The Molson Indy Montreal was an annual

auto race Auto racing (also known as car racing, motor racing, or automobile racing) is a motorsport involving the racing of automobiles for competition. In North America, the term is commonly used to describe all forms of automobile sport including non ...

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

on the

Champ Car World Series Champ Car World Series (CCWS) was the series sanctioned by Open-Wheel Racing Series Inc., a sanctioning body for American open-wheel car racing that operated from 2004 to 2008. It was the successor to Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART), ...

calendar.

History

Originally known as the Molson Indy 300, it was first held at

Sanair Super Speedway Sanair Super Speedway is a motorsports park with a paved triangular oval race track, a dragstrip, a oval, as well as a mini-oval and karting course. It also formerly had a road course which has since ceased to be used. It is located in Sai ...

, an oval track, from 1984 through 1986. The Champ Car series revived the race in 2002, and it was held in late August each year until 2006 at the

Circuit Gilles Villeneuve The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, also spelled ''Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve'' (), is a motor racing Race track, circuit on Notre Dame Island in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is the venue for the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, FIA Form ...

, a permanent road course most famous as the home of the

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

Canadian Grand Prix The Canadian Grand Prix () is an annual motor racing event held since 1961. It has been part of the Formula One World Championship since 1967. It was first staged at Mosport Park in Bowmanville, Ontario, as a sports car event, before alterna ...

. In 2006, the name of the race was changed to the Grand Prix of Montreal after its sale by Molson Sports & Entertainment. This mirrored the name change of the

Toronto Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Champ Car race from the Molson Indy Toronto to the Molson Grand Prix of Toronto after its sale by Molson.

Future prospects

After the 2006 race, the future of the Grand Prix of Montreal became shrouded in doubt. The Circuit Gilles Villeneuve is allowed to be used for one race weekend outside of the Canadian Grand Prix, and it was heavily speculated that from 2007 onwards, Canadian Grand Prix promoter Normand Legault (who promotes all races at CGV) would replace the Grand Prix of Montreal with a

NASCAR The National Association for Stock Car Auto Racing, LLC (NASCAR) is an American auto racing sanctioning and operating company that is best known for stock car racing. It is considered to be one of the top ranked motorsports organizations in ...

Busch Series The NASCAR Xfinity Series (NXS) is a stock car racing series organized by NASCAR. It is promoted as NASCAR's second-tier circuit to the organization's top level Cup Series. NXS events are frequently held as a support race on the day prior to a ...

race.
/ref> Champ Car announced in September 2006 that it would indeed not be returning to Circuit Gilles Villeneuve and would be replacing the event with one at

Circuit Mont-Tremblant Circuit Mont-Tremblant is a race circuit located approximately north of Montreal, Quebec, in the city of Mont-Tremblant, Canada. It is the second-oldest existing race track in Canada, and was originally known as Circuit Mont-Tremblant-St-Jovi ...

(2007

Mont-Tremblant Champ Car Grand Prix The Mont-Tremblant Champ Car Grand Prix was an auto race in the Champ Car World Series. It was held from 1967 to 1968 and again in 2007. It was held at Circuit Mont-Tremblant, in Mont-Tremblant, Quebec, Canada. The race replaced the Grand Prix o ...

, previously held 1968–1970). Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve replaced the race with the NASCAR

NAPA Auto Parts 200 The NAPA Auto Parts 200 Presented by Dodge (French title: ''NAPA Pièces d'auto 200 présenté par Dodge'') is a discontinued NASCAR Nationwide Series race that took place at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Quebec, Canada from 2007 to ...

race.

Race winners

Sanair (1984–1986)

Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (2002–2006)

Formula Atlantic winners

These races were held at

Attendance

References

External links

*Champ Car Stats
Sanair archive
*Ultimate Racing History
Sanair archiveMontreal archive
{{Coord, 45, 30, 2.08, N, 73, 31, 20.86, W, type:event_region:CA-QC, display=title Auto races in Canada