NASCAR has explored the possibilities of expanding its schedule for quite some time now. Over the years, some tracks have been in and out of contention to host a NASCAR race. In 2023, fans witnessed the return of an iconic track like North Wilkesboro for the All-Star Race in May. Do you know Richard Petty’s father was part of the very first race on this track? North Wilkesboro Speedway’s first NASCAR Top Series race took place on Oct. 16, 1949. The winner, Bob Flock, earned $1,500, and Lee Petty, Richard’s father, was the only other car on the lead lap and finished in second. He earned $700. Unbelievable, right?
One such massive opportunity opened up for the sport in Chicago this year, which hosted the first-ever Street Course Race in the sport’s history. As the season dawns upon a conclusion, speculations have begun about what changes NASCAR could bring in next year. A track that has got the hopes up for a lot of fans is the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal.
Brett Griffin hopes NASCAR visits Montreal in 2024
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Montreal has been a mainstay in NASCAR’s fellow motorsport Formula 1’s schedule. F1 stars grace the beautiful city in Canada yearly, as opposed to NASCAR drivers. However, things weren’t always like that. Between 2007 and 2012, Montreal was a regular name on the Xfinity Series‘ list of venues. While the top-tier Cup Series has yet to debut on the track, talks of that happening have continued since the beginning of the year.
With hopes of expanding its presence globally, NASCAR hoped to make headway into the neighboring countries of Mexico and Canada. But from the looks of it, a Cup Series race in Montreal seems like a distant dream for now.
Voicing his disappointment at excluding Road America from its schedule, the former Kaulig Racing spotter spoke out about missing out on a Montreal race too. Replying to a rumor thread on Twitter, Griffin said, “We lost Road America. We better not lose Montreal, too.”
We lost Road America. We better not lose Montreal, too.
VA sounds amazing but not 🐰🥚weekend.
— Brett Griffin (@SpotterBrett) September 21, 2023
The vision of getting a race in Canada is getting bleaker with every passing day. But until there is official confirmation from NASCAR, fans and avid followers of the sport will continue to remain hopeful about it.
Fans were engrossed in a guessing game once again
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For the fandom, the prospect of getting to see some changes in the schedule is pretty exciting. If NASCAR strikes a deal to host a race in Montreal, it creates a spurt in the number of fans in that region. Following Griffin’s comment on Montreal, the fans followed suit as they tried to guess new implementations for 2024.
One fan was quick to catch on to the news as he commented, “Let me guess…The Montreal deal fell through.” while another added his list of predictions on top of excluding Montreal from probable venues, commenting, “So Roval is not leaving, New Hampshire is still in July, no Richmond doubleheader, no Atlanta all-star race, no Wilkesboro points race, no fall Watkins Glen race. Edit. No Montreal either”
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A certain fan predicted that NASCAR might find a new obsession with road courses following the introduction of the Chicago Street Race, which adds to the already large number of road course races. As he said, “Oops. We accidentally made the schedule for all road courses.”
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One of the more descriptive replies debriefed the situation in a rather long manner, as he commented,
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“Guess we’ll see. Every rumor is a lot but I could see a path where the following is true. Montreal falling through due to several complexities. Charlotte keeping the roval because SMI invested too much in the roval to axe it already. NWB not getting a points race for now. IMS keeping the roval – maybe something went wrong at the tire test. I hope this isn’t true and we at least get a couple of these, but I would be shocked about Indy in particular – that has sounded like a done deal for months.”
Whether Montreal will get a NASCAR race remains to be seen with time. But one thing is for sure: Montreal has already gathered a huge fanbase for the sport.