Villeneuve shows some speed at Homestead

It was and up and down day for Jacques Villeneuve at Homestead this Friday. The French Canadian was high on the charts for all practice sessions for the Craftsman Truck Series race and even put his truck in 3rd place on the starting grid. Villeneuve was also running pretty fast during the race before he lost control of his truck, hitting the wall while he was running in 4th place. The truck was badly damaged and he couldn't get back racing so the final results show him in 36th and last place.

This was Villeneuve's last race for the 2007 campaign before jumping to the Sprint Cup Series full time next year.

Carpentier pulling double-duty. Villeneuve to race truck only at Homestead

I finally got my hands in this week-end entry list for the 3 NASCAR races at Homestead-Miami Speedway. Patrick Carpentier will drive this week's Busch and Nextel Cup races. He will again drive the #10 Dodge entry in the Nextel Cup race and will get behind the wheel of the #19 car the first time in the Busch Series.

Jacques Villeneuve on the other hand will only be driving his Toyota Tundra truck for the Craftsman Truck Series race. Earlier, Villeneuve said he would only be driving Car of Tomorrow Cup races and they will not be on site this week-end as NASCAR will run the old Cup car for the last time.

The Truck race will be on Speed TV Friday, November 16th at 7:30 PM EST
The Busch Series race will run Saturday, November 17th at 4 PM EST (televised on ESPN2)
The Nextel Cup qualifying session to determine the 43 starters out of 49 entries will be held Friday, Nov. 16th at 3:10 PM and live on ESPN2 while the green flag will drop Sunday, Nov. 18th at 3:45 PM, live on ABC

Villeneuve 19th in NCTS at Phoenix

The first race of a double header week-end at Phoenix for Jacques Villeneuve was a promising one as he qualified in 14th place for the 150 miles event. Involved in a couple of incidents, Villeneuve managed to stay on the lead lap the whole race and crossed the finish line in 19th place out of 36 trucks.

Villeneuve 25th at Texas

After his best finish in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series last week at Atlanta, Jacques Villeneuve had a bit rougher week-end at Texas Motor Speedway (TMS). After he qualified his truck in 16th place, Jacques only completed 141 of the 149 laps scheduled, showing in the charts in 25th place out of 36 trucks.

At the time of writing, no press releases could be found describing Villeneuve's day at TMS

Villeneuve 14th in Atlanta

Jacques Villeneuve ran in his 4th Craftsman Truck Series race this saturday at Atlanta and scored his best finsh so far in a NASCAR race in 14th position. Villeneuve at some point was even up to 9th place but he struggled with and understeering car no adjustements could overcome. Villeneuve also had some difficulties running the high side of the track as he lost 4 places on both times he was running the outer lane.

In the end, Jacques was pretty happy to see the checkered flag as he missed both in Talladega and Martinsville. This time, all goals were completed as he even completed the race without loosing a lap.

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.

Villeneuve and Pollock bought Bill Davis Racing?

According to reliable sources at Auto123, Jacques Villeneuve and Craig Pollock have purschased Bill Davis Racing. Apparently, the team would continue to run their current lineup of drivers plus a Nextel Cup car for Villeneuve.

Villeneuve and Pollock are not at their first attempt in team management as their were owners of BAR F1 team

Jacques Villeneuve moves on to his first short track race

After riding the high banks of the longest track of the NASCAR circuit at Talladega Speedway two weeks ago, Jacques Villeneuve now takes on the challenge of the shortest one at Martinsville Speedway. Villeneuve's name is seen once again in the Craftsman Truck Series entry list in the #27 truck for Bill Davis Racing. Villeneuve will be at his 3rd CTS' race and his 4th start behind the wheel of a stock-car.

The race will be shown live on Speed TV this Saturday at 2:30 PM

Villeneuve tests at Caraway Speedway

In preparation for the Craftsman Truck Series race in Martinsville (1/2 mile long, one of the shortest tracks on the NASCAR circuit), Jacques Villeneuve has been testing in Carolina's Caraway Speedway (0.455 mile race track). His team stated that, despite strong showings on the super speedways, Jacques had a lot to learn on the short tracks as it is a completely different kind of driving. Villeneuve is scheduled to run about 250 laps during his 2 days test.

Villeneuve crashes at Talladega

Jacques Villeneuve's second Craftsman Truck Series race was not much better than the first one. Early in the race this afternoon at Talladega, Villeneuve lost the lead draft and had a very hard time getting back to it. Afterward, on lap 60, the truck right in front of Villeneuve slowed down to get into the pits and, as Villeneuve checked out, he was bumped in the back and slid to the right, collecting both TJ Bell and Bryan Silas in the crash.

