2007-10-26

Villeneuve's day ends in the wall at Martinsville

Jacques Villeneuve had a pretty good run in his short track debut at Martinsville Speedway. Despite starting in the back of the pack (27th out of 36 trucks), Villeneuve was moving up through the field and had gain 15 positions while being bumped from behind the whole race when, on a restart at lap 143, he was involved in a crash with Jason Leffler and Clint Bowyer. The two were in a heated fight before the caution and soon after the green flag dropped, Villeneuve was bumped by Leffler and, as he was gathering back control, he was bumped again by Bowyer which sent him spinning in the inside wall.

Despite the 31st place finish, everyone in the Villeneuve camp was happy about what they learned and they all expected to have a rough day. Other newcomers also had a hard day as IRL champion Dario Franchitti and Grand-Am rising star Colin Braun day also finished in a concrete barrier.

Villeneuve's next start in the Craftsman Truck Series will be this Saturday at Atlanta Motor Speedway, with the green flag dropped at 12:30.