Montreal Mayor gives Legault "exclusivity". Hello NASCAR?!

From TSN.CA

MONTREAL (CP) - Montreal mayor Gerald Tremblay announced a five-year lease renewal Friday with Canadian Grand Prix organizer Normand Legault, giving him exclusive rights to present races at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve through 2011. The announcement puts into jeopardy the annual Champ Car race held on the Montreal track because it is promoted by Alan Labrosse, and Legault has expressed interest in bringing a NASCAR Busch Series race to Montreal.

F1 Montreal promoter Norman Legault threatened that giving the track to Labrosse for ChampCar races would jeopardize the future of the sacred F1 event, given that F1 supposedly demands that promoters of its events must control its facilities year-round. Whether or not that was the case, that is the reason being cited by the Mayor of Montreal for giving both dates to Legault. How convenient.

Regardless of the facts, it was a helpful 'leverage' tool and the end result is that this August's ChampCar race in Montreal will probably be the last.

Logically, this should pave the way for Legault to bring NASCAR's Busch Series to Montreal next summer. In terms of Canadian racing, this outcome may be the best possible situation for CASCAR, which is in bed with NASCAR.

On one side, we have ChampCar. Alone. On the other, is NASCAR, Legault.... and CASCAR (through its association with NASCAR).

The bottom line is that when you consider the festering hostilities between ChampCar and NASCAR, and ChampCar's history of using CASCAR as a whipping boy, the chances of CASCAR racing at le Circuit Gilles Villeneuve every August for the next five years are considerably better with Legault calling the shots (during NASCAR weekends), than if the ChampCar series was the main event. By the way, that is not a comment on Labrosse, who has signed CASCAR to race in Montreal this August, according to CASCAR officials, this past Thursday.

Sticking with the topic of CASCAR, hopefully now that the way has been cleared for the Busch Series to race in Montreal, NASCAR will be more likely to put an end to its dithering over its purchase of CASCAR. By purchasing Canada's top stock car series, NASCAR would be making a huge statement that it is committed to the sport in this country as it prepares to look for support for its race in Montreal.

In 2004, at the Toronto Indy, NASCAR's Gary Nelson led a gaggle of NASCAR staffers through the pits as they eye-balled the CASCAR equipment. In a few weeks, the due diligence period will reach two years. It wouldn't take two years to determine whether or not you were going to buy Microsoft from Bill Gates.