Montreal Busch race more exciting than Cup event

Montreal proved to be a very receptive town for NASCAR events. Robert Laberge/Getty Images for NASCAR

Here's a six-pack of things we learned this past weekend, which I spent in Montreal at NASCAR's first-ever Busch race north of the border.

1. NASCAR's foray into Canada was ... an enormous success.

If you walked through the streets of downtown Montreal in the days leading up to the Busch Series race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, you wouldn't have known that the traveling circus of NASCAR was in town. When NASCAR visits most U.S. cities, there are billboards, banners and street festivals touting the event. Not so in Montreal. Yes, there was one small street fair on the city's famed Crescent Street, but other than that, there was essentially zero promotion of the race. One of my cab drivers, who said he was a rabid NASCAR fan, told me that he expected 20,000 people, at most, to show up at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

So at 10 a.m. on Saturday morning it was rather stunning to see the grandstands 90 percent full. This was six hours -- six freaking hours! -- before the green flag dropped. Once the grandstand seats sold out, thousands of fans plopped down $30 each to sit on the grass along the 2.71-mile road course. Over the two days of practice, qualifying and the race, more than 130,000 fans filled the Circuit. Not even NASCAR's wildest dreams stretched that high.

Clearly, there is an enormous demand for NASCAR north of the border, and though Brian France has said repeatedly he has no interest in staging a Cup event outside the U.S., it's probably time to reconsider. After all, the logistics of transporting the cars and team personnel to Montreal aren't onerous. Also, it's a given that the race will sell out (something several tracks on this year's schedule haven't accomplished); and having the biggest stars of the sport in Montreal for a weekend would do more for spreading the Gospel of NASCAR throughout Canada than 10 Busch races ever would.

So will this ever happen? Well, judging by the smile on France's face on Saturday morning, when he marveled at the size of the early-arriving crowd, I'd say there's a pretty good chance.

2. Kyle Busch made ... a curious decision to move to Joe Gibbs Racing.

Soon after the Pocono 500 on Sunday, Busch informed his crew guys at Hendrick Motorsports that he would be driving for Gibbs next season. Busch will replace the struggling J.J. Yeley in the No. 18 car -- the same car that Bobby Labonte drove to a championship in 2000.

To me, this move comes as a surprise. At Gibbs, Busch will play the role of the third fiddle -- the same role he played at Hendrick, by the way -- behind Tony Stewart and Denny Hamlin. Will Busch be competitive next season in the 18? Yes. Will he win races? Probably. But will he win a championship at Gibbs within three years? I doubt it. Not many No. 3 drivers do.

If Busch had asked me for advice, I would have pointed him toward DEI, where he could have been the No. 1 driver on an up-and-coming team that is growing stronger -- and faster -- by the day. As it stands, DEI is still in the market for a marquee driver to replace Dale Earnhardt Jr. next season. Will it be Ryan Newman? Stay tuned, a deal for this seat will be the next domino to fall in the free agent market.

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