Legault gets Montreal for 5 more years

[cameraman]

Pond scum wins a round.


MONTREAL (CP) - Montreal mayor Gerald Tremblay announced a five-year lease renewal Friday with Canadian Grand Prix organizer Normand Legault, giving him exclusive rights to present races at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve through 2011.

The announcement puts into jeopardy the annual Champ Car race held on the Montreal track because it is promoted by Alan Labrosse, and Legault has expressed interest in bringing a NASCAR Busch Series race to Montreal.

''Over the last 27 years, Normand Legault has shown that we can put our confidence in him,'' Tremblay said during a news conference Friday.

Tremblay considered the announcement to be good news because it assures that Formula 1 will make a stop in Montreal for the next five years. But the announcement could be very bad news for Labrosse because Tremblay was also clear there will never be three racing weekends in Montreal.

That means if Legault is successful in attracting a Busch Series race to Montreal, Labrosse's Champ Car race may be left out. Labrosse, however, is not throwing in the towel just yet.

''I hope the city will continue to take into consideration, along with Mr. Legault, that we have a quality product that is going into its fifth year, and which we could continue for the next five years,'' Labrosse said. ''It is possible to have Formula 1, Champ Car and the Busch Series.

''Let's see if we can present all three.''

Aside from giving Legault exclusive rights, the main difference between the new lease and the current one is Legault will also be responsible for the maintenance of the race track. Tremblay estimated it cost the city $1.5 million every five years, mainly to re-surface the 4.361-kilometre track.

Legault did not speak to reporters, but expressed his thanks to Tremblay through a news release.

''We are strongly enthusiastic about the prospect of continuing to contribute to the promotion of our city around the world and, through our actions, the generation of major economic benefits,'' Legault said in the statement.

Legault will pay the city $356,000 annually over the next five years, in addition to the maintenance costs.

[Insomniac]

Pond scum wins a round.

It will be a shame if ChampCar gets the boot, but it will be interesting to see what attendance the Busch series draws.

[gjc2]

I've been to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve many times, and I can't imagine how stock cars could run there. The circuit is to narrow, the hairpin is to tight and the pits are to small, other than that………

George

[TravelGal]

Alas, not unexpected.

I'm still wondering why KK was in Montreal this week? I doubt it was to try to stop this. I think it was a done deal for a few days. A little sabre rattling perhaps?

[Insomniac]

Alas, not unexpected.

I'm still wondering why KK was in Montreal this week? I doubt it was to try to stop this. I think it was a done deal for a few days. A little sabre rattling perhaps?

Scouting out a street race?

[TravelGal]

Scouting out a street race?

Wouldn't that just toast their buns!

Somewhat off topic--I have this sneaky suspicion that KK will take "the others" on directly when CCWS is strong enough to do it and win. Til then, he bides his time. He wins nearly all (but not all) the skirmishes. Enough to keep moving in the direction he wants to go. Eyes on goal. And his goal is to win.

[Insomniac]

Wouldn't that just toast their buns!

Somewhat off topic--I have this sneaky suspicion that KK will take "the others" on directly when CCWS is strong enough to do it and win. Til then, he bides his time. He wins nearly all (but not all) the skirmishes. Enough to keep moving in the direction he wants to go. Eyes on goal. And his goal is to win.

It would at least keep them on their toes and thinking twice about switching to Busch.

[SurfaceUnits]

I've been to the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve many times, and I can't imagine how stock cars could run there. The circuit is to narrow, the hairpin is to tight and the pits are to small, other than that………

GeorgeAnd where will the :gomer:s park their RVs?

Can't see Montrealers cheering stock cars

Jul. 1, 2006. 01:00 AM
NORRIS MCDONALD

Newspapers in Montreal and one in Toronto have been reporting that an imminent announcement will confirm what has been rumoured, discussed and analyzed to death for two years now — that NASCAR and Montreal promoter Normand Legault have reached an agreement to run a Busch Grand National race at Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve next summer.

Those papers have been reporting this for several months now — the imminent bit. The talk has been around a lot longer. Either way, the story is always the same:

"Great idea, details to be worked out, love to do it, we're close, couple of signatures short, yadayadayada."

It's just like the "merger" between Champ Car and the Indy Racing League. A headline gets everybody all excited. It's only when you read the story (and if you've been paying attention) that you realize that there's really nothing new.

