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Montreal: Ron Fellows preview

FELLOWS WITH JR MOTORSPORTS - Sunday's NASCAR Nationwide Series race will mark Fellows' third start with JR Motorsports. Previously, he has a start at Montreal (2008) and Watkins Glen (2009) with JRM. He has earned one win, and his average finish in ...

FELLOWS WITH JR MOTORSPORTS - Sunday's NASCAR Nationwide Series race will mark Fellows' third start with JR Motorsports. Previously, he has a start at Montreal (2008) and Watkins Glen (2009) with JRM. He has earned one win, and his average finish in two races is 3.0.

AT Circuit Gilles Villeneuve - Fellows returns as the defending race winner of the 200-mile race. He was part of NASCAR history with his win in 2008, as he became the first Canadian to win a NASCAR event on Canadian soil. He qualified sixth, and led seven laps en route to his fourth series victory. The win was also the first road-course victory for JRM. In two starts at the 2.71-mile road course, Fellows has one win and a fourth-place finish. He has led 11 laps, earned an average finish of 2.5, and an average start of 4.5. Additionally, Fellows is ranked second with a driver rating of 121.7 at the facility and holds the distinction of being the oldest winner of the race at 48 years, 10 months, and five days old following his 2008 victory.

JRM ROAD-COURSE STATS - JR Motorsports has competed in four road-course events with the No. 5 Chevrolet since 2008. The team earned one win (Montreal), two top-fives, and two top-10s.

JACK-OF-ALL-TRADES - A longtime sports car and road-racing veteran, Fellows is credited with three class championships in the American Le Mans Series, two class wins in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and 19 overall victories in the Sports Car Club of America's Trans-Am Series as a member of the Corvette Racing Team. His NASCAR credentials include six overall wins (two in the Camping World Truck Series), and two runner-up finishes in Sprint Cup competition.

NATIONWIDE SERIES STATS - Fellows' Nationwide Series history goes back 12 years to 1997. In his 14 career races, he has scored four wins, seven top-five, and eight top-10 finishes. Fellows earned two poles, led 200 laps, and had an average finish of 15.8 with an average start of 7.4.

CHASSIS INFO - The Fastenal team will race chassis No. 389 this weekend. Fellows drove this chassis to victory at Montreal in 2008. It also finished fifth at Watkins Glen International three weeks ago.

FELLOWS (on the added pressure to perform well in front of the Canadian race fans) - "I certainly don't feel any added pressure as a Canadian, or returning as the defending race winner. Being on Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and on Canadian soil, I have to try not to get too pumped up. But having won the race last year, there's less personal pressure because the JRM team and I already have one trophy! It's likely more difficult for the Quebec-based drivers like Carpentier, Tagliani and Villeneuve. For them, the race is truly in their backyard."

FELLOWS (on the keys to getting around the Montreal course and its 14 turns) - "You need to have excellent braking power and brake balance. You also need lots of horsepower for a couple of the long straights and have the chassis working well with great traction exiting the slow corners. Brian Campe [crew chief], Cam Strader [car chief] and the entire Fastenal crew have been working hard since Watkins Glen refining the No. 5 Fastenal Chevy. We know we need to be better than last year, just based on what we saw from the competition at Watkins Glen. The competition is a lot stronger and we feel like we have a good practice plan for Montreal. Hopefully, a few things we learned from Watkins Glen will work as well. I have really enjoyed working with the Fastenal team and despite the fact that I have more races behind me than in front of me, I feel like a kid at Christmas every time I get to work with the JRM team."

FELLOWS (on the uniqueness of Montreal as a NASCAR venue) - "The Montreal event is a great weekend. It's likely very different for the majority of the NASCAR teams and workers because you are able to stay in the downtown core with the track so close, and it's on the subway line! Not that I'm particularly superstitious, but the Fellows family has always stayed at the same hotel each year, and in the same two rooms. There are endless great restaurants in Montreal and we try to sample the ones within walking distance of the hotel. Our daughter went to McGill University and the campus is in the downtown area, so she knows where to find the fine dining."

-credit: jrm

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