Sport Welcomes Villeneuve With Open Arms, But Will He Earn His Place?

BRISTOL, Tenn. — NASCAR has gained even more street cred outside America now that another international open-wheel racer ditched his single-seater for full bodies and fenders.
“I’m encouraged to hear that more and more people think NASCAR’s the place to be,” said Jimmie Johnson, the defending Nextel Cup champion. “It’s shown the world what NASCAR is all about.”
Canadian Jacques Villeneuve, the 1997 Formula One world champion, will run in seven Craftsman Truck races and one ARCA event later this season for Bill Davis Racing. Villeneuve, 36, was scheduled to test a Toyota Tundra on Monday at Chicagoland Speedway. It’s all in preparation for his move to Sprint Cup in 2008 — a plan car owner Bill Davis confirmed Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway.
“He will race in Cup in 2008,” Davis said.
Villeneuve is following the lead of Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya, a seven-time winner in F-1 who raced against Villeneuve for five seasons. Montoya went straight to stock cars for his NASCAR debut last October.
“I think I opened the door for a lot more people,” Montoya said, “people who are afraid of coming to NASCAR because they thought, ‘It’s so much different. Nobody can do it.’ It’s good for NASCAR. It’s become the sport to be in.”
Lee White, senior vice president of Toyota Racing Development, told NSSN before Saturday night’s Sharpie 500 that Villeneuve’s foray into NASCAR is a “team issue,” with Toyota providing its usual motor and engineering support.
“It’s great for NASCAR. It’s great for Toyota. It’s great for Bill Davis,” White said. “There’s got to be some sponsorship opportunities that cross international boundaries.
“Everything’s great about it. But will you get him enough time? Is he young enough? Is he versatile enough? We’re going to find all that out.”
Villeneuve, son of the late Gilles Villeneuve, landed an F-1 seat with the Williams team in 1996 and won the championship a year later. He owns 11 grand prix victories and stood on the podium 23 times in 165 starts. His final few seasons, however, were rocky at best, and Villeneuve was booted from his seat at BMW Sauber midway through 2006.
In a Thursday interview with Journal de Montreal, Villeneuve expects the adjustment won’t be a problem.
“It’s important for me to race again,” Villeneuve told the Journal. “I’m ready to make the necessary sacrifice, but I’m not saying I’m ready to race at any cost. If it works, great. If it doesn’t, it’ll hurt a lot.”
Villeneuve last raced on ovals in 1995, when he won the Indianapolis 500 and CART championship.
“I’m not worried about ovals because I’ve always loved ovals,” Villeneuve said. “I’ve never driven cars with so little downforce, but since there is no driving aide (like electronics in F-1), I should like it. As a matter of fact, it’s in these case that a driver makes a difference, and that’s what I intend to do.”
In the meantime, Villeneuve, who lives in Montreal, will go through the testing ringer before the Sept. 22 truck race at Las Vegas — the first of the final seven races — and the Oct. 5 ARCA event at Talladega. He will, of course, be monitored closely by NASCAR and evaluated for superspeedway approval.
“The truck series will determine if he’s a driver or not,” White said. “Because guys in the truck series race unlike anybody in the Cup garage. Those guys race intense every lap. They’re not the longest races, but they go out there and knock each other’s teeth out.
“It will be a really good measure of what Jacques brings.”
Veteran crew chief Richard “Slugger” Labbe will lead Villeneuve’s Sprint Cup effort.