Villeneuve Makes Gilles Villeneuve Return
It appears Jacques Villeneuve is returning to the Montreal racetrack named after his father.
The star driver from Iberville, Que., will meet with the media at his trendy downtown restaurant today to unveil the details of his participation in the Nationwide Series NASCAR event Aug. 2-3 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
The announcement comes five months after Villeneuve lost his NASCAR Sprint Cup ride with Bill Davis Racing after failing to qualify for the season opening Daytona 500. The 37-year-old raced in the Craftsman Truck series last year before making his Cup debut in the UAW-Ford 500 at Talladega Superspeedway in October. He finished 21st.
In preparation for next month’s race, Villeneuve will test at the Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw next Wednesday. It is the same track where Canadian Patrick Carpentier tested prior to last year’s inaugural NAPA Auto Parts 200 in Montreal.
Villeneuve attempted to get into field last year but could not put together the sponsorship needed to make the field. Sources close to the driver said that race promoter Normand Legault had a hand in arranging backing for the driver this year.
Villeneuve is one of the best known drivers in motor racing and has titles from every series he has entered. But he hasn’t done much winning, to put it mildly, since leaving the powerful Williams F-1 team to join the start-up BAR team in 1999.
Villeneuve’s team will include key people that helped Patrick Carpentier drive to his podium finish last year,. His crew chief will be Todd Lohse, who help Busch score his win in Charlotte.
The former F1 star has plenty of experience on the 13-turn, 4.361-kilometre circuit named after his father, racing there 10 times in the Canadian Grand Prix. His best result was a second in 1996 while driving for Williams.
UPDATE: Braun Racing has confirmed signing Villeneuve for a one race deal.
Braun Racing team owner, Todd Braun, feels that the addition of Villeneuve to his team’s efforts in Montreal will give them an extra advantage from a competitive standpoint.
“Jacques has had an incredible career,” said Braun. “The type of experience he can bring to our entire organization and road course program is invaluable. We look forward to working with him and to taking advantage of the experience and knowledge he brings with him.”
For Villeneuve’s part, he looks forward to aligning himself with a team as competitive as Braun Racing.
‘’It’s always fun to have the opportunity to race for such a competitive team as Braun Racing with great people that show confidence in you. It also adds to my pleasure to be in a car that hosted great pilots such as Kyle Bush and Denny Hamlin.”
As yet there’s is no confirmation whether Jacques’ ride will carry the Dollar General livery as depicted above.
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