Villeneuve might only run the first 5 races of the season

Although he was scheduled to run for the 2008 Raybestos Rookie of the Year award, reports now say that Jacques Villeneuve might only run the first 5 races of the season. The same articles states those 5 races are locked-in but that they will reevaluate the situation afterward.

Villeneuve said last week that they have yet to sign a sponsorship deal so some rumors have started their run about Villeneuve paying from his pockets the first races in hopes to find the sponsors to run the whole thing.

Stay tuned!

Villeneuve shows speed on first day of testing at Daytona

NASCAR drivers were testing for the first time this year at Daytona International Speedway and Jacques Villeneuve begun his rookie season with a strong performance. First, in the morning session, Villeneuve tested 2 cars which he placed 4th and 15th out of 42 entered with a best lap of 49.092 seconds averaging 183.329 mph.

In the afternoon, Villeneuve then placed 6th and 20th, shaving about 2 tenths of a second off his times.

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

Carpentier wins first duel with Villeneuve

For the first time in their short NASCAR careers, Jacques Villeneuve and Patrick Carpentier went head to head in a Nextel Cup race. Carpentier came out as the clear winner this Sunday as he was the only one to cross the finish line, despite running 33rd place, 2 laps behind the leaders. Carpentier was pretty satisfied of what he learned. Before the race, Kenny Shrader told him he would have had a pretty good week-end if he completed 310 laps, which he exactly did. Patrick commented he still has a lot to learn, especially how to push the car without burning the tires.

Carpentier explained after the race : "It's so hard. You have to be so smooth that it's almost impossible. You have to go in hard and then get off the throttle. You abuse the car and then as soon as you do that for 10 laps you are done. The car just slides. Every time they put new tire on I was like yeah this is good. Oh I got it. I get the picture. Then 10 laps later I was back to battling the car."

For Jacques Villeneuve, the race was also a learning experience but in a whole other spectrum. Villeneuve was involved in a crash with Kasey Kahne which placed him down in 41st place in the standings. Jacques was still trying to figure out how the crash happened after the race : "We were all the way up there and there was someone on the inside and I didn't know there was someone on the outside and I just noticed them once I was already spun and touched them. I'm not sure what exactly happened and I'm very sorry."

Still, Villeneuve was pretty optimistic of the speed he had before the crash :"It was fun once we got the car running better. Earlier in the race it was a little challenging.[...] We got enough laps there. The car was very tight there and we fixed it with pit stops then it became fine and we were fighting our way back."

Both drivers should run next week-end at Miami-Homestead Speedway, Patrick Carpentier is listed by NASCAR in the Nextel Cup race but I could not find the entry list for the Busch and Trucks race to confirm where Jacques will run.

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 and Carpentier both make the field at Phoenix

Despite the huge number of cars entered in the event, both Patrick and Jacques Villeneuve qualified for Sunday's Nextel Cup Series race at Phoenix International Raceway. Patrick Carpentier put his Dodge entry in 24th place with a lap of 27.425 seconds (131.267 mph) while Jacques Villeneuve qualified his Toyota machine in 27th place in 27.478 seconds, maintaining an average speed of 131.014 miles per hour.

Getting in the event was not an easy task for drivers out of the 35 owners points. Michael Waltrip, the fastest driver to miss the field ran a lap in 27.558, barely a tenth of a second slower than Villeneuve. Waltrip would have started in 32nd place out of 43 cars if there were no guaranteed spots.

Carpentier and Villeneuve for the first time head to head

Phoenix International Raceway will host this week-end the first head to head confrontation between French Canadians Patrick Carpentier and Jacques Villeneuve on the Nextel Cup circuit. Both drivers appear on the entry list, which counts 49 cars. As both cars are out of the top 35 owners standings, this means they'll have to qualifying their cars within the top 8 cars out of the 14 in contention.

Villeneuve will be driving the #27 Toyota entry for Bill Davis Racing (sponsor to be announced) and Carpentier will drive the #10 Dodge for Gillett Evernham Motorsport painted in Valvoline and Stanley Tools colors.

Qualifications will be held Friday, November 9th at 5:40 pm ET and green flag for the race will fly at about 3:40 pm ET Sunday (Nov. 11)

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 and Carpentier testing in Atlanta

For the first time in history, and hopefully not the last, two french Canadians ran together on a NASCAR track as Jacques Villeneuve and Patrick Carpentier both participated in the Car of Tomorrow tests at Atlanta this week.

Carpentier, running in the Gillett Evernham Motorsport #10, car posted his fastest lap at 182.832 mph on Tuesday morning, good enough for 36th place out of 54 cars for that session. Carpentier placed slightly better in the afternoon in 31st place but speeds were slower as his 180.675 lap proved

Villeneuve also ran his fastest lap on Tuesday morning, clocked at 182.543 mph (43rd out of 54 cars). Villeneuve, at the wheel of the Bill Davis #27 machine, placed better in the afternoon with a 20th place out of 46 cars as he ran a lap at 181.497 mph

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 back in the COT in Phoenix and Homestead?

Rumours have been circulating this week that, following his strong finish at Talladega, Jacques Villeneuve might be back behind the wheel of a Nextel Cup car very soon. The word around is that Villeneuve would run the races in Phoenix and Homestead and that he has tests scheduled in Nashville and New Smyrna to get ready for his next appearance in the COT.

No official announcement has been made yet.

Villeneuve learns a lot and finishes 21st

Jacques Villeneuve had qualified his #27 Camry in 6th place for Sunday's Nextel Cup race at Talladega but opted to start at the back of the field, a place where he'd learn a lot more since his car was prepared for a fast qualifying run and not in the race. During the race, Villeneuve went up as high as 4th place and managed to finish 21st, still on the lead lap.

Villeneuve also faced a lot of unusual situations for him where he gained a lot of experience. He dodged his first big NASCAR crash, lost the upper end of his shifting stick and at some point lost radio contact because the wired got unplugged. On the last restart, Villeneuve also lost the 3rd gear on his transmission.

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."

Villeneuve makes the field at Talladega

Jacques Villeneuve made an excellent qualifying run this afternoon at Talladega for his first Nextel Cup race and put his Unicef Camry on the third row with a lap of 50.88 seconds for an average of 188.215 mph. The Toyotas were very fast as they grabbed 5 of the 6 first starting spots.

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.