Justin Allgaier and Scott Lagasse Jr.

Leffler and NASCAR will continue to disagree about whether the tap was intentional, but bygones are bygones on March 18, when banter has replaced any rancor that might have remained from the incident.

It's appropriate that the elevator trip ends at Suite 1742, where Lennon wrote and recorded Give Peace a Chance during his 1969 bed-in with wife, Yoko Ono.

Balash and Leffler have a singular purpose on their trip to Montreal, accompanied by an advance team that includes Tracey Judd, senior manager of communications for the Nationwide Series; Lenny Santiago, director of marketing communications for International Speedway Corp.; Ginny Pritchett, coordinator of broadcast communications for NASCAR; and Stacey Thompson, Leffler's public relations representative.

Tickets for the Nationwide event at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve road course on Aug. 30 go on sale Friday. Though the race is more than five months away, Leffler and Balash are doing their part to make sure everyone in Montreal knows about it, whether French or English is their native language.

The visit to the Lennon Suite comes during a short break in a whirlwind schedule that started at 7 a.m. with radio appearances on two of Montreal's popular morning shows.

Rob Martier, host at the second radio stop, has misunderstood Leffler's last name. He introduces him as "Jason Lafleur" and comments on what an appropriate name that is for a driver in Montreal. After all, there's no greater sports icon in Quebec than hockey legend Guy Lafleur.

Leffler corrects him good-naturedly. "It's Leffler," he says. "It's German." (Continued)