Fellows wins in Montreal on rain tires

 Ron Fellows scored victory Saturday in Montreal’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race after officials rolled out the rain tires for the first time in a major points race.

Fellows, a road course specialist who’s performed well in the rain at Le Mans, kept his lead when NASCAR called the race 25 laps short of the scheduled distance of 74 laps in the NAPA Auto Parts 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

“That was difficult,” said the 48-year-old Fellows as he climbed from the No. 5 Chevrolet fielded by Dale Earnhardt Jr.’s JR Motorsports. “We’ve had a little bit of that over in France with the Corvette at Le Mans. But this was good fun.” Hear what else Fellows had to say in his post-race interview.

Eight laps into the race, driving rain brought the race to a halt for eight minutes. NASCAR ordered the Goodyear rain tires, made in 1999, to go on all cars.

With his rain tires, Fellows pitted early on Lap 22 and gradually worked his way to the front for his fourth career win in 13 Nationwide Series starts. He became the first Canadian winner in a major NASCAR race in Canada.

Quebec native Patrick Carpentier finished second, as he did last year at the 2.709-mile road course. He gained ground after installing the rain tires that featured a tread pattern designed to push water away.

“The rain tire – everyone had questions about it, but it worked,” Carpentier said.

Marcos Ambrose finished third and led a race high of 27 laps, but a penalty for speeding on pit road cost him the chance to win.

Ron Hornaday Jr. ran fourth, followed by Boris Said, Carl Edwards, Jason Leffler, Greg Biffle series points leader Clint Bowyer and Scott Wimmer.