We have raced at Montreal and the place is walk and a half from anywhere. Don't ask for directions because for some reason they cant speak Canadian!!, and the traffic is horrendous to say the least.
Hotel costs are tripell ed and you can expect to pay around $225.00 per night. The Food is pretty good but the price will leave you starving. As for the Teams the Pit Area is a joke and spread out over a 3 mile distance based on what series your with. For the CTS guys its about a 1 mile walk to pit road.
Make that trip pushing Pit Equipment....
For a safe bet- stay home and watch it on TV as they will broadcast it in a Canadian language.
Here is the part that really ticks me off.
Has anyone heard the Radio and TV announcements for this race.
" Nascar comes to Canada for the first time "
I guess the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series doesn't count, or the store NASCAR CANADA, or the fact that NASCAR raced here in the 60's, or the fact that NASCAR made headlines all over the World announcing the purchase of CASCAR, and the birth of NASCAR CTS racing.
If I was a sponsor on a NASCAR CTS car and heard this, I would be calling the Team I sponsored and ask them...
" I thought we were sponsoring a NASCAR Team... what have you guys been doing and what series are you racing in ??? "
If the Busch Series or any other series comes back to Canada to race I would strongly suggest they hold the event at MOSPORT, for several reasons.
1. They speak Canadian
2. Lots of parking
3. Lots of Camping
4. Lots of different ways to get to the track
5. Lots of Hotels within a 30 min. drive
6. Lots of room in the pits for all the Teams
7. Super Friendly People including the Staff, the Track Marshalls, and most of all the FANS.
8. They speak Canadian
ORRIVVEWHAA MOUNTTREEALL !!
Wow dave you sure like to stir the political pot!!! LOL They are canadian , they just sound a little different. if you try to say bonjour instead of hello, you will find that 95% of them speak english they just want you to try to speak french first. When in Rome..........
As for the Montreal race, it is on an island and there isnt much we can do about that. the teams were told in edmonton to make sure you have golf carts and quads to carry your equipment and your team, they said it was going to be just like what we did in edmonton last week just a little further.....no big deal. Nascar is tryiing to corner a demographic that is in the heart of montreal...those people are used to taking public transit so i dont think it is all that bad. i think this race is going to be a huge step for all of us. I hope my team can be there next year!!
My family went down to the Barrett jackson auction(phoenix) this year and god forbid they made us park five miles away, they put us on a bus (bastards) and they forced us to walk from the bus 50 feet 😮 to the front door of the venue. The same scenario was used the next week for the Phoenix Open. Same parking lots same buses. over 150,000 people attended the Phoenix Open!!!
I agree with your point about Nascars first trip to canada, we should all drop a line to the marketing people in nascar canadas office and make them more aware of this. You cant forget this is our passion (auto racing) and fans and potential fans are still very uninformed about what has happened. Not a day goes by were someone doesnt ask me whats going on with this whole cascar/nascar thing. These are also points to bring up to the marketing people of nascar canada. We as race teams have to keep informeing them (nascar) of these things we see and hear about our sport. They have been very responsive to every conversation our team has had with them so far...and that is a huge step from the lack of communication we had in past years.
Keep up the posts Dave, they keep us all talking racing, just try to be more positive. You will not make a living at this as a team owner unless you get the corporate backing...slagging the series over and over will get you nowhere with corporations, and it will definetly get a door to the chin with NASCAR. Just my two cents, no stone throwin or kickin just my thoughts... #21 Jason White Owner/Driver
Thanks, I think Jason.
I never bashed NASCAR at all in that blurb, so please don't say I did. I Will say NASCAR needs to control the advertisements and the wording because if you didn't know better you would swear that this was NASCAR's first trip to CANADA and they need to be able to override comments like that.
The success of NASCAR in Canada is based on exposure, credibility, and performance which all add up to the success of the series and Canadian Tires expectations.
The adds could have read, " Joining the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series will be the NASCAR Busch cars at Montreal". NORTH meets SOUTH deal.
As for being positive this is about as positive as I get. I have always been one to speak his mind good or bad and I don't intend on changing any time soon. Every Sponsor we have ever had, likes my attitude because I'm straight to the point, no icing on the cake, no cover ups, and support the series I am racing in until they start to make mistakes that cost everyone a ton of money, or they try and put the icing on the cake !! But this isn't NASCAR, or I would say so.
As for my political options, I left Montreal last year with a real burr up my back with regards to the way the Go-Racing.ca deal was handelled by the Quebec Police, and I was told that we should not mention Gene Roy, the mastermind behind the scandal, because he had political tye's to Quebec.
I am not saying all french people are in the category of no good, just the ones that think the rest of Canada owes them something or the ones that love to screw people over.
My Driver in Montreal was Bertrand Godin, a frenchman from Quebec, and him and I get along great, but he was as disappointed with the Quebec Police as I was, and the fact that everyone was covering up the dirt left behind by Gene Roy.
Saying that I guess I owe an apology to at least half of the people of Quebec, but I am sure they could read through the lines regarding my comments. If my words offended anyone, I am sorry. Dave
I think the ads for the Montreal race reflect the reality of stock car racing in Canada. Many people in Quebec and the rest of Canada are aware of the Busch series and its drivers. Only a select few are aware of the Canadian Tire series.
NASCAR should have taken the opportunity to promote the series in its ads but top billing, I don't think so!
The CTS is an afterthought in Montreal that the promoter didn't care about. The Busch cars are the stars followed by the Grand Am Rolex series.
The Montreal site is a world class venue that CTS needs to be successful.
i for one agree with mid about nascar. i will not follow them with blind faith just because they are NASCAR,the best entity to look after my future is ME. i will not assume that every thing will be alright because nascar has come to Canada. they have come to make money, good for them it is a free country and i hope they do well, but we as Canadian racer would also do well to remember to look after ourselves, they will only if they can make a buck from it, does anyone remember japan.