2011 NASCAR Nationwide Race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve Race Preview

The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is a 4.361 km (2.71 mi) motor racing circuit for the Formula one Canadian Grand Prix, NASCAR Canadian tire Series, NASCAR Nationwide Series and Grand- Am Rolex Sports Car Series. Saturday Augusts 20^th , the NASCAR Nationwide series starts race 24 out of 34 on there season schedule at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montréal Canada. Anytime we go to a road course we always see a lot of road course expert drivers try to make the field and compete against the Nationwide regulars. This weekend the NASCAR Nationwide series has four popular news

headlines going into the race this weekend.



29 year old Canadian Maryeve Default is a race car driver from Sorel, Quebec. As a Teenager, Maryeve raced snowmobiles, motorcross, go-karts and open wheel racing. In 2010 she raced in two events in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series. In 2011 she made 12 starts in the ARCA series and had one top 10 finish at Chicagoland. Saturday Maryeve plans on becoming the first Canadian woman to make a Nationwide Series race when she straps on her helmet at her hometown track in this weekend's NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. Default has been entered in the No. 81 Dodge owned by Pat MacDonald, with sponsorship from the Quebec Dodge Dealers. The car is normally driven by Blake Koch. The car is inside the top 30 in owner's points, guaranteeing Default a starting spot in Saturday's race. I truly believe Maryeve will have a good solid finish saturday.

Boris Said will drive the No. 30 Turner Motorsports Chevrolet for the Nationwide Series race at Circuit Gilles Villanueva on Aug. 20. Boris is the defending winner of the race at Montréal. Said has two top-five finishes in four starts at the track, and after an exciting battle for the lead in the closing laps of the 2010 event, Said captured his first career victory in the Nationwide Series. In 22 Nationwide starts this season, Turner Motors ports has three wins, 19 top-five and 45 top-10 finishes between its four teams.

There have been reports by ESPN reporters that Danica Patrick is finalizing a contract to run full time in 2012 for JR motor sports in the Nationwide Series. There also have been reports that she will run part time for Stewart Hass racing in the Sprint cup Series in 2012. An announcement is expected next week in Phoenix, where Patrick's sponsor, GoDaddy.com, is based. The initial announcement of Patrick's foray into NASCAR racing took place in Dec. 2009 in the Rotunda at Chase Field in Phoenix. Danica Patrick is one of the most popular drivers in the Indy Car Series. If she leaves the Indy series next year, that will definitely hurt the series.

30 year old IZOD Indy car driver, Alex Taglioni will be making his 3rd Nationwide series start this weekend in Montreal. He will be driving the #12 Hot wheels sponsored dodge car for Penske racing. Taglioni drives for Sam Schmidt motorsports in the Indy Series and he is currently 10^th in the IZOD Indy car series Championship points standings.

The Nationwide Series rolled out on the track Friday morning for practice one and Friday afternoon for practice two. Most of the road course experts were the fastest in both practices.

The Canadian fans were on there feet cheering during the NASCAR Nationwide Series Qualifying for the NASCAR Nationwide Series NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villanueve, with two local stars starting in the front row for the race.

Jacques Villeueve bumped Alex Talgliani off the Pole position to snatch his first career NASCAR nationwide series Pole. The Pair of Rodger Penske -owned Dodges were the only two to complete a lap under 72 seconds around the 2.71 mile circuit .

Saturday afternoon I believe race fans will see an exciting road course race that will keep you on the edge of your chair until the checkered flag waves. The drivers who I believe have a good chance at winning Saturday are: Pole Sitter Jacques Villeueve, IZOD Indy Car driver Alex Talgaliani, Boris Said and Ron Fellows. Those drivers definitely have a good chance at winning Saturday, but anything can happen in the race and we could see a driver who we least expected to win be in victory lane. We will have to wait and see what the Nationwide road course race will be like Saturday afternoon by watching it at 2:30 p.m. ET Saturday on ESPN!

Click on the link below to take you to practice 1 results
http://nationwide.nascar.com/nationwide-series/races/2011/practice/24/1/



Click on the link below to take you to practice 2 results
http://nationwide.nascar.com/nationwide-series/races/2011/practice/24/2/

Click on the link below to take you to qualifying results
http://nationwide.nascar.com/nationwide-series/races/2011/lineup/24/