Four Wide: Ambrose again aims for Montreal

The organizer of Sunday's race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve expressed disappointment earlier this week that none of NASCAR's top stars participated in a news conference to promote the popular Nationwide Series event.

But Francois Dumontier can't stay upset for very long. The fourth running of the road-course race has drawn a field that's made the event one of the most anticipated races of the season.

Carl Edwards is back to defend last year's victory, his first career NASCAR road-course win, and has a stout field of challengers trying to wrest the trophy away. Edwards' win last year in the rain is one of the most cherished of his career, and the victory celebration by the die-hard Canadian race fans was something he'll never forget.

Edwards trailed fellow Sprint Cup driver Marcos Ambrose around the circuit over the waning laps, and had all but accepted a runner-up finish when he made one last-ditch move to make the race-winning pass. As he pulled out of line, Ambrose missed the entrance to the final turn, and Edwards had the opening he needed.

"It gives me chills thinking about it," Edwards recalled this week. "That victory lap last season, and the response I got from the crowd, that was one of the neatest wins I've ever had in my life."

Since the Cup Series has its final off-date of the season this weekend, there was little incentive to lure drivers who don't normally travel to stand-alone Nationwide races. But teams still filled their cars with drivers capable of drawing a crowd and keeping the fans interested with an exciting race. JR Motorsports, for example, filled its two cars with Ron Fellows and J.R. Fitzpatrick to create an all-Canadian lineup.

Fellows is one of the main road-course specialists who will be in the race, and he'll be joined by Ambrose, Robby Gordon, Jacques Villeneuve, Patrick Carpentier, Boris Said and Max Papis.

Other Sprint Cup regulars making the trek are Nationwide Series points-leader Brad Keselowski, Joey Logano, Paul Menard and Joe Nemechek.

Here's a look at four to watch this weekend at the NAPA Auto Parts 200.

1. Marcos Ambrose:

He has three consecutive wins in the Nationwide race at Watkins Glen, but is still seeking his first in Montreal.

Ambrose has had two solid shots at the victory. He was robbed of the win in the inaugural 2007 race when Robby Gordon knocked him out of the lead, and his error on the final lap last year gave Edwards the victory.

With seventh-, third- and second-place finishes in his three previous starts, Ambrose has a win on his weekend agenda.

"It's frustrating and disappointing because we should have won Montreal multiple times, but this time no dramas," Ambrose said. "We're going there to win, and I'll keep racing there until we do win."

Ambrose believes last year's race could have gone differently if his error had not come in the final turn. Any other place on the track, and he thinks he would have been able to re-pass Edwards.

"I was really devastated," said Ambrose, who also erred as the leader in the Sprint Cup race at Sonoma in June to cough away a victory.

Ambrose is going back with his race-winning car from Watkins Glen, and Edwards knows he'll have his hands full with the Australian.

"He is a spectacular race-car driver," Edwards said. "I mean, not just good – he's possibly the best road-racer in the world."

2. Robby Gordon:

This will be Gordon's first appearance at Montreal since his controversial incident in the inaugural race.

Gordon passed Ambrose for the lead, then Ambrose spun Gordon to reclaim the lead – contact that happened about the same time a caution came out behind them. Gordon believed he was at worst in second-place at the time of the caution, but NASCAR ruled he was in 13th because the spin left him unable to maintain reasonable speed.

Gordon, though, refused the directive to fall back in the field and stayed in second for the restart. He then spun Ambrose on the first green flag lap, moved to the front of the field and was the first driver across the finish line.

Although he celebrated with burnouts as if he won the race, Kevin Harvick was actually given the victory, and Gordon was suspended for the next day's Cup race at Pocono.

Gordon, who won the Cup road-course races at Sonoma and Watkins Glen, is likely headed back only because he thinks he can win Sunday.

"In 2007, he came close to winning our inaugural event, and fans still remember the eventful end of the race in which he was one of the main actors," Dumontier said. "We wish him better luck this time, and if he is battling for the win, we hope that he does not become involved in any controversy during a late-race restart."

3. Jacques Villeneuve:

He had a shot at a career-best, second-place finish at Road America in June, but electrical issues late in the race cost the former Formula One world champion any chance at challenging winner Edwards.

Now he heads back to the track named for his late father looking for a little bit of redemption.

"We are coming in aggressively," he said of the Braun Racing team. "We are pulling out all the stops for Montreal so we can compete. The first year when it was the heavy rain, we led the lap and then I crashed under a caution. That was a little bit annoying. And we were quite competitive last year. So I think we are coming this year to try and win it."

Villeneuve was fourth in Montreal last year, and was eighth earlier this month at Watkins Glen. This will be his fifth Nationwide race for Braun.

He's worked with the Braun team on a new braking system to use at Montreal, a necessity because of his style of driving, which has in the past caused his brakes to get too hot and become effective late in races.

"It's a very demanding track, and I'm a late braker," he said. "I'm a heavy braker. The later you brake, the more heat gets in there and then everything starts bending, basically, so you end up with a brake pedal that gets long. At Watkins Glen, I was hitting the bottom of the brakes and I just couldn't brake any harder.

"There was nothing else to press, and they get hot to the point where it just slides and it doesn't brake anymore."

4. Max Papis:

The latest driver to get a shot in Kevin Harvick Inc.-owned equipment will be trying to better his 2007 third-place finish.

It's not clear if Papis' race Sunday will be the final one of the year for him or not in the Nationwide car. He does not have any plans to enter any more Cup races, and is being replaced in the Germain Racing car by Casey Mears. He's running select Truck Series races the rest of this season, and is scheduled to run a full season for Germain in 2011.

He's looking forward, though, to a shot in KHI equipment.

"This is an unreal opportunity," said Papis. "I'm real excited about it because I had good results over there and I had [my] best-ever finish in NASCAR. I love the Canadian fans. I've been there racing different stuff from Champ cars to Grand-Am. I'm going to take this opportunity and go there and attack."

Papis has twice before started on the front row at Montreal, and has finished 20th in his last two appearances there.

His road-course experience and familiarity with the Montreal course makes Papis a contender for Sunday.