Patrick Carpentier, in the #10 Auto Value Parts Store Dodge, is seen during the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coke Zero 400 at Daytona International Speedway on July 5, 2008. (John Harrelson/Getty Images)

Patrick Carpentier seems remarkably spry and happy for a guy who is sitting in Montreal studying for his contractor's license, rather than climbing into the driver's seat of a NASCAR stocker down in Florida.

The 51st running of the Daytona 500 goes this Sunday and once again there are no Canadians in the starting lineup of what's dubbed the Great American Race.

Last season it sure wasn't for lack of trying. This time around it's simply from a lack of funds.

North America's economy has gone bad, and that enviable, almost unbelievable ride stock car racing has enjoyed as the darling of sponsors over the last 10 years may be going with it.

There simply isn't the money to keep supporting teams, or drivers, who can't support themselves.

So though Carpentier, who ran 25 races last year with Gillett Evernham Motorsports (now Richard Petty Motorsports — and that's a long story in itself), had some offers to continue his career, they all came with a Catch 22 — he had to bring along funding.

"We had a few calls from different teams and stuff, but most of the teams were looking for some money or somebody that could bring in some cash later on down the road in a year or so," said Carpentier, on the phone while taking a lunch break from Sunday contractor classes.

One offer was five or six races for $1-million US. "The cost is [actually] much higher than that but we had a pretty good deal there from some sponsorship that was already on board with a team, and we only had to come up with a million.

"But usually the price is around $400,000 per event."

With 36 races on a full NASCAR Sprint Cup schedule, $400,000 an event adds up to $14.4-million - and that kind of money not only doesn't grow on trees, it isn't coming out of any struggling corporations, either.

In other words, there was nothing Carpentier could do. There wasn't a million available.

What a difference 12 months made

In February of 2008, Carpentier and former Formula 1 world champion Jacques Villeneuve both were sitting on legitimate chances to become the first Canadians to make the Daytona 500 since Calgary's Trevor Boys in the early 1990s.

Villeneuve had bought his way into a one-off in the No. 27 with Bill Davis Racing and he failed to qualify after spinning out in the Twin-125s that serve as the main entry into the big race.

Carpentier, however, was sitting prettier. A fine three-event audition in 2007 had earned the then-36-year-old native of Ville Lasalle, Que., a full-season ride with the GEM boys in the No. 10 Dodge.

It came with almost full sponsorship, as well.

But in his qualifying 125, while placed nicely inside the window for making the Daytona 500, Carpentier's front right tire blew, sending him into the wall.

The next weekend qualifying was rained out in California and the complicated NASCAR owner-points system kept him from that event as well.

That put the Canadian far behind in points and the former 22-time podium finisher in Champ Car open wheel racing could not make it up.

After 25 starts with GEM, including one pole position and an average finish of 29.6 (out of 43 starters in each race) Carpentier was pulled from the car with a handful of races to go following an argument with his crew chief.

No money equals no ride

That wasn't really the reason, most observers felt. There wasn't any prospect of money coming in.

Patrick Carpentier gets out of his car after qualifying for the NASCAR Nationwide Series NAPA Auto Parts 200 Montreal on Aug. 2, 2008 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal. (Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)

"Last year I went into Sprint Cup with George Gillet, who [owns] the Montreal Canadiens and has piles of American and Canadian sponsorships, and the fact he couldn't even get a dollar onboard from Canada kind of showed how hard it is," Carpentier said.

"Right now the economy is very tough so it's hard to get a dollar out of a business, but it's even tougher to get a dollar out when you are a Canadian and you are representing a U.S.-based company in the United States.

"It's almost impossible."

More to life

All of which must be devastating for someone who has been in the thick of it in both NASCAR and open wheel racing, including the 2005 Indianapolis 500.

Surprisingly, no.

"I think it depends on what your goals are and what you want to do in life," Carpentier said. "If something came up, I sure would do it again this year, but for me it doesn't really matter."

There is, you see, renovating houses — something he and his wife Anick have done for the last seven years in the States and now want to do in the Montreal area.

And there's a chance to spend some time with his two children.

"I think there comes a time in life where you need to step back and change things," he said. "I think life's too short to only do one thing and I'm going to try to do something else, and I'll be a contractor."

An alive and uninjured contractor.

Along the way Carpentier has seen a number of drivers badly injured or killed, including Forsythe teammate Greg Moore in 1999. He's also made some decent money.

"There isn't a lot of people who can race for 25 years and make a living at it, so I feel I've been very fortunate."

Semi-retirement didn't stick

Carpentier is keeping options open. He already semi-retired once in 2005-'06 and came back with a great ride in Sprint Cup.

About the best he believes can happen this year, though, is to get a one-off ride in the lower-level NASCAR Nationwide Series when it comes back to Montreal on Aug. 30 (he was second there in 2007 — a race that first opened everyone's eyes in stock car to what the Canadian could do).

And perhaps the phone might ring when the Sprint Cup big boys head to the road courses at Sonoma, in June, and Watkins Glen, in August. A number of teams replace oval experts with road specialists for those events.

Fellow Canadian Ron Fellows has made a career of being a road ringer, winning four Nationwide series races, including the rain-soaked one in Montreal last summer.

If someone called with that kind of offer — something that is not unlikely — would Carpentier, now apparently happily looking at a second career as a Montreal contractor, jump at the chance?

"I'm gonna run to go and to race," he said.

And he laughs.