Canadian Mist: Fellows wins in the rain

Less than 10 laps into the NAPA Auto Parts 200 Nationwide Series event in Montreal, rain began to fall. As is the usual routine for NASCAR in the case of inclement weather, the sanctioning body promptly put the field under yellow flag conditions and led the cars down pit road.

This time however, NASCAR pulled out Goodyear rain tires, kept in stock since 2000, and allowed the teams to change tires, add windshield wipers and defoggers, a rear taillight and make other optional changes.
 
Saturday’s road race at the 2.709-mile Circuit Gilles Villeneuve marked the first time in NASCAR history that a points race ran during rain conditions.
 
Rain tires were used during the qualifying session for a Sprint Cup Series exhibition race in Japan in the 1999. In 1997, the Craftsman Truck Series slapped on rain tires during a practice session at Watkins Glen. The series has since stopped running road courses.
 
The cars remained on pit road for under 10 minutes and once back on track, ran a handful of laps under the yellow flag. The green was displayed on lap 13 with pole-sitter and road-racing expert Scott Pruett leading the way. He, however, was quickly passed by Marcos Ambrose.

Ambrose, a former V8 Supercar Series champion in Australia, nearly pulled off the inaugural win in Canada one year ago before contact from Robby Gordon knocked him from contention.
 
This time around he led 27 laps but lost the lead during a green flag exchange of pit stops. Though most of the event was run under little or no rain, by lap 40 the skies had opened bringing a downpour. Ambrose dropped his Ford to pi troad and was caught speeding both entering and exiting, bringing a pass-through penalty.
 
Native Canadian Ron Fellows, piloting a JR Motorsports entry, inherited the lead following the exchange of stops on lap 42. He was on a different sequence with his previous stop falling on lap 21 and was expected to make his final visit down pit road around lap 60. 
 
With numerous drivers radioing their crews of the track’s condition, NASCAR threw the yellow flag on lap 46 due to the heavy downpour, erasing Fellow’s 42-second lead.
 
The heavy rain and dark skies hindered visibility causing a few jaw-dropping accidents under the yellow flag and causing NASCAR to be bombarded for the second straight week with backlash of their officiating.

Though this week’s problems were not caused by Goodyear or their rain tires, it had everything to do with leaving the cars on the track in unsafe conditions.
 
Under the yellow, Jacques Villeneuve was running sixth and Joey Logano fourth when both were involved in separate incidents, ending their days, just before NASCAR pulled the plug on the race.

Fellows led seven laps before NASCAR was forced to call the event with just 48 of the 74 laps complete due to the heavy rain. The track was soaked, with water standing in dangerous puddles around the racing surface.
 
The weekend was a special one for Villeneuve, racing on the track named after his father Gilles. Though once considered his home track, Villeneuve has been absent from competition on the road course since leaving the F-1 world behind a few years ago to pursue stock cars.
 
Villeneuve, who did not have a wiper on his windshield, said simply he “could not see a thing” and ran into the rear of Ron Hornaday, Jr., causing heavy damage to the nose of his Braun Racing Toyota.

As Villeneuve drove his rumpled mess to the pits, Logano made contact with a lapped car and slammed the wall ending his day.
 
One lap after the Logano crash, NASCAR put the race under red and parked the cars on pit road. Minutes later, the race was called, giving the win to Fellows.
 
It was Fellows’ fourth career win. His three previous checkered flags fell on the road course in Watkins Glen, the site of next weekend’s race.
 
For the second year in a row fellow Canadian Patrick Carpentier finished second.
 
Ambrose, who also said his speeding issue on pit road was caused because he "couldn't see a thing," finished a disappointing third.

Carl Edwards and Clint Bowyer both finished within the top 10 after flying in from Pocono, Penn., and Sprint Cup Series activities. Both Saturday practice sessions were rained out in Pocono, allowing the two, along with David Ragan, David Reutimann and Greg Biffle, to fly in early and qualify their machines.

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