from Jayski:
Jacques Villeneuve will make his Nextel Cup race debut next weekend, five weeks earlier than originally planned, in the ‘UAW-Ford 500’, at the famous Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. Villeneuve, who sat in a ‘Cup’ car for the first time just 24 days ago, was initially scheduled to race the ARCA and Craftsman Truck races at Talladega – steps one and two on the NASCAR ladder – whilst watching the main ‘Cup’ event on Sunday, along with over 143,000 trackside spectators. Villeneuve’s fast-track to ‘Cup’, the top step of the NASCAR ladder, has been made possible only with the approval of NASCAR. His recent performance in his debut ‘Car of Tomorrow’ test, also at Talladega, where he ran more laps than any other driver, and successfully ‘bump-drafted’ his way through the pack, without making enemies of the more experienced drivers, is seen to have eased that same process of approval. Having made his NASCAR race debut in the Craftsman Truck event at Las Vegas just last weekend, Villeneuve now faces a new challenge, where he will again be focused initially on qualifying his #27 car (43 cars will start the race, of which 36 are guaranteed a place based on pre-earned team points – Villeneuve does not have the benefit of such team points, either earned or inherited). In addition to Sunday’s 500-miler, Villeneuve will contest Saturday afternoon’s Craftsman Truck event, the 94-lap ‘Mountain Dew 250’, which is exactly half the length of Sunday’s flagship ‘Cup’ race. Earlier this week, the 36-year-old Canadian tested an ARCA car at Talladega.
Jacques Villeneuve will make his Nextel Cup race debut next weekend, five weeks earlier than originally planned, in the ‘UAW-Ford 500’, at the famous Talladega Superspeedway in Alabama. Villeneuve, who sat in a ‘Cup’ car for the first time just 24 days ago, was initially scheduled to race the ARCA and Craftsman Truck races at Talladega – steps one and two on the NASCAR ladder – whilst watching the main ‘Cup’ event on Sunday, along with over 143,000 trackside spectators. Villeneuve’s fast-track to ‘Cup’, the top step of the NASCAR ladder, has been made possible only with the approval of NASCAR. His recent performance in his debut ‘Car of Tomorrow’ test, also at Talladega, where he ran more laps than any other driver, and successfully ‘bump-drafted’ his way through the pack, without making enemies of the more experienced drivers, is seen to have eased that same process of approval. Having made his NASCAR race debut in the Craftsman Truck event at Las Vegas just last weekend, Villeneuve now faces a new challenge, where he will again be focused initially on qualifying his #27 car (43 cars will start the race, of which 36 are guaranteed a place based on pre-earned team points – Villeneuve does not have the benefit of such team points, either earned or inherited). In addition to Sunday’s 500-miler, Villeneuve will contest Saturday afternoon’s Craftsman Truck event, the 94-lap ‘Mountain Dew 250’, which is exactly half the length of Sunday’s flagship ‘Cup’ race. Earlier this week, the 36-year-old Canadian tested an ARCA car at Talladega.