As soon as he was out of the truck, Villeneuve thought about the race he has to run Sunday : "Once you lose the pack, you're done. I hope there won't be a repeat tomorrow."

UNICEF colors for Villeneuve at Talladega

UNICEF Canada announced today they would be sponsoring Jacques Villeneuve Toyota Camry Nextel Cup car and Toyota Tundra Craftsman truck for the week-end races at Talladega.

Villeneuve rides will be in a blue and white livery with the legendary #27 on the sides.

The NASCAR Craftsman Truck series will be held Saturday at 3pm. Qualifying for the Nextel Cup race will run Saturday at 11:15 and, if Villeneuve makes the field, he will drive the 500 mile race Sunday at 1pm.

Villeneuve will enter Nextel Cup race at Talladega

After successful tests at Talladega in Nextel and ARCA cars and a clean race in the Truck series at Las Vegas, Jacques Villeneuve was allowed by NASCAR yesterday to run races on super speedways. On the same day, it was announced Jacques would enter the Nextel race at Talladega on October 7. Villeneuve was already entered in the ARCA and Trucks race but it was also announced Villeneuve would not run the ARCA race because he would be too busy on that weekend.

Villeneuve will have to fight his way through qualifying for the race as the car entered is not in the top 35 in the owners standings. Villeneuve commented it would be a good place to try to qualifying as it was not so much about driving but keeping your foot down and hoping the engine and the car are fast.

That race at 'Dega will be the first time a COT race is held on a super speedway.

Villeneuve 21st in NASCAR debut

Despite a final result showing 21st out of 36 drivers in this saturday Craftsman Truck Series race in Las Vegas Speedway, Jacques Villeneuve had a pretty good day. After scoring near the top 10 in the practice sessions, Villeneuve qualified his truck in 7th position and seemed quite relaxed before the race. On the drop of the green flag, Villeneuve dropped several positions, a drop which was repeated every restart as Villeneuve seemed to struggle with a very loose truck on cold tires. He kept moving up every time and was running about 15th when the truck of Brian Scott in front of him got loose and had to slow down to gather it back while Villeneuve bumped him trying to avoid the contact. Villeneuve had to pit for repairs and never was competitive again for the race.

Next race on the schedule for the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series is on October 6 at Talladega Speedway

Villeneuve on Las Vegas entry list

Well, it's official now, Jacques Villeneuve will be driving in NASCAR this week-end. His name appears on the Craftsman Truck Series entry list for the Las Vegas race this week-end, where he will drive the #27 Toyota Tundra entry for Bill Davis Racing.

Villeneuve won't be the only Indy 500 champion on track as Buddy Lazier will also run the race. Lazier won the 2000 edition of the May classic.

Villeneuve will be the third ex-F1 driver t drive in the Truck series as Eliseo Salazar ran Watkins Glen in 1997 (finished 17th) and Olivier Beretta ran the Heartland Park Race in 1999 (also finished 17th) but both races were road races, meaning Villeneuve will be the first to do so on an oval.

Villeneuve 3rd on second Talladega test

On his second day of testing at Talladega super speedway, Jacques Villeneuve was again the fastest Toyota on the speed charts after the morning's drafting session. This time, he sits in 3rd place with a best lap averaging 191.130 as the cars were using a smaller restrictor plate and a smaller wicker.

Dave Blaney, Jacques' teammate finished the session in 22nd place, 3rd of the Toyotas out of 61 cars that ran today.

Villeneuve's next visit behind a NASCAR driving wheel should be at Las Vegas where he is scheduled to make his NASCAR debut in the Craftsman Truck Series

Villeneuve getting comfortable with the COT

Jacques Villeneuve took the wheel of a Nextel Car of Tomorrow (COT) for the first time yesterday at Kentucky Speedway and got at speed much quicker than the people at Bill David Racing expected. Slugger Labbe, Villeneuve's crew chief said they had planned the whole morning for Villeneuve to get comfortable with the car but he was in the expected speed range at his 3rd lap which enabled them to do much more work than expected. In the end, Jacques ran 162 laps of the 1.5 mile oval. With these results, their testing schedule is now kicking to a new speed as Jacques should be testing with the Nextel guys at Talladega next week if he receives his clearance from NASCAR for the 2.66 miles super speedway.

The rumours heard yesterday also confirmed Villeneuve would use the last 7 races of the Craftsman Truck Series in preparation for his 2008 Sprint Cup assault.