NASCAR's second Nationwide Series race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve became a first for reasons other than expanding the sport's international appeal. As cars were outfitted with windshield wipers, blowers, brake lights and rain tires -- the latter of which had been ready to use for nearly a decade -- the event in Montreal became the first in any of NASCAR's national divisions to go green in wet conditions.

And the whole setup worked, too, producing a competitive event that was ultimately halted 26 laps short of its scheduled distance because of standing water over parts of the 2.7-mile race track. With the Nationwide cars returning to Montreal on Saturday, and the most recent Sprint Cup race on a road course postponed a day because of rain, some are wondering if NASCAR's premier series could ever take to rain-soaked asphalt the way the Nationwide tour did last year.

“

That was highly entertaining, but I was very glad that I wasn't inside the car.

”

JEFF GORDON

Ron Fellows, a road-course specialist who won last season's Montreal event, believes they could.

"I think they can," said Fellows, a native of Canada competing Saturday in a JR Motorsports car. "Horsepower aside, you've just got to learn how to manage it and keep it on the road. The difference is that NASCAR hasn't told the [Cup] teams that that's going to happen, whereas for about as long as I can remember, we're talking at least eight years or so in NASCAR competition, they have told the Nationwide and Truck teams if it rains, be prepared for it. It hasn't been a factor with the Sprint Cup [tour].

"Rain at Infineon is certainly very rare. This is the first time we've had it on a Sunday at Watkins Glen in about the 10 years I've been doing it. I think it's a matter of deciding, is it something they want to pursue? Obviously, I'd love to see it. The road-racing crowd is certainly prepared for it. We'll see."

Goodyear, exclusive tire provider to NASCAR's national series, will bring to Montreal this weekend a new rain tire that was tested earlier this season by Juan Montoya at the company's proving ground in San Angelo, Texas. Although NASCAR has said it has no plans to race in the rain on a Sprint Cup track anytime soon, Goodyear officials believe the current Nationwide rain tire could easily be modified to fit cars in the sport's premier division.

That would certainly be good news to track promoters, who are faced with a multitude of headaches anytime an event is postponed by rain. The Sprint Cup road race at Watkins Glen International earlier this month was pushed back a day by rain.

"I'm a big advocate of racing in the rain when and where you can do it safely," said Humpy Wheeler, president of the consulting firm The Wheeler Co., and former president of Speedway Motorsports Inc., the track conglomerate that includes the Infineon Raceway road course. "Get the thing out of the way. I'm not talking about lightning or downpours or anything like that. But it would help us a great deal, if you could find an inexpensive way to do it, and of covering the fans. There are ways these days that aren't terribly costly to do that."

Not everyone is convinced. Sprint Cup driver Jeff Gordon remembers watching that Montreal race last year, and the problems some cars had with windshields fogging up. Despite his historic prowess on road courses, he's in no rush to compete in the rain.

"We have enough challenges trying to stay on the track when it's dry, and I can't imagine what it would be like in a Cup race if it was wet. I will say that I thoroughly enjoyed watching it rain up there in Montreal last year. That was highly entertaining, but I was very glad that I wasn't inside the car," Gordon said.

"One of the biggest reasons, I think it would be fun to actually drive the cars in the rain if you get a consistent rain and you can feel the grip level, but as you saw, the windshield wipers don't work, the defog doesn't work. When you have a guy with a Swiffer trying to clean your windshield off, there's something wrong. That car should not be out there in the rain. We're not going to come in and fix that, you're going to keep going.

"I'm not sure why they do it in Nationwide and they don't on Sunday. ... I really don't know, but I'm not going to go over there and stand in line and beg them to put rain tires on us, I can tell you that."

• Videos: Racing in the rain at Montreal