Allgaier captured his first win of the season at the NAPA Auto Parts 200 presented by Dodge on Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, emerging in front after a frenzied overtime finish.

“Today was just an awesome day,” said Allgaier. “Winning in Montreal means so much because all the people in the series enjoy coming here. The atmosphere is great, the fans never disappoint here but the race played out perfectly for us.”

Allgaier was running third at the second attempt for a green-white-checkered finish when a last-lap bump put him in front of Penske Racing teammates Sam Hornish Jr. and Jacques Villeneuve, who ended up second and third.

“I knew I was closing in on Jacques but he braked really early into corner 6 and I was certain he had ran out of gas,” added Allgaier. “He went really slow and I had too much of a head of steam and was sorry I got into him.”

Hornish, who made one last charge at Allgaier on the final lap, seemed far from happy with his second-place finish.

“I should feel pretty content with finishing second but I feel that Penske Racing deserved more from this day, considering the two cars
that they provided us,” said Hornish after the race. “I was running confident, second to Jacques, and felt that we would be battling the
win out between the two of us but the 30 (Alex Tagliani) stuck his nose in there on a restart with about 10 laps to go and I was sent
back to 23rd place or so. I should be happy to finish second after restarting from 23rd but we deserved better. ”

The seven extra laps ran because of the two green-white-checkered finish attempts, which forced Villeneuve to eke out the last drops of Sunoco gasoline from his fuel cell. However, though his Dodge Challenger ran out of fuel before getting back to the garage on the cool-down lap, the Quebec-born driver says that he saved enough to get him easily to the checkered flag.

“I did not run out of fuel and my engine did not sputter,” said Villeneuve. “I was simply taken out by Allgaier, who used me to slow
down in Turn 6 on the last lap. It’s frustrating because Penske and Dodge gave me such a good car. We ran head and shoulders above
everyone else even if we were not attacking in order to save fuel and brakes for the end of the race. It’s hard to take.”

Allgaier was apologetic . . . but not too much.

“I am really sorry that I took him out but from what I’ve heard, because I couldn’t see it, earlier in the day, that same car spun out
the 30 car (driven by Tagliani) that just happened to be our teammate,” Allgaier said. “So I guess that what goes around comes around.”

NASCAR Nationwide Series points leader Elliott Sadler finished fourth, one position in front of 2008 Montreal winner Ron Fellows.
Michael McDowell, Mike Wallace, Billy Johnson, Austin Dillon and NASCAR Sprint Cup series regular Kyle Busch completed the top 10.

With 824 points, Sadler extended his lead at the top of the NASCAR Nationwide Series championship race to 22 points over Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who wrecked late but still finished 12th. With his second-place finish, Hornish is now tied with Stenhouse with 802 points while Austin Dillon (789) and Allaier (756) close out the top 5 in points.

Danica Patrick had a good day, leading 20 laps but mechanical issues on her GoDaddy Chevrolet relegated her to the 27th position,
six laps behind the leaders.

“How disappointing is it. We’re bound to catch some good luck some time. I just can’t believe the amount of bad luck we’ve had, ” said
Patrick, who even hit a shoe thrown on the track by a fan at one point.

Derek White, a regular in the NASCAR Canadian Tire series, was the best finishing Quebec driver apart from Villeneuve with an 18th-place effort.

Montreal-born Tagliani, who started from the pole position, led seven laps and ran up front most of the day but was moved over by
Villeneuve for the lead on lap 67. Tagliani finished 22nd.

Patrick Carpentier (29th), Andrew Ranger (32nd), Dexter Stacey (35th) and Louis-Philippe Dumoulin (38th) were the other Canadian drivers entered in the event.

Earlier in the day, Tagliani finished 7th and 8th while running in two different cars in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series race won by Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas.

RBR announced in June that they would be leaving NASCAR at the end of the Sprint Cup Series schedule. Since then, there have been no announcements or leaks of who might take over the team. Back when it was announced, there was speculation that Jay Frye, the team’s current general manager, could purchase the team with help from investors. Mark Martin and Ray Evernham were also rumored to be potential owner candidates.

Martin, however, appears to be considering racing part time next season, sharing a Cup seat with Danica Patrick at Stewart Haas Racing.

RBR driver Brian Vickers has also been attempting to line up potential buyers, but nothing has materialized at this point.

The beginning of the race saw more caution laps than green-flag laps, with three caution flags flying in the first 12 laps. Marcos Ambrose and Jacques Villeneuve had the strongest cars to start the race, with Ambrose dominating. But, the pit strategy of some of their competitors put Ambrose and Villeneuve in 14th and 15th after pitting.

Ambrose powered through the field, as did Villeneuve albeit a little less aggressively than Ambrose. As Villeneuve made his way to the front, he got into the corner a little too hot behind Said and started wheel-hopping. He made contact with Said, sending him around. Both were able to right their cars and continue on.

Ambrose took the lead from Carl Edwards on lap 36, but one lap later, he reported that he thought there was something wrong with the battery or alternator. Edwards was able to get by him for the lead, and Ambrose pitted on lap 45 for a battery change. But, damage to the car prevented the crew from making a quick change, resulting in Ambrose losing two laps on pit road under green.