This is not to say that a NASCAR Montreal race isn't going to happen. An announcement could be made — but likely not until after the Champ Car World Series race there in August.

Why? Because of all the bad feelings that came after last year's Montreal Champ Car race at which there was not a lot of promotion, there were not a lot of grandstands and, in the end, not a lot of people.

The word "sabotage" was thrown around — a lot. Paul Newman, co-owner of a Champ Car team, went on record saying he hoped there would be a lawsuit filed over it.

None was. But you can bet that if NASCAR and Legault say anything publicly about a Busch race in Montreal next summer before this year's Champ Car race is over, Champ Car owner Kevin Kalkhoven will unloose the legal beagles.

If you've been paying attention (see above), you'll know that Kalkhoven and NASCAR (in the person of the general manger of the speedway there) have been involved in a staredown in recent months over a proposed Champ Car street race in downtown Phoenix.

It is nasty there; it could turn really nasty in Montreal. Who knows? It might get nasty anyway.

Be that as it may, I'm here today to argue that NASCAR is making a big mistake going to Montreal in the first place. Two things that happened late last week got me thinking.

First, I went to the Vintage Auto Racing Festival at Mosport. Every time I go to that jewel of an auto racing venue north of Bowmanville, I am in awe. It is the absolute best place in Canada to hold a big-league road race.

But before that, on the Thursday, the new owners of Cayuga Speedway (south of Hamilton) held an information session at NASCAR Speedpark in Vaughan Mills Mall at which they announced that following the CASCAR race on Labour Day weekend, the old speedway and its buildings will be razed and work will begin on a brand new one-mile oval race track that will be open for business in the spring of 2008.

Reportedly designed by the same company that renovated the delightful speedway in Richmond, Va., the new Cayuga will have all the amenities (the private clubs, the suites, etc.) and be, well, simply gorgeous. There is no doubt that, once completed, it will be the absolute best place in Canada to hold a big-league oval race.

So why's NASCAR going to Montreal? Who (or what) has convinced them that Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve on Île Notre-Dame is the place for them to be? And, most importantly, why the Busch series?

Okay, we know why NASCAR — the sanctioning body, the car owners and the sponsors — likes Montreal. It's a great place. But what about Bubba?

Unlike a Formula One crowd, which flies into a city and spends like crazy in hotels, restaurants and the downtown shops, a NASCAR crowd comes for one thing and only one thing: the race.

Most arrive morning of, and depart evening of. The ones who come for a few days stay in motor homes. Where you gonna park those things on Île Notre-Dame?

And the only spending those people do is at the track: on hot dogs and beer and at the souvenir trailers. Ask the folks in Indianapolis about this; they'll tell you.

Does NASCAR really want to risk a speed comparison between Formula One cars and stock cars? Kentucky Derby thoroughbreds vs. the Budweiser Clydesdales? What are they thinking?

And the Busch series? This, indeed, is a mystery. NASCAR has got it into its head that before it brings in the headline show, it's got to test the waters with the minor-league series first. Somebody should tell them that what worked in Mexico will crash and burn in Montreal because Montreal is a major-league city. It has the Canadiens, hosts that F1 race every year, put on an Olympic Games and was the site of Expo `67. It does not settle for seconds. That's why the Expos baseball team isn't there any more.

Which means Montreal residents are not going to be wildly excited about something comparable to the FIA's GP2 series being showcased as the big time. Sure, NASCAR might bring in a dozen or so Nextel Cup regulars — Jeff Gordon, Dale Jr., Tony Stewart, et al — and arrange rides for Canadian stars like Ron Fellows, Patrick Carpentier and, maybe, Paul Tracy, but Montreal auto racing fans are too sophisticated to be taken in for what essentially would be a mirage.

And NASCAR, itself, knows that the Busch series is not a good draw when it stands alone. The big cars were in California last Sunday and the Busch series was in Milwaukee Saturday night and the place was half empty

So, if Montreal race fans (F1 fans, to be more precise) are likely to turn up their noses at the Busch series and the Busch series doesn't attract sold-out, stand-alone crowds, then who's going to show up for a NASCAR race in Montreal?

But put that race at Mosport — Ontario is more stock car country than Quebec ever will be and is closer to major U.S. population centres — and the place would be packed. Or wait two years, until the new Cayuga Speedway opens and see what happens.

There wouldn't be enough tickets.