Jacques Villeneuve hasn't given up on NASCAR

[Earth]

Villeneuve Still Focused on NASCAR Future

Written By RACER staff:

"Jacques Villeneuve’s first serious NASCAR foray with Bill Davis Racing ended suddenly, but the Canadian still hopes to reignite his stock car career.

NASCAR remains my priority," the 1997 Formula 1 world champion and 1995 Indianapolis 500 winner told Italian magazine Autosprint. "It ended after the Daytona 500 because there were no resources to finance what was left in my program.

"The required budget is $30 million for a top team and $15 million for a small team. I didn't manage to find anything and the team was forced to make a decision, which was a shame because the races I did in 2007 were encouraging. But racing costs money and without it you don't even fire up the engine.

"I was probably wrong in refusing previous proposals that would have allowed me to race without having to bring money. But my agreementwith Barry Green started in January and you can't find that amount of money in just a few months. We're working on building a full-time program in 2009."

The Canadian also revealed that his life was made no easier in the NASCAR paddock by his open-wheel successes.

"The fact that I won a Formula 1 world title is not something NASCAR people care much about. Choosing to race in a series where my previous results are not considered demonstrates my determination. I've started from the bottom, racing pick-up trucks in ARCA just like everyone else.

"It's also useless to hope for the support of a car manufacturer. In NASCAR, none of them pay for a driver's season. There was a good relationship with Toyota, they helped me out, but even the top American drivers can only race if there's a sponsor paying for everything.”

Villeneuve hasn't been very impressive in his time driving at NASCAR's top level but I'm sure a driver of his talent given seat time in a stock car will be much better then some of the chaff running at the back of the Sprint Cup field like David Gilliland

Hope he gets the money and sponsors together. I want to see him on the road courses in Nationwide and the Sprint Cup. Would love to see him win at Gilles Villeneuve Circuit

 

[KAMKA-Z]

I'd rather see him come back to Champ Cars. I was at Road America when he won his first CART race. The guy won the Indy 500 from TWO LAPS DOWN! C'mon Jacques, You need to drink the milk again.

 

[Earth]

I'd rather see him come back to Champ Cars. I was at Road America when he won his first CART race. The guy won the Indy 500 from TWO LAPS DOWN! C'mon Jacques, You need to drink the milk again.

He said the IRL is too dangerous and Champ Car is too unprofessional for him

I think it also has to do with pride a little bit, he doesn't want to "step down" from the top openwheel series Formula 1 to it's little brother the IRL where he came from.

I think he chose NASCAR bause he is a racer's racer. He wants to try every form of motorsport he can. Openwheel, sports cars, stock cars, he wants to try his hand at them all before his time is out.

I respect that in him. He's willing to step down from F1 to stock car racing. Alot of former Grand Prix drivers have heads too big to allow them to do that.

Jacques, from what I've seen, is a racer's racer.

 

[GilesGuthrie]

Going from the premier open wheel series to the premier stock car series isn't "stepping down". It's "stepping across".

I find it interesting that he's having difficulty raising the sponsorship, although he did have a reputation of recalcitrance at sponsor events.

 

[Famine]

I respect that in him. He's willing to step down from F1 to stock car racing. Alot of former Grand Prix drivers have heads too big to allow them to do that.

This list is just off the top of my head, but:
Mika Hakkinen: Retired F1 2001; DTM 2005-7
Nigel Mansell: Retired F1 1992 (and again in 1995); CART 1993-4; BTCC 1998; FIA GT 2007 (1 race)
Heinz-Harald Frentzen: Retired F1 2003; DTM 2004-6; Le Mans 24hr 2008
Karl Wendlinger: Retired F1 1995; Le Mans 24hr 1996-2001 & 2008; FIA GT 1996-9 & 2006-8; DTM 2002-3
Martin Brundle: Retired F1 1996; Le Mans 24hr 1987-2001
Bernd Schneider: Retired F1 1990; DTM 1992-2008; FIA GT 1996-9; Le Mans 24hr 1998-9

Hell, even Ralf Schumacher "competes" in DTM currently. And that list is just off the top of my head. I'm sure someone who knows more about F1 history than I can compile a more complete list.

Jacques, from what I've seen, is a racer's racer.

From what I've seen, he's a whinging mercenary.

 

[TheCracker]

Alex Zanardi: Retired F1 1999; Champ Car 1996-8 & 2001; WTCC 2004 onwards

 

[Earth]

Going from the premier open wheel series to the premier stock car series isn't "stepping down". It's "stepping across".

That's right

This list is just off the top of my head, but:
Mika Hakkinen: Retired F1 2001; DTM 2005-7
Nigel Mansell: Retired F1 1992 (and again in 1995); CART 1993-4; BTCC 1998; FIA GT 2007 (1 race)
Heinz-Harald Frentzen: Retired F1 2003; DTM 2004-6; Le Mans 24hr 2008
Karl Wendlinger: Retired F1 1995; Le Mans 24hr 1996-2001 & 2008; FIA GT 1996-9 & 2006-8; DTM 2002-3
Martin Brundle: Retired F1 1996; Le Mans 24hr 1987-2001
Bernd Schneider: Retired F1 1990; DTM 1992-2008; FIA GT 1996-9; Le Mans 24hr 1998-9

Hell, even Ralf Schumacher "competes" in DTM currently. And that list is just off the top of my head. I'm sure someone who knows more about F1 history than I can compile a more complete list.

Maybe I had Michael Schumacher too much in mind when making the comment

From what I've seen, he's a whinging mercenary.

I like drivers who like to drive anything and everything and Jacques appears to be that

 

[Famine]

Maybe I had Michael Schumacher too much in mind when making the comment

To be fair he's not the only World Champion who retired from F1 and driving at the same time. Damon Hill hasn't gone on to other things, nor has Alain Prost. Senna's first retirement only ended when he went back to F1 (which didn't go so well).

I like drivers who like to drive anything and everything and Jacques appears to be that

I'd agree - Jacques will drive anything. Providing the salary is tasty enough.