– The Associated Press

MONTREAL – Justin Allgaier bumped past Jacques Villeneuve on the final lap during a green-white-checkered finish and won the Nationwide race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, depriving the French Canadian of his first victory at any level in NASCAR.

Villeneuve, who started third on the track named in honor of his late father, survived three late restarts in a wild race that went six extra laps and saw Danica Patrick lead 20 laps. But Villeneuve, who had been saving fuel, seemed to slow briefly on the final one and Allgaier bumped him and slid past for his second win of the season and third of his career.

Sam Hornish Jr. finished second, and Villeneuve was third, giving Dodge two in the top three. Elliott Sadler and Ron Fellows rounded out the top five. Hornish’s finish put him in a tie for second in the points with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who was strong with the laps winding down but spun out challenging for the lead and finished 12th.

Kyle Busch, who flew in from the Cup race in Michigan to drive his No. 54 Toyota, arrived about two hours before the green flag, started at the back of the field because of a driver change, and finished 10th after briefly challenging Villeneuve for the lead with 20 laps left around the 2.7-mile 14-turn layout.

Patrick also ran second to Villeneuve for another 12 laps before she suffered track bar issues in her No. 7 Chevy after hitting a shoe thrown on the track. She finished 27th.

Advertisement

Villeneuve had regained the lead by bumping hometown hero Alex Tagliani, spinning him around on lap 67 of the race, which was scheduled to go 74 laps. Tagliani, who started from the pole, finished 22nd.

Tagliani had passed both Villeneuve and Hornish for the lead with an aggressive move in the first turn, with Hornish sliding off course after heavy contact with Michael McDowell. After Hornish recovered, he and Patrick collided when Kyle Kelley spun Patrick.

Villeneuve built a large lead but was done in by the flurry of cautions.

NASCAR SPRINT CUP: Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Jimmie Johnson will start at the back of the pack in Sunday’s race at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich.

Earnhardt snapped a four-year losing streak in June with a victory at MIS. He rubbed against the wall in Saturday’s practice and will have to go to a backup car. Johnson, the series points leader, changed engines.

Johnson was third in qualifying Friday. Earnhardt was 22nd.

Advertisement

Earnhardt tested his backup car at MIS in June.

Johnson said his team discovered an issue before practice and decided to change the engine instead of risking a crash.

NASCAR TRUCKS SERIES: Nelson Piquet Jr. won the NASCAR Trucks Series race at Michigan International Speedway, stretching fuel to the end to beat Jason White by a comfortable margin.

Piquet led the 200-mile, 100-lap race by 15 seconds with two laps remaining. The only question was whether he had enough gas to maintain his lead to the finish line. He ended up winning by about half that margin.


Only subscribers are eligible to post comments. Please subscribe or login first for digital access. Here’s why.

Use the form below to reset your password. When you've submitted your account email, we will send an email with a reset code.