Former Formula One champion Jacques Villeneuve was born in 1971, the same year as NASCAR aces Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart.
In F1 years, Villeneuve is a dinosaur. In Nextel Cup, he’s middle-aged.
That’s partly why the Canadian-born Villeneuve, 36, is returning to North America, in the hopes of becoming NASCAR’s next best thing since Juan Pablo Montoya.
Montoya, who is enjoying a fine rookie season in Cup, is a former CART champion and Indianapolis 500 and F1 winner.
Villeneuve’s résumé is similar, but better. He won the 1995 Indy 500 and CART championship, then captured the 1997 F1 crown. The son of Canadian driving hero Gilles Villeneuve became a national hero of his own, and now wants go south of the border and follow Montoya in America’s motorsports pastime.
He plans on qualifying for the final seven Craftsman Truck Series races for Bill Davis Racing, beginning Sept. 22 at Las Vegas, and turn enough heads to pick up a full-time Cup ride next season. Bill Davis hasn’t ruled out putting Villeneuve in a Cup car this year.
Montoya had a similar audition for Chip Ganassi Racing a year ago.
“You know, after Formula One, when you want to carry on racing, you want it to be at a tough level, and in North America, the top level is NASCAR,” Villeneuve said in Tuesday’s national teleconference.
Like Colombian-born Montoya did a year ago, Villeneuve figures to help expand NASCAR’s global presence. Villeneuve, who also finished second in the 1994 Indy 500, said most European racers and fans don’t understand oval racing, something he misses from his distinguished CART career.
“The speeds are high, and I was missing driving on ovals in Europe, so it’s nice to get back into ovals,” he said. “It’s very exciting because it’s very different than anything I’ve done before.”
Defending Cup champion Jimmie Johnson said Villeneuve’s interest in NASCAR speaks volumes about growth of the series.
“I certainly think it shows that our sport is being respected on a worldwide scale,” Johnson said in the teleconference. “I think that, as Juan has come in and lived the experiences of Nextel Cup racing, it has shown how difficult our sport is.”
He added: “Our sport is built on a different premise than F1 is. Our sport is focused on competition and entertainment, where their sport is focused on just technology. So it is going to take these drivers some time to get used to the cars and come in. But I think it helps grow our fan base, and also helps take NASCAR to the next level of respect in the racing world’s eyes.”
Villenueve and Montoya were fierce racing rivals who got along well off the track. Montoya has made more on-track enemies than friends in Cup, but Villenueve said that’s only natural.
“No matter what you’re driving nobody likes the new boy,” he said. “Anytime anybody got into F1, we didn’t like it, and we made their life hard. So that’s a little bit natural.
“But (Montoya) was like that in Formula One, extremely aggressive and got on people’s nerves. I guess he kept the same personality going into NASCAR, which once he settles in, it will be all right. He’s driving hard, he’s fast, and he’s making a name for himself. Now he’s earning respect.”
Look for Villeneuve to do the same.
Footnote
Georgetta Roush, mother of Roush Fenway Racing co-owner Jack Roush, died Tuesday at age 92. She was listed as the car owner of Kurt Busch’s team from 1998 to 2005, including Busch’s 2004 championship year. She was also the designated owner of Jamie McMurray’s car last year and Carl Edwards’ current car.
SPOTLIGHT: CARL EDWARDS
On track for double championship
Edwards, looking to become the first driver to capture NASCAR’s top two championships in the same season, should win the Busch Series title – he leads No. 2 David Reutimann by 690 points – and he clinched a Cup playoff spot Saturday by winning at Bristol, Tenn. Edwards’ second Cup win didn’t improve his position in the standings – he’s still fifth – but he gained another 10 Chase bonus points and, if the Chase started today, Edwards would be tied with Kurt Busch for fourth, just 20 points behind Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson and only 10 behind Tony Stewart. The new Chase format will have the top 12 drivers begin with 5,000 points. Ten bonus points are then given for each regular-season victory. Edwards and Busch have two wins apiece. Gordon and Johnson have a series-most four. Stewart has three. Among those drivers, only Busch is in jeopardy of missing the Chase. The others are only concerned with winning the final two regular-season races. “Since we clinched a spot in the Chase last weekend, some of that pressure is off and now we can go out and race for bonus points,” Edwards said.
ON THE MOVE: KASEY KAHNE
Poor season getting better
Kahne finished first and second, respectively, in last weekend’s Busch and Cup races at Bristol, Tenn., and won the pole for the Cup race. His runner-up Cup result was his best of the season, and he jumped four spots, to 23rd, in the standings. Kahne, who ended eighth in the points last year, is trying to salvage a disappointing season. He was seventh in the season-opening Daytona 500 but has produced just two top-10 Cup finishes since.
THIS WEEK’S RACE: SHARP AQUOS 500
California dreaming, Part II
5 p.m. Sunday, ESPN
Where: California Speedway in Fontana (2-mile oval, 14 degrees banking in turns, 11 degrees frontstretch, 3 degrees backstretch).
Distance: 500 miles, 250 laps.
Qualifying: Friday, 4 p.m., SPEED.
Last year: Kasey Kahne won a year ago; Matt Kenseth won the Feb. 25 race.
Points standings
(Driver Pts. Wins Top 5s Top 10s Winnings)
1. Jeff Gordon 3,582 4 14 20 $5,029,560
2. Tony Stewart 3,233 3 8 17 4,670,920
3. Denny Hamlin 3,229 1 10 14 3,610,110
4. Matt Kenseth 3,163 1 8 15 4,361,390
5. Carl Edwards 3,150 2 6 10 3,100,260
6. Jimmie Johnson 3,059 4 12 14 4,782,990
7. Jeff Burton 3,054 1 6 11 4,427,650
8. Kyle Busch 3,024 1 5 13 3,215,820
9. Clint Bowyer 2,944 0 2 12 2,694,920
10. Kevin Harvick 2,888 1 4 10 5,890,410
11. Martin Truex Jr. 2,887 1 5 9 3,483,040
12. Kurt Busch 2,879 2 5 8 3,663,120
13. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 2,721 0 5 9 3,642,560
14. Ryan Newman 2,704 0 3 10 3,466,870
15. Greg Biffle 2,562 0 2 7 2,850,850
16. Casey Mears 2,458 1 4 6 2,925,100
17. Bobby Labonte 2,406 0 0 3 3,200,940
18. Juan Montoya 2,375 1 3 4 3,447,750
19. Jamie McMurray 2,371 1 1 3 2,714,310
20. J.J. Yeley 2,296 0 1 1 3,028,390
21. Mark Martin 2,220 0 4 9 3,426,440
22. David Stremme Ragan 2,175 0 1 3 2,256,450
23. Kasey Kahne 2,144 0 1 3 3,596,500
24. David Ragan 2,139 0 1 1 3,279,970
25. Elliott Sadler 2,139 0 1 2 2,809,070
Top 12 qualify for the Chase for the Nextel Cup.
Staff writer Mike Chambers can be reached at 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com.
