Five Drivers to Watch in Montreal

When the Nationwide Series makes its second stop in Montreal this Saturday, the star power from last year's race will be missing.

Defending winner Robby Gordon won’t be there, and neither will the driver that got the trophy and the points, Kevin Harvick. Still, the second visit promises to have no shortages of contenders and storylines. In particular I’m focusing on three Canadians, an Australian, and a Kansas boy I profiled last week.

Patrick Carpentier—PC, my favorite Sprint Cup rookie this season, is skipping the race in Pocono this weekend in order to try and win the race in Montreal. Carpentier is from Quebec, and was thisclose last year in his first NASCAR race at any level. I think he has a great shot to win, and would love to see him do so. In his first run with the No. 9 team in Mexico City this year he finished fifth.

Ron Fellows—Fellows is the ageless wonder of NASCAR road racing but his game appears as good as ever. He owns multiple wins at Watkins Glen, where the series will be next week, and has a strong car under him this week as he wheels the No. 5 JR Motorsports Chevy. Fellows ran competitively last year driving for KHI, and will most likely do so again Saturday.

Jacques Villeneuve—Villeneuve is one of the wildcards in the field this weekend. He didn’t compete last year as he was focused on Sprint Cup. Villeneuve’s car this weekend—the No. 32 Braun Toyota—is no slouch, as it currently sits 15th in the owners standings and has been driven by Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin, among others.

Even more personal, the Montreal track is named after his father, the late Gilles Villeneuve. Jacques didn’t win here in F1, but would no doubt love to do so this weekend.

Marcos Ambrose—“Kangaroo Meat” has received the bulk of attention with the series returning to Montreal. Ambrose dominated the race last year and most likely would have won, if he hadn’t spun Robby Gordon out under caution and received his payback on the restart.

Ambrose hasn’t run as well as he did last year, but this race could very well turn that around. Yes, I’m faulting Ambrose for his own actions in regards to Gordon last year.

Clint Bowyer—A year ago, it was his RCR teammates Kevin Harvick and Jeff Burton making the journey to Montreal to compete in this race while Bowyer stayed in Pocono. This season the roles are reversed and it could present an interesting challenge to the Emporia, Kansas native in his quest to win the Nationwide Series championship.

He will be a rookie at this track and perhaps even more risky, will turn his first laps on the track when he receives the green flag. If he escapes with a top-15, he should feel very, very lucky.