Stock-Car Montreal, a subsidiary of International Speedway Corporation, announced on Monday that it has signed a three-year lease with the Parc Jean-Drapeau in Montreal to host major motorsports events on the historic Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
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The NASCAR Nationwide series will continue at Gilles Villeneuve Circuit even if Formula One has disappeared.
The dates for this year’s NAPA Auto Parts 200 are Aug. 29 and Aug. 30 - a Saturday and a Sunday. In its first two years, the Montreal event was held earlier in August on Friday and Saturday, on the same weekend as a race in the higher-level NASCAR Sprint Cup series in another city.
“We should get more top drivers to do the event and overall, it should be a bigger event,” said Stock Car Montreal boss Francois Dumontier. “NASCAR responded to our request for a stand-alone weekend.”
The fate of the Nationwide series event was up in the air after the city lost its popular F1 race in October and promoter Normand Legault announced he was pulling out of the business.
But Daytona, Fla.-based International Speedway Corporation, which previously owned 50 per cent of the event, bought out Legault’s half so the stock car race could continue, said Dumontier. It’s one of the best-attended races on the Nationwide schedule.
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Normand Legault, who facilitated the agreement between Parc Jean-Drapeau and ISC, is glad to see the NASCAR event and major motorsports continue in this market.“This is the best thing that could happen for Montreal’s racing future,” he said. “I’ve promoted races with ISC for a few years—they have an excellent reputation and sincerely wish to develop a long lasting relationship with Montreal and its thousands of race fans.”
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