OCTOBER 4, 2006

NASCAR gets Montreal date

NASCAR is taking its Busch Series to Montreal next season with a race planned on the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on August 4, two months after the Formula 1 cars run there. The event will also include a GrandAm sports car race and is NASCAR's first move north of the border since the 1950s. The announcement means that Champ Car will no longer be seen in Montreal although it is planning a race at Mont Tremblant on Canada Day (July 1). The Mont Tremblant circuit was used for the Canadian GP in the 1970s but then spent years in gentle decline before being bought in 1999 by Tommy Hilfiger-owner Lawrence Stroll, a former Ferrari sponsor, who has invested millions to rebuild the facility, which is located in the skiing area of the Laurentian Mountains, 90 miles to the north-west of Montreal.