Montreal: Anthony Simone race notes

SIMONE DISAPPOINTED AGAIN IN MONTREAL

MONTREAL, QC, Monday August 31 , 2009: Anthony Simone hoped his return to Montreal was going to be better than his first trip a year ago when they were forced to withdraw from the event as they lost their last motor in qualifying, but the day ended in frustration for the Bradford Ontario resident. A part failure in the drive train took them out of the race early and they were relegated to a 30th place finish.

Saturday mornings practice session was done on a wet track as the rain came to an end just prior to the start. Lap times were off the normal speeds as the teams lapped the circuit on rain tires. Qualifying later in the day for the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series cars would be done on a dry track and Simone managed the 10th quickest time of the thirty four entries.

Early weather forecasts showed rain on Sunday for the NAPA 100 but as the weekend wore on the predictions were for dry conditions and the teams were able to put away the rain tires and go racing. Simone's day ended on lap 8 when a part broke on the No. 95 Crown Modular/United Lumber Monte Carlo. "We were hoping for a good showing here today," said Simone after the race. "The crew again worked hard to put a good car under me but there isn't much you can do when you have a part failure. This is a great place to come and race. Thousands of fans in the grandstands -- it's just incredible."

-credit: sa