About six laps later, Ambrose broke something in the suspension, ending his day. He finished 33rd.

With 10 laps to go, Edwards, who looked poised for victory with Ambrose out, was leading when he broke a track bar mount. He went behind the wall for repairs.  He finished 20th.

Robby Gordon assumed the lead when Edwards had his problem, but was iffy on fuel. He conserved over the last two cautions. But, when Trevor Bayne hit the wall and Jason Leffler wrecked, the race was red flagged. Gordon didn’t have enough fuel for the upcoming green-white-checkered finish. 

On the restart, Said got by Gordon for the lead. Gordon gave him a shot in the rear bumper before running out of fuel and coasting while cars blew by him. He finished 14th.

Said took the lead, but Max Papis was all over Said’s rear. Papis passed him under braking  heading into the final two turns. But, Papis swung a little wide coming off of the final turn allowing Said to pull along side of him. The two had a drag race to the finish with Said getting the edge by a nose.

Top 5: Said, Papis, Villeneuve, Brad Keselowski, and Paul Menard.

Joey Logano, JR Fitzpatrick, Parker Kligerman, Justin Allgaier, and Trevor Bayne rounded out the top 10.

Notables: Kenny Wallace (13th), Robby Gordon (14th), Mike Bliss (15th), Mike Wallace (17th), Carl Edwards (20th), Jason Leffler (21st), Colin Braun (22nd), Tayler Malsam (23rd), Ricky Stenhouse Jr (24th), Michael Annett (25th), Brendan Gaughan (27th), Joe Nemechek (28th), Ron Fellows (30th), Patrick Carpentier (32nd), Marcos Ambrose (33rd), and Steve Wallace (38th).

If Villenueve, a former Formula One World Champion, qualifies for the race, he will join Juan Pablo Montoya as the only drivers to compete in all three of the track’s premiere motorsports events: the Indy 500, the U.S. Grand Prix, and the Brickyard 400.

Villeneuve said:

I am very excited to join with Braun Racing and Dollar General at Indianapolis. We had a very exciting and solid race last month [in the Nationwide Series race] at [Road America]. I had hoped it would result in additional opportunities to drive for the organization. I have a lot of good memories at the Brickyard. Winning the Indy 500 was a very big highlight in my career. This will be my first venture in a stock car there, but I am confident that we will do well.

Braun’s No. 32 has made four starts this season with Reed Sorenson behind the wheel. Sorenson replaced Casey Mears in Red Bull Racing’s No. 83 earlier this season. In his four starts, Sorenson finished 32nd, 41st, 43rd, and 24th. He had mechanical issues or accidents in three out of four of those starts.

Another caution for a wreck set up a three-lap run to the finish. Ron Fellows took third from Brendan Gaughan. Villeneuve attempted to chase down Edwards. But, Villeneuve had body damage and a tire rub. He began to slip back with a mechanical issue. He finished 25th.

Top 5: Edwards, Fellows, Brendan Gaughan, Brad Keselowski and Owen Kelly.

Brad Coleman, JR Fitzpatrick, Jason Leffler, Steve Wallace, and Trevor Bayne rounded out the top 10.

Notables: Colin Braun (11th), Ron Hornaday (12th), Tayler Malsam (15th), Paul Menard (16th), Kenny Wallace (21st), Jacques Villeneuve (25th), Ricky Stenhouse (26th), and Justin Allgaier (35th).

An eleven-car pileup brought out the red flag on lap 29. The wreck started when Brian Scott got turned in the corner. It looked like Brendan Gaughan got into the back of him. Some cars slowed to avoid hitting him, stacking up the field.

Mike Bliss stopped to avoid hitting Michael McDowell and Alex Kennedy. Kennedy ended up in the kitty litter. Mike Wallace slowed to avoid hitting Bliss, while Tony Raines slowed to avoid hitting Wallace. Robb Brent slammed into Raines, who slammed into Wallace.

Then, Colin Braun made contact with Brent, turning him. Stanton Barrett turned to avoid them and ended up in the kitty litter. Kyle Kelley then hit Braun. The race was red-flagged for cleanup.

Fellows took advantage of Marcos Ambrose’s pit road speeding penatly to earn the lead.

History was also made, when NASCAR called a caution and teams switched to rain tires, and added a windshield wiper, for the first points-paying race run on grooved Goodyear rain tires.

Top 5: Fellows, Patrick Carpentier, Ambrose, Ron Hornaday, and Boris Said.

Carl Edwards, Jason Leffler, Greg Biffle, Clint Bowyer, and Scott Wimmer finished sixth through 10th respectively.

Notables: Brad Keselowski (12th), David Ragan (13th), Jacques Villeneuve (15th), Joey Logano (16th), David Reutimann (18th), Max Papis (20th), and Scott Pruett (22nd).

Villeneuve and Logano both had trouble seeing, as not all teams added windshield wipers, both wrecked under caution. Villeneuve was running sixth when he ran into the back of another car.