Alexandria residents ensure track safety at NASCAR

Behind the scenes of every major motorized sport event, there are safety crews - and the Napa Auto Parts 200 race is not any different.

All around the 4.3-kilometre race track, located on L'Ile-Notre-Dame, are strategically-parked fire trucks, ambulances, tow trucks and track maintenance vehicles.

During this latest NASCAR Nationwide Series, which took place from August 27 to 29, Alexandria residents Benoit Léger and Stéphane Aubin spent the entire weekend ensuring the race cars' security along the south part of the track, known as the Olympic Basin.

Léger is a regular tow crew member on the Gilles-Villeneuve Circuit.

"I think I've done them all," said the 33-year-old man. "Over the last 15 years, I was here with West Island Towing for the all the Formula 1 and Indy Car races, as well as for the NASCAR Nationwide events. The year that I'll never forget is 2007, when [Formula 1 driver] Robert Kubica totally destroyed his machine as he crashed in a safety barrier just before the hairpin turn. There were so many pieces to pick up on the track!"

"Our goal here is to remove any accidented race cars off the track in the shortest time possible; the objective is to have the vehicle removed and brought to safety in less than two minutes," continued Léger, a Glen Towing operator. "I remember during an Indy Car race here, all of the tow trucks were called to clear up a 14-car pile up. We did it so quick that the race restarted within 12 minutes."

The crews are in constant radio communication with the operations director, to ensure perfect coordination.

For Stéphane Aubin, owner of Alexandria's OK Tires, it was his first trackside experience.

"I love races and this is the best possible way that I could find to get as close to the action as possible."

But it is not for just anybody to hop on a tow truck and improvise oneself as a safety crew, he added: "I had to get some training in order to get my licence to be Benoit's assistant here. There are rules and techniques on how to pick up race cars. At the price they are worth, you have to be careful as you move them."

Nevertheless, it is an awesome opportunity for a race fan to be so close to the action -parked at a mere eight feet from the track - but it comes with long hours. On both Friday and Saturday morning, the safety crews had to be at their respective locations around 6 a.m. and they only could leave after the last car was off the track.

On Sunday, they had a chance to rest a little in the morning, but they only managed to exit L'Ile-Notre-Dame after 8 p.m., following the first-ever Nationwide victory of Boris Said, in his #09 RAB Racing Ford Fusion machine.

"I love all kinds of automobile racing, but out of all of them, nothing beats the DIRTcar action!" laughed Benoit Léger, who operates one of the official tow trucks at the Cornwall Motor Speedway every week.

(Photo: Benoit Léger (left) and Stéphane Aubin (right) pose for The Review's readers, while they were on duty at the Circuit Gilles-Villeneuve. They spent three days parked trackside in their tow truck unit under the blazing sun, ensuring racers' security during the last NASCAR Nationwide event in Montréal.)

Photo and text by Sylvain Lauwers