O Canada - Thank You for Montreal

Boris Said celebrates after winning the NAPA Auto Parts 200.

Just when you think a race will be a snoozefest, it turns into one of the most exciting finishes in recent memory.

More than an hour into the Nationwide Series NAPA Auto Parts 200, most of the race was being run under caution. At one point, the longest green flag run was two-and-a-half laps. The yellow flags were a bore - and it seemed like an afternoon NASCAR nap might be in order.

But then the race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve came alive. There was three-wide racing, cars scrambling through the grass, bumping and running, solid hits, and hold-your-breath misses.

And it all ended with a finish more blistering than the Montreal sun.

In a green white checker finish, Boris Said took the lead away from Robby Gordon when Gordon ran out of fuel. Said was then passed by a hard-charging Max Papis, only to pass Papis back and battle him down the stretch for a by-the-nose win.

Said survived the Montreal gauntlet. But early frontrunners Marcos Ambrose and Carl Edwards did not. Though the pair combined to lead the most laps, they ended the day in the garage with mechanical failure.

Meanwhile Canadian racing hero and local favorite Jacques Villeneuve finished third on the track named for his father.

It was one heckuva race. And any NASCAR fan with funds enough and time should consider planning a trip to the 2011 Nationwide event in Montreal.

I know I am.