Montreal wants a Sprint Cup race at the Ile de Notre Dame road course

The promoter of the NASCAR Nationwide NAPA 200 at Montreal’s Circuit Gilles Villeneuve wants a Sprint Cup race at the Ile de Notre Dame road course. In an exclusive interview with The Toronto Sun at Daytona International Speedway Octane Motorsports Events boss Francois Dumontier said that it is his objective to have Montreal as home to the first NASCAR Sprint Cup race run outside of the United States.

“Our contract as promoter of the Nationwide race is coming up for renewal and we are in negotiations to extend that," he said. “And although we have not had any direct discussions, yet, about a Cup race in Canada, that is our objective."

The NAPA 200 has been among the most successful Nationwide races on that series’ schedule since its debut, and has sold out every race since.

Even when it is up against a Sprint Cup race — as it was in 2007 with a Cup race in Pocono — the Montreal event still manages to draw to capacity.

This year, the NAPA 200 will be run on Aug. 20, the same weekend the Sprint Cup series will at Michigan International Speedway.

But according to Dumontier, that is close enough to attract Cup drivers to do “the double" that weekend.

“The first year of our race we were up against the Cup race in Pocono and we succeeded is getting a number of Cup drivers in Montreal so we are working very closely with NASCAR to make sure we have some Cup representatives come up from Michigan."

Dumontier said that his race has already scored something of a coup in having racing super star Danica Patrick agreeing to add Montreal to her J.R. Motorsports schedule this season on the No. 7 Chevrolet.

“We will have Danica Patrick this year and Elliott Sadler will be running for the Nationwide championship," he said. Toronto Sun