Music: {allcanada} News & Notes: Tremblay Shows Desire

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. - In this age of young driving phenoms, Isabelle Tremblay is certainly bucking the trend, but she shares the same passion and desire to compete. However, more than just her gender and age set her apart from many of her fellow competitors. She has that innate ability to rally the troops and raise the excitement level. She exudes energy.

The 39-year-old mother of one from St. Hippolyte, Quebec, has also put together a racing schedule this summer that rivals any of the most hardcore racers. In addition to her full-time participation in the NASCAR Canadian Tire Series, she is continuing her efforts in weekly racing at Autodrome St. Eustache (Que.) along with competing in several Formula 1600 Tour events in Quebec.

The real estate professional has set aside that career, for the time being, to follow her fervor for racing and doubters just drive her harder.

"I have the support of my son and all of my tremendous partners," she said. "I am devoting myself, right now, 100 percent to racing. I've been able to accomplish a few things in the sport and I want more."

In 2008, she won a 200-lap Enduro in St. Eustache with over 90 other drivers in the field that gave her the confidence to persevere onward. The 2009 season brought a St. Eustache championship in the Tigresses classification that spurred her to purchase a car for the Sportsman Division, the track's premier classification.

Her success there led her to an opportunity to compete in four Canadian Tire Series events in 2010 – Toronto, Trois-Rivieres, Montreal and Kawartha Speedway.

"Those races allowed me to adapt to these very powerful cars and remove some of the nervousness I had," Tremblay said.

Prior to this season, Tremblay attended race schools in Florida and Arizona which again led to valuable seat time. Including last Saturday's 2011 opener at Mosport Speedway, she has just five events under her belt in a Canadian Tire Series car.

She continues to pick up valuable experience and knowledge each and every time out onto the track. Things like footwork, the overall feel of the car and communicating that back to the crew are all things that continue to evolve.

With the busy schedule there are conflicting dates. For the events missed at Autodrome St. Eustache, Tremblay came up with an interesting way to keep her car on the track in her absence. She held a competition among eight drivers with the winner earning the seat on the nights when a substitute is needed.

It's not the typical time or way to start racing in a highly competitive NASCAR series, but there's very little typical about Tremblay.

Race	Grand Prix ICAR
Date	Sunday, June 5
Time	3:30 p.m. ET
TV Schedule	TSN, Sun., June 12, 11 a.m. ET
Track Layout	2.113-mile road course
2010 Winner	Inaugural Event
2010 Polesitter	Inaugural Event
Event Schedule	Saturday: Practice 10:30-11:20 a.m.; Final Practice 12:10-1 p.m.; Qualifying 4 p.m.; Sunday: Driver Autograph Session 2 p.m.; Opening Ceremonies 3 p.m.
Track Contact	Roxanne Langelier, (514) 955-4227, rlangelier@circuiticar.com
NASCAR IMC Contact	Shon Sbarra, (704) 309-5493 or ssbarra@nascar.com

EVENT SCHEDULE | ENTRY LIST

FAST FACTS
Race: This event is the second of 12 races on the 2011 NASCAR Canadian Tire Series schedule and the first of five road-course races this season. This is the series' inaugural visit to the track.

Procedure: The starting field is 30 cars, including provisionals. The first 25 cars will qualify through NASCAR Road Race (group) qualifying. The remaining five spots will be awarded through the provisional process. The race will be 30 laps covering 63.37 miles.

Track: Circuit ICAR is a modern complex for motorsports located 20 minutes north of Montreal, Que., located on the grounds of the Mirabel Airport. The complex has over three kilometers of road circuits with multiple configurations, a .25-mile drag strip, skid pad, drift park, autocross track and a 1-kilometer karting track designed by Jacques Villeneuve.

Records: In this inaugural visit to Circuit ICAR records will be established this season.

RACE NOTES
Heading Home … Alex Tagliani, fresh off his start on the pole in the Indianapolis 500 in which he finished 28th due to high engine oil temperature, returns to his native Quebec to climb behind the wheel of a stock car. In his previous 13 Canadian Tire Series starts Tagliani has notched two poles, two top fives, three top 10s and a July 2008 victory in the Canadian Tire 100 at Edmonton (Alberta) City Centre Airport. It will be Tagliani's first series start since August 2009 at Montreal's Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

Road Warrior … Making his 2011 Canadian Tire Series debut will be two-time series champion Andrew Ranger. He has been dominant on the road courses since making the move to stock-car racing in 2007. In four seasons, the driver out of Roxton Pond, Que., has nine road-course victories including wins in eight of the last 10 he has entered within the series. In his 16 series starts on road circuits, Ranger has an amazing average finish of 1.75. Only once has he not finished inside the top three. On top of that, the 24-year-old has two NASCAR K&N Pro Series road wins and a third-place finish at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series event. Ranger is the Canadian Tire Series' all-time leader in wins with 12.

Home Field Advantage … In the event, seven drivers who call Quebec home are entered. Joining Ranger, Tagliani and Tremblay are Andre Coursol, Michel Pilon, Dexter Stacy and Derek White.

Stock-Car Debut … After getting his racing start in the karting world, 18-year-old Noel Dowler will pilot a stock car for the first time with something on the line. He is the son of former CASCAR champion and Canadian Tire Series competitor Kevin Dowler

Unknown Entity … Heading into this weekend's Grand Prix ICAR the 2.113-mile track laid out on the tarmac of Montreal's Mirabel Airport remains a mystery to Canadian Tire Series competitors. A few drivers have tested there, but the track configuration was not as it will be for this weekend. Track officials are tweaking the course to make it more conducive to stock-car racing. It is the first major event for the bigger, heavier, less agile NASCAR machines at the facility that has hosted a myriad of sports car, motorcycle and open-wheel events. "I don't know how the course is going to be laid out, but it's going to be challenging," said Scott Steckly who tested on the 14-turn circuit. Teams can participate in a track-sponsored practice session on Friday and two official 50-minute practice sessions are scheduled for Saturday.

DICKIES 200 WRAP-UP
Oval Track Ringer … Second-place finisher Pete Shepherd III is proving to be a force on the oval tracks. He now has top-five finishes in five of his last six starts dating back to last season including a win last September at Kawartha Speedway in Fraserville, Ont.

Good Run Spoiled … Dexter Stacy at 18 years of age is continuing to improve his performance from race to race. The driver out of Kahnawake, Que., started the race from the 13th position and worked his way to inside the top 10 before Lap-118 contact with Steven Mathews sending Stacy spinning out of contention.

Back In It … Brad Graham notched a fourth-place showing in the Dickies 200. It was the first top-five finish since Sept. 12, 2009 at Barrie (Ont.) Speedway in which the part-time competitor finished fourth, as well.

A Sign? … Dickies 200 winner Scott Steckly hopes it is. In his championship season of 2008, Steckly won the season-opening event at Cayuga Motor Speedway and went on to take the checkered flag in three of the season's first four events en route to the title. At Delaware Speedway, DJ Kennington won last year's opener on the way to his Canadian Tire Series championship.

UP NEXT: Keystone Light 200
The NASCAR Canadian Tire Series wraps up a three races in three weeks stretch to open the 2011 season with a visit to Delaware (Ont.) Speedway for the Keystone Light 200. It will be the series' third visit to the half-mile track just west of London, Ont. The first two races were won by DJ Kennington from nearby St. Thomas, Ont.