Shiplett named as Carpentier crew chief

Gillet Evernham Motorsport announced this week that Mike Shiplett will act as crew chief for Patrick Carpentier's 2008 Sprint Cup campaign. Shiplett spent the 2007 season as crew chief for Kasey Kahne in the Busch series, where they obtained 2 victories together. Shiplett also spent the last 2 races of the 2007 campaign as crew chief on the #10 Valvoline Dodge in the Nextel Cup series.

Carpentier makes the field at Homestead

For the third time in as many attempts in the Nextel Cup Series, Patrick Carpentier was able to place his car within the top 43 in qualifying, ensuring himself a place on the starting grid this Friday at Homestead. The Nextel Cup series is running the old-style Cup cars for the last time in history , and ironically, this race is Carpentier first time behind the wheel of this car. He posted the 28th fastest time (31.017) for an average speed of 174.098 mph.

Once again, making the field was a difficult task as just 7 hundreths of a second slower than Carpentier, AJ Allmendinger posted a lap time of 31.089 and will miss the field for Sunday's race, despite running the 37th fastest time today.

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 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.

Komatsu with Carpentier in 2008?

Sirius Speedway reported today that the construction equipment company Komatsu is expected to sponsor Patrick Carpentier's car in 2008.

Komatsu were sponsor on his car (long with Zellers and Guzzo) for the 2007 Busch Series race in Montreal.

There are no news as wether their role would be as primary or associate sponsor

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)

Carpentier to test in Memphis Monday

Still in preparation for his first oval race on the NASCAR circuit and his full season ride next year, Patrick Carpentier will test this Monday at Memphis Motorsports Park. If you ever pass close to there, press release mentions some grand stands will be open to the public for free.

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

Carpentier will run the last two races of the 2007 campaign

Confirmed on Jayski this week, Patrick Carpentier will be behind the wheel of the Gillett Evernham Motorsport #10 Dodge for the last two races of the 2007 season (Phoenix and Homestead) and will also run the Homestead Busch Series race in preparation for their 2008 campaign.

Scott Riggs will be driving this week's Atlanta race as well as the following race at Texas Motorspeedway

Carpentier signs with GEM

Although his manager still says they're negotiating, multiple sources confirm Patrick Carpentier has a contract signed for 2008 where he would run the whole Sprint Cup (ex. Nextel Cup) season for Gillett Evernham Motorsport (GEM) in the #10, replacing Scott Riggs. The deal also includes about half the Busch races in the #9 car along.

If the #10 doesn't end this season in the top 35 owner's point, GEM might put a past champion behind the steering wheel for the first 5 races for the season, as to use the provisional starting positions it would benefit them.

Carpentier in GEM #10 car - rumour strengthens

Pierre Lecours reported in the Journal de Montréal this morning that a deal between Patrick Carpentier and Gillett/Evernham Motorsport (GEM) would be announced very soon. Carpentier would replace Scott Riggs at the wheel of the #10 car (as previously reported). George Gillett was heard on the radio saying Carpentier would be in one of his cars this season and for the whole 2008 campaign.

Carpentier tests at Kentucky Speedway

Patrick Carpentier participated yesterday in a test with Gillett-Evernham Motorsport (GEM) at Kentucky Speedway. Carpentier drove the #10 old-style Nextel Cup car usually run by Scott Riggs for about 140 laps around the track, along with Nextel regular Elliott Sadler and 2 Red Bull cars. Carpentier seemed quite happy as he got out of the car : "Our goal was not to achieve a new track record, but to get used to the car, but still, I registered good times. The team was satisfied with the day and I brought the car back in one piece"

During the day, Carpentier was served a variety of different car settings to see how he reacted to each of them and, in he recorded his best lap time at a tenth of a second faster than Sadler

Carpentier will be in Carolina this week-end to work out the details of a possible contract with GEM

Carpentier will not get 4th GEM car at NHIS

Gillett Evernham Motorsport (GEM) announced today that Boris Said will drive their 4th entry (#98) at New Hampshire International Speedway (NHIS) . The car will be used for research and development for the upcoming 2008 season. Rumours had been flying for a while that Patrick Carpentier might be sitting in that car at NHIS. GEM also fields that #98 car in this week's Talladega tests with Jason Keller at the wheel.

Carpentier would run the 2007 chase and the complete 2008 season

ESPN today announced that George Gillett, majority owner at Gillett Evernham Motorsport (GEM), was quoted on radio CKAC saying Patrick Carpentier would run the 2007 Nextel Cup Chase races and probably the complete 2008 season. GEM currently runs 3 Nextel Cup cars but is scheduled to add a 4th for development purposes for the end of the season, which would make room for Carpentier this year. Scott Riggs' ride at GEM is on jeopardy for next year so most experts expect Carpentier to take that seat for 2008.

Carpentier close to a deal with GEM

The Canadian Press reported today Patrick Carpentier would be close to a deal with Gillett Evernham Motorsport(GEM) for a NASCAR ride. Robert Desrosiers, Carpentier's representative, told that, they don't have a contract or a racing schedule yet but are sure about one thing : Patrick will be testing with GEM pretty soon, probably as soon as Kentucky next week. He then added : "I believe that after the tests, I think all of the cards are going to fall in place and we'll have more of a definite schedule on what Patrick's going to do this season [...] There are still quite a few races left in Busch and Nextel Cup and it's going to be up to Mr. Evernham and Mr. Gillett to see where they want to put Patrick."

Carpentier and Samax splits

It looks like Patrick Carpentier won't be driving for SAMAX in the Rolex Daytona Prototypes anymore this year. Philippe Crépeau from Radio-Canada.ca learned that the partnership ended on the night of the Watkins Glen race on August 10th. "The team didn't have the money to pay me. They already owe me a lot so we decided to stop it there" said Carpentier. He then added : "I will not lose time on that. I don't really feel like it. It sad that it happened but life goes on. We are looking forward now. I'm focusing on NASCAR

Carpentier in a 4th GEM car?

The Journal de Montréal reported yesterday that there are talks going on between Patrick Carpentier and Gillett Evernham Motorsport(GEM) for a spot in their 4th car to be added before the season ends. Gillett was quoted saying : "Carpentier is an extraordinary young man [...] He'll be testing for us in Kentucky and since we're adding a 4th Nextel car this season, he might be behind the wheel for one or more races before the season end."

GEM will be testing at Talladega next week but Carpentier will not be allowed to run the car since he's not been approved by NASCAR to run the super speedways yet. On the other hand, a car built specifically for Patrick is being prepared in GEM's headquarters.

The timing is right

After reading the news in the past couple of days, I realized one thing : The Flying Frenchmen are back into motorsport. Take a good look around around you'll see them everywhere, drivers from Quebec are invading the motorsport scene once again. After Jacques Villeneuve left F1, Patrick Carpentier lost his IRL ride and Andrew Ranger leaving ChampCar, one could easily think the dream was over but now, we've got Bruno Spengler knocking at the door of Formula One (as a test driver for Dave Richard's new ProDrive adventure) for the next year, Jacques Villeneuve and Patrick Carpentier (after a great Busch run in Montreal) signing with NASCAR teams to have preparation rides for a full assault next year. We have also seen Kevin Lacroix winning on his first week-end of Champcar Atlantic racing, Jean-François Dumoulin won the GT class at the Daytona 24 hours and Alex Tagliani is still running as good as he can with what he's giving in Champcar.

Only one conclusion is possible, the Flying Frenchmen are back and you'll get every bit of the stories here!