Allgaier makes a splash at NAPA Auto Parts 200 in Montreal

* NATIONWIDE

Jacques Villeneuve was in the driver's seat heading to the white flag, more than 20 car lengths ahead and his first victory in NASCAR just a lap away on the track named for his dad.

Then, in the blink of an eye, Justin Allgaier bumped past him for the victory Saturday in the Nationwide NAPA Auto Parts 200 as a stunned crowd at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal recoiled in disbelief.

"It's tough when you have a driver who has his last name on the race track," Allgaier said after his second victory of the season and third of his career. "Obviously, this is a big race for him and a big venue."

Having maintained the top spot through restart after restart in the final laps of a race that went six extra circuits around the 14-turn, 2.7-mile layout, Villeneuve was running low on fuel and kept turning off the engine of his No. 22 Dodge to conserve.

What seemed like an insurmountable lead vanished on the last lap. Allgaier closed in a hurry as Villeneuve suddenly slowed and was hit from behind.

"I don't know if he went into protect mode," Allgaier said. "We knew he was going to be close on gas. My first thought was he was out. I had too much steam running my normal pace, and we got together. I'm sure he's not happy about that, but I know that the 30 (polesitter Alex Tagliani) got taken out by that car. I guess at the end of the day what goes around comes around."

Villeneuve should know. He took out Danica Patrick at Road America on the final lap in June, depriving her of a top-five finish, and bumped Tagliani, a Montreal native, out of the lead late in Saturday's race. Tagliani finished 22nd.

"We got together," Villeneuve said. "He was really slow and just blocking, braking on the inside and the guys behind me were catching me. We tangled a little bit and I thought it would be all right. I didn't get off the gas because I didn't want the cars behind me to catch me, and I ended up turning him around.

"That's a shame for him. That wasn't my intention, but at that point I couldn't just stay behind him."

Villeneuve, who started third, survived three late restarts in a wild race that saw Patrick lead 20 laps.

"We were the quickest car out there," said Villeneuve, who led 43 laps. "When you run in the front all day and get taken out on the last lap, it's just frustrating. I guess that's life. When it's a mistake, you let it go, but when it seems to be done on purpose, that gets a little bit annoying."

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 Nationwide points with Ricky Stenhouse Jr., who was strong with the laps winding down but spun out challenging for the lead and finished 12th.

At Circuit Gilles Villeneuve

Montreal, Canada

Lap length: 2.709 miles

(Start position in parentheses)

1. (15) Justin Allgaier, Chevrolet, 81 laps, 103 rating, 47 points, $94,318.

2. (2) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 81, 122.6, 43, $60,193.

3. (3) Jacques Villeneuve, Dodge, 81, 143.8, 43, $47,893.

4. (17) Elliott Sadler, Chevrolet, 81, 92.7, 41, $43,093.

5. (8) Ron Fellows, Chevrolet, 81, 99.3, 39, $32,875.

6. (6) Michael McDowell, Toyota, 81, 104.3, 0, $34,118.

7. (22) Mike Wallace, Chevrolet, 81, 77.6, 37, $31,893.

8. (9) Billy Johnson, Ford, 81, 116.1, 36, $24,200.

9. (19) Austin Dillon, Chevrolet, 81, 79, 35, $31,368.

10. (5) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 81, 97.5, 0, $24,050.

11. (11) Brendan Gaughan, Chevrolet, 81, 102.6, 0, $28,818.

12. (16) Ricky Stenhouse Jr., Ford, 81, 90.5, 32, $29,543.

13. (23) Mike Bliss, Chevrolet, 81, 75, 31, $28,218.

14. (32) Tayler Malsam, Toyota, 81, 67.9, 30, $28,068.

15. (20) Alex Kennedy, Toyota, 81, 81.7, 29, $28,918.

16. (34) Erik Darnell, Chevrolet, 81, 52.7, 28, $21,350.

17. (36) Tim Andrews, Ford, 81, 50.1, 27, $21,225.

18. (42) Derek White, Chevrolet, 81, 48, 26, $21,075.

19. (41) Eric McClure, Toyota, 81, 44.4, 25, $27,418.

20. (21) Brad Sweet, Chevrolet, 81, 75, 24, $27,968.

21. (27) Kyle Kelley, Chevrolet, 81, 74.6, 23, $20,975.

22. (1) Alex Tagliani, Chevrolet, 81, 103.4, 23, $30,593.

23. (31) Daryl Harr, Chevrolet, 81, 53.5, 21, $27,143.

24. (10) Brian Scott, Toyota, 81, 86.6, 20, $27,068.

25. (26) Jeremy Clements, Chevrolet, 81, 71.2, 19, $27,468.

26. (18) Jason Bowles, Toyota, brakes, 77, 68.6, 18, $26,948.

27. (4) Danica Patrick, Chevrolet, 75, 101.1, 18, $31,693.

28. (33) Michael Annett, Ford, 73, 56.6, 16, $26,848.

29. (13) Patrick Carpentier, Toyota, 69, 51, 15, $26,813.

