Canadian wins Nationwide race

Published 5:00 am Sunday, August 3, 2008

MONTREAL — Carl Edwards used a squeegee to clean his windshield while he drove under caution. Jacques Villeneuve and Joey Logano wrecked with the yellow flag flying. And rooster tails flew off the grooved — yes, grooved — back tires.

It certainly was a history-making day at rainy Circuit Gilles Villeneuve — right down to the winner, Canadian road-racer Ron Fellows.

In the first NASCAR points race run on grooved rain tires, Fellows splashed his way to victory — his fourth road-race win in 13 Nationwide Series starts — in the event that ended 26 laps early because of heavy rain and poor visibility.

“Visibility was the big, big problem,” said Fellows, the first Canadian winner in a major NASCAR race in Canada. “At over 70 mph, there was just so much spray.”

The 48-year-old Ontario driver took advantage of Marcos Ambrose’s pit-road speeding penalty to take the lead, and had about a half-minute advantage over fellow Canadian Patrick Carpentier when the NAPA Auto Parts 200 was red-flagged.

Marketplace