Lee Spencer / FOXSports.com
Posted: 3 hours ago
First there was J.P. Now, here comes J.V.
A little more than a year after Ganassi Racing announced Juan Pablo Montoya's plans to race in the Nextel Cup Series, Jacques Villeneuve will begin his own stock car journey with Bill Davis Racing.
Villeneuve, 36, who won the 1997 Formula One World Championship two years after winning the CART title and the Indianapolis 500, will test the No. 22 Tundra truck with BDR on Monday at Chicagoland Speedway.
"We have spent the last few months considering a number of NASCAR options and were in agreement that the truck offers the closest reference point to the Car of Tomorrow," said Villeneuve via press release. "Bill Davis Racing was aware of my interest in NASCAR and approached my management team with a view to allowing me to test within its truck program. I'm glad we were able to work that out, and having spent the day with the team for my seat fitting, I am really looking forward to working with Bill and his staff."
While Villeneuve has not raced on a oval since 1995, BDR has compiled an aggressive testing schedule that would include ARCA and Craftsman Trucks and could have the driver ready to race in Nextel Cup by 2008.
BDR GM Mike Brown wants to see how the driver acclimates to stocks and then Villeneuve will have to pass NASCAR's approval process.
"We'll take him truck testing and see what his interest is," Brown said. He's real interested and we're interested in seeing what we can do with him. We need to develop a relationship with him and then see how he does with the development process. We're going to take it one test at time and see if he likes it. We're open minded to anything. He would have to run in trucks and Cup before he could race in the Cup Series next season, but I believe the sky is the limit.
"We're going to see how it goes on Monday. For us it's a normal test. For him it will be a new adventure in his racing career."
Brown said there are several different testing scenarios for Villeneuve. BDR's truck manager Mike Chambers and CTS points leader Mike Skinner will both attend Monday's test which could lead to Villeneuve's debut in a truck at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on September 22. If the "rookie" shows promise in both ARCA and truck he could be a third BDR Cup entry by Phoenix in November.
Andy Graves, who is currently Toyota Racing Development's senior manager, came from an open wheel background. Graves feels that like Montoya, Villeneuve's experience will carry him a long way.
"Jacques is a world champion," Graves said. "He has done well on ovals and in CART. If this was something he wanted to try and if he devotes himself to it he'll do at least as well as Juan Pablo.
"Like Juan, he's very confident and that goes a long way. He's very strong and very talented."
Toyota's program has shown vast improvement in recent months, including Dave Blaney and Brian Vickers both finishing in the top 10 at Michigan on Tuesday. Despite the organization's advances, Graves added that Villeneuve would be a nice addition to the Toyota roster.
"We don't employ race car drivers, that's the teams duty," Graves said. "It's solely up to one of our teams -- solely their decision. We're into winning We just want the best drivers. We've tried to make small gains in our performance. We made gains in Michigan and hope that continues into next year.
"We have some really good drivers now and we hope to have some really talented drivers in the future. The challenge that has been put in front of us has been large. But we have a 100 year plan. The last eight months that we've endured has been a very small part of the timeline."
Posted: 3 hours ago
First there was J.P. Now, here comes J.V.
A little more than a year after Ganassi Racing announced Juan Pablo Montoya's plans to race in the Nextel Cup Series, Jacques Villeneuve will begin his own stock car journey with Bill Davis Racing.
Villeneuve, 36, who won the 1997 Formula One World Championship two years after winning the CART title and the Indianapolis 500, will test the No. 22 Tundra truck with BDR on Monday at Chicagoland Speedway.
"We have spent the last few months considering a number of NASCAR options and were in agreement that the truck offers the closest reference point to the Car of Tomorrow," said Villeneuve via press release. "Bill Davis Racing was aware of my interest in NASCAR and approached my management team with a view to allowing me to test within its truck program. I'm glad we were able to work that out, and having spent the day with the team for my seat fitting, I am really looking forward to working with Bill and his staff."
While Villeneuve has not raced on a oval since 1995, BDR has compiled an aggressive testing schedule that would include ARCA and Craftsman Trucks and could have the driver ready to race in Nextel Cup by 2008.
BDR GM Mike Brown wants to see how the driver acclimates to stocks and then Villeneuve will have to pass NASCAR's approval process.
"We'll take him truck testing and see what his interest is," Brown said. He's real interested and we're interested in seeing what we can do with him. We need to develop a relationship with him and then see how he does with the development process. We're going to take it one test at time and see if he likes it. We're open minded to anything. He would have to run in trucks and Cup before he could race in the Cup Series next season, but I believe the sky is the limit.
"We're going to see how it goes on Monday. For us it's a normal test. For him it will be a new adventure in his racing career."
Brown said there are several different testing scenarios for Villeneuve. BDR's truck manager Mike Chambers and CTS points leader Mike Skinner will both attend Monday's test which could lead to Villeneuve's debut in a truck at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on September 22. If the "rookie" shows promise in both ARCA and truck he could be a third BDR Cup entry by Phoenix in November.
Andy Graves, who is currently Toyota Racing Development's senior manager, came from an open wheel background. Graves feels that like Montoya, Villeneuve's experience will carry him a long way.
"Jacques is a world champion," Graves said. "He has done well on ovals and in CART. If this was something he wanted to try and if he devotes himself to it he'll do at least as well as Juan Pablo.
"Like Juan, he's very confident and that goes a long way. He's very strong and very talented."
Toyota's program has shown vast improvement in recent months, including Dave Blaney and Brian Vickers both finishing in the top 10 at Michigan on Tuesday. Despite the organization's advances, Graves added that Villeneuve would be a nice addition to the Toyota roster.
"We don't employ race car drivers, that's the teams duty," Graves said. "It's solely up to one of our teams -- solely their decision. We're into winning We just want the best drivers. We've tried to make small gains in our performance. We made gains in Michigan and hope that continues into next year.
"We have some really good drivers now and we hope to have some really talented drivers in the future. The challenge that has been put in front of us has been large. But we have a 100 year plan. The last eight months that we've endured has been a very small part of the timeline."