30. (39) Joe Nemechek, Dodge, radiator, 62, 49.1, 14, $27,078.

31. (37) John Young, Dodge, drive train, 59, 57.6, 13, $20,250.

32. (12) Andrew Ranger, Dodge, suspension, 57, 68.6, 12, $20,215.

33. (7) Cole Whitt, Chevrolet, engine, 54, 72, 11, $26,653.

34. (28) Kenny Habul, Toyota, accident, 46, 50.2, 10, $20,150.

35. (38) Dexter Stacey, Chevrolet, accident, 30, 35.6, 9, $20,110.

36. (29) Timmy Hill, Ford, transmission, 21, 41.9, 8, $26,543.

37. (14) Eric Curran, Dodge, transmission, 15, 41.7, 7, $20,025.

38. (35) Louis-Philippe Dumoulin, Ford, suspension, 14, 37, 6, $19,981.

39. (24) Chris Cook, Chevrolet, brakes, 6, 36.2, 0, $19,845.

40. (43) Matt DiBenedetto, Chevrolet, overheating, 6, 31.9, 4, $19,710.

41. (30) Blake Koch, Chevrolet, brakes, 5, 33, 3, $19,625.

42. (40) Chase Miller, Chevrolet, brakes, 4, 31.9, 2, $19,570.

43. (25) Jeff Green, Toyota, vibration, 2, 29.3, 1, $19,392.

Top 10 in Points: 1. E.Sadler, 824; 2. R.Stenhouse Jr., 802; 3. S.Hornish Jr., 802; 4. A.Dillon, 789; 5. J.Allgaier, 756; 6. M.Annett, 690; 7. C.Whitt, 633; 8. M.Bliss, 609; 9. B.Scott, 540; 10. J.Nemechek, 506.

* SPRINT CUP

Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s return to Michigan isn't off to a great start.

Earnhardt, who won at Michigan International Speedway in June to snap a four-year losing streak, will have to start from the back today in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Pure Michigan 400 (10 a.m., ESPN). He rubbed against the wall in practice Saturday and will need to go to a backup car.

"We were making some changes on the car and got the car too loose, and it just came out from under me in the corner," Earnhardt said. "I probably was running harder than I should have been in practice."

Series points leader Jimmie Johnson also will be in back because of an engine change.

Pure Michigan 400 Lineup

After Friday qualifying; race today

At Michigan International Speedway

Brooklyn, Mich.

Lap length: 2 miles

(Car number in parentheses)

1. (55) Mark Martin, Toyota, 199.706.

2. (99) Carl Edwards, Ford, 198.626.

3. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 198.44.

4. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 198.183.

5. (5) Kasey Kahne, Chevrolet, 197.878.

6. (21) Trevor Bayne, Ford, 197.78.

7. (56) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 197.65.

8. (9) Marcos Ambrose, Ford, 197.493.

9. (83) Landon Cassill, Toyota, 197.433.

10. (27) Paul Menard, Chevrolet, 197.163.

11. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 197.114.

12. (15) Clint Bowyer, Toyota, 197.012.

13. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 196.893.

14. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 196.877.

15. (39) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 196.732.

16. (20) Joey Logano, Toyota, 196.501.

17. (22) Parker Kligerman, Dodge, 196.249.

18. (78) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 196.217.

19. (2) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 196.18.

20. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 196.052.

21. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 195.956.

22. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 195.822.

23. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 193.299.

24. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 193.268.

25. (42) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 193.138.

26. (51) Kurt Busch, Chevrolet, 192.988.

27. (91) Reed Sorenson, Toyota, 192.709.

28. (47) Bobby Labonte, Toyota, 192.596.

29. (13) Casey Mears, Ford, 192.56.

30. (93) Travis Kvapil, Toyota, 192.539.

31. (30) David Stremme, Toyota, 192.359.

32. (31) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 192.282.

33. (19) Jason Leffler, Ford, 192.205.

34. (26) Josh Wise, Ford, 192.179.

35. (87) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 192.118.

36. (38) David Gilliland, Ford, 191.79.

37. (34) David Ragan, Ford, 191.724.

38. (23) Scott Riggs, Chevrolet, 189.944.

39. (10) David Reutimann, Chevrolet, 189.036.

40. (32) T.J. Bell, Ford, Owner Points.

41. (43) Aric Almirola, Ford, Owner Points.

42. (36) Dave Blaney, Chevrolet, Owner Points.

43. (98) Mike Skinner, Ford, 189.939.

• Failed to Qualify

44. (33) Stephen Leicht, Chevrolet, 189.444.

45. (37) J.J. Yeley, Chevrolet, 188.157.

* NHRA

Tony Schumacher raced to the No. 1 qualifying position in Top Fuel at the Lucas Oil NHRA Nationals at Brainerd (Minn.) International Raceway.

Schumacher powered his canopy-covered dragster to a run of 3.791 seconds at 323.97 mph to claim his third top qualifying position of the season and 70th of his career.

The finals are tonight (6 p.m., ESPN2).