Source: nascar.com
Canadian Ron Fellows took advantage of pit strategy and an early end to Saturday's NAPA Auto Parts 200 to score the fourth Nationwide Series victory of his career - and his first at a track other than Watkins Glen International. In the first NASCAR points race on rain tires - tires constructed in 1999, no less - Fellows, a road course specialist and a two-time class winner in the rain at Le Mans, held the lead when NASCAR called the race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve 25 laps short of its scheduled distance of 74 laps Fellows, 48, had pitted early on lap 22 and gradually worked his way to the front, taking the lead when Jacques Villeneuve pitted on lap 42. "That was difficult," Fellows said as he climbed from the No. 5 Chevrolet fielded by Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s JR Motorsports. "We've had a little bit of that over in France with the Corvette at Le Mans. But this was good fun. Now I've got to make Dale Jr. let me run next week [when the Nationwide Series goes to Watkins Glen]." Patrick Carpentier finished second for the second consecutive year at the 2.709-mile road course. Carpentier gained ground after NASCAR red-flagged the race on lap 8 because of rain and required all cars to change from slicks to rain tires that featured a tread pattern designed to push water away. "The rain tire - everybody had questions about it, but it worked," Carpentier said. "I don't know if I would have wanted to be out there on dry tires that were nine years old, but the [rain] tires held up very well." Third-place finisher Marcos Ambrose led a race-high 27 laps, but a penalty for speeding on pit road deprived him of the chance to win. "I feel a little jinxed," Ambrose said. "I felt like I dominated the race. I feel really disappointed. I felt like it was our race [Saturday]." Ron Hornaday ran fourth, followed by Boris Said, Carl Edwards, Jason Leffler, Greg Biffle, series points leader Clint Bowyer and Steve Wallace. Jacques Villeneuve retired moments before the race was red flagged. His car did not had wipers and Villeneuve could not see through his windscreen and hit another car that had stalled on the race track. His car sustained heavy damage, and the former F1 World Champion was forced to retire.
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