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.

NASCAR veterans unhappy about Villeneuve's decision

Jacques Villeneuve was certainly not expected a warm welcome from the NASCAR stars and it's exactly what he received.

Jeff Gordon was quoted this week saying : "I don't agree with it, but I'm not going to lose sleep over it either.
"Jacques did a nice job at the (Talladega) test, but you can't base anything on a test. I mean, that's just crazy. . . I think you need to get some experience in something else before you go stick them in the Cup race at Talladega, especially when it's so crucial for the championship." Gordon refers to the fact that Villeneuve's Nextel Cup debut will be on the fastest track of the circuit, right in the middle of the Chase for the championship.

Kyle Busch had about the same reaction : "He's doing what? [...] Holy cow, that's not good."

After the controversy, NASCAR reaffirmed their decision to allow Villeneuve to run the race since he passed all the criterias they were looking for.

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 tests ARCA car at Talladega

Jacques Villeneuve was back at Talladega Speedway yesterday for another series of tests, this time inside an ARCA car. Bill Davis Racing brought 2 cars to the test, one for Villeneuve (#02) and another for Michael Annett (#28). Both had a very good day scoring respectively 8th and 2nd fastest lap times out of 44 cars. Villeneuve was inside the car from early in the morning to late in the afternoon and impressed his crew chief as he was smiling all the way, despite the reputation he built himself in the F1 circus.

Villeneuve should be running the ARCA race at Talladega speedway on Friday, October 5th

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 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 learns the draft under cover

On his first day of running in the draft, Jacques Villeneuve learned a lot from the pros yesterday, despite being under cover for the run. After issues with the main car in the morning, Villeneuve took the backup #22 for the afternoon session and few drivers knew he was driving it, just like Jimmie Johnson after passing together through a 17 cars field : "Really, that was Jacques? I was sure it was Blaney [...] He must be alright because I would have never thought it was a rookie following me in the draft". Jeff Burton had about the same comments after a bump drafting session with Villeneuve : "I saw Blaney's car in front of me and he was in a perfect place for a push so I bumped him on the backstretch. He then pushed me back in the same fashion [... ] I'm not that surprised of seeing him driver like a veteran. He was champion in F1, that means he can drive... fast".

Villeneuve brought the car back with a slightly bent front bumper which pleased his crew chief Slugger Labbe : "That means Jacques learned to push, which you have to do here at Talladega"

Villeneuve 11th in afternoon drafting session

Although Jacques Villeneuve told the press he would be taking it easy this afternoon during the drafting session at Talladega Speedway, he ended up 11th on the time charts, out of 70 cars. This test was the first super speedway drafting session run with the new Car Of Tomorrow (COT) which will be used for the October 7th race at the same super speedway in Alabama.

Villeneuve ran his best lap in 49.278 seconds, for an average speed of 194.326, about half a second behind the fastest lap of Johnny Sauter which ran a 48.816 for 196.165 mph, more than 4 mph faster than pole speed last April with the old cup car.

Radio-Canada reported Villeneuve went out for 5 runs of 28, 26, 16, 15 and 12 laps for 97 laps total, more than half the distance of the Talladega 500 (188 laps)

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.

Villeneuve spent the first Talladega day getting confortable with the Cup car

Jacques Villeneuve today told SceneDaily a bit about his first day of testing at Talladega with the Nextel Cup teams : "We got going very late this morning and only got a couple runs in - we haven't been able to work on setup at all yet[ ... ] I was just getting used to running the fast laps out there as far as staying up to the top of the race track as long as possible before coming back down. I'm still working to figure everything out, but we will get more time this afternoon"

When questioned about the drafting practice that would take place later in the day, he added "I've been told that I will be wondering what this bunch of lunatics is doing out there running so close to each other the whole time - just like kids I suppose, but it should be fun [...] I am probably going to stay in the back and watch what happens."

Engine failure for Villeneuve at Talladega test

Jacques Villeneuve was on scene this Monday to test the Car Of Tomorrow (COT) for it's upcoming race at Talladega on October 7th (first race for the COT on a super speedway). Villeneuve's run was a short one as his engine let go on his first lap out. Bill Davis Racing's spokesperson told Radio-Canada that Villeneuve had nothing to do with the failure and that he went quickly back on track with the backup car.

Villeneuve was shown on Jayski's testing page as last car of 62 in the morning practice with a recorded speed of 162 mph while the 61st place car was at 181 mph.

Villeneuve is approved by NASCAR for COT test

They're were little reasons to believe otherwise but NASCAR announced today they approved Jacques Villeneuve's participation in the manufacturer's test that will be run at Talladega next week. Villeneuve will run the Car Of Tomorrow (COT) car alongside other NEXTEL regulars on the 2.66 mile super speedway.

Team owner Bill Davis also talked about having Villeneuve run the ARCA tests at Talladega on Sept. 24th and 25th (in was stated earlier this week that he would be running the ARCA race there on Oct. 5th)

Villeneuve in ARCA car for Talladega

Also read in the Journal de Montréal yesterday : Jacques Villeneuve will be on track at Talladega on October 5th with the ARCA series

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.

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.