AccessMyLibrary provides FREE access to over 30 million articles from top publications available through your library.
Create a link to this page
Copy and paste this link tag into your Web page or blog:
PLACE YOUR BETS; Jacques Villeneuve makes his NASCAR debut at Las Vegas.(Competitions of car racing)
Byline: CURT CAVIN
He can dispute this all he wants, but it was not a gamble for Jacques Villeneuve to race a NASCAR Craftsman Truck at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. The racing cards he's held recently did not look like winners.
Sure, the former Formula One, CART and Indianapolis 500 champion could have driven in a number of series, including Champ Car or the IndyCar Series, but nothing held his fascination the way stock cars did.
That's why he was in the desert with the Musgraves and the Bodines, wearing a worn, customarily baggy, sponsor-free white uniform and smiling up a storm.
"If it was just driving for driving, there were plenty of things to do,'' he said just before his stock-car debut. "But after driving in F1, I wanted to be in another top series, and the only one around was NASCAR.
"It's as exciting [as F1] and a challenge. Since I started testing, it has been a blast. Since the first lap [of testing], I wanted to race.''
Villeneuve got his chance, and as much as the crowd and those in garage area might deny it, he captured and held their attention. Travis Kvapil won the race (see Scoreboard, page 41), but the diminutive 36-year-old French-Canadian with wire-rim glasses and a receding hairline stood out, up until he clipped a slowing Brian Scott on lap 48.
- DEBUT: Villeneuve prepares to drive in Trucks race Saturday.
- News wire article from: Winston-Salem Journal (Winston-Salem, NC) September 20, 2007 700+ words
...20--Jacques Villeneuve will be officially...this weekend, at Las Vegas Motor Speedway...Toyota Tundra. Can Villeneuve make The Show...the 11/2-mile Las Vegas track. But in five big tests, Villeneuve never scraped the...
- Challenge revs Villeneuve's motor: Driver making move to NASCAR.
- News wire article from: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (Milwaukee, WI) August 28, 2007 700+ words
...Then last year, after Villeneuve walked away from Sauber...weekend. Plans call for Villeneuve to make his Craftsman...Series debut Sept. 22 in Las Vegas, run the final seven...big thing to do," Villeneuve said of NASCAR. "It...
- NASCAR gives Villeneuve OK to run Talladega.
- News wire article from: Winston-Salem Journal (Winston-Salem, NC) September 29, 2007 700+ words
...Talladega OK for Villeneuve dominated the day...last weekend at Las Vegas), but he wasn...NASCAR approved Villeneuve for next week...s Truck race at Las Vegas, where he finished 21st. But then Villeneuve won the World Championship...
- Villeneuve hits ground running for Davis.
- Newspaper article from: High Point Enterprise (High Point, NC) August 29, 2007 700+ words
...keep Jacques Villeneuvebusy. Villeneuve was in the midst of the second...season (beginning Sept. 23 at Las Vegas) and the ARCA race at Talladega...left open the possibility of Villeneuve participating in a Cup race...to do a bunch of things," Villeneuve said during a break in his...
- Villeneuve takes next step in Cup quest.
- Newspaper article from: High Point Enterprise (High Point, NC) September 20, 2007 700+ words
...weekend, Jacques Villeneuve faces the next...series race at Las Vegas Speedway. He is...One. The elder Villeneuve was killed in a racing crash. Villeneuve won't be the...Last year at Las Vegas, Skinner won from...
- DRIVERS OPPOSE VILLENEUVE CUP DEBUT.(Competition)
- Magazine article from: AutoWeek October 8, 2007 700+ words
...Jeff Gordon said. Villeneuve counts a Car of Tomorrow...Truck Series race at Las Vegas ("Place Your Bets...permission from NASCAR for Villeneuve to make his Cup debut...and finished 21st at Las Vegas. "He's doing what...upon hearing the news. Villeneuve also will participate...
- Villeneuve eyes ride in Nextel Cup series.
- Newspaper article from: Roanoke Times (Roanoke, VA) August 29, 2007 700+ words
...Cup circuit next season. Villeneuve, the 1997 F1 champ and 1995...even internationally," Villeneuve said Tuesday. "After Formula...the top level is NASCAR." Villeneuve, 36, competed in F1 from...series on Feb. 24, and the Las Vegas race is the following week...
- VILLENEUVE ARRIVES IN NASCAR.(Competition)
- Magazine article from: AutoWeek September 3, 2007 700+ words
...Indianapolis 500 champion Jacques Villeneuve, 36, is headed for NASCAR...debut in the truck race at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sept. 22...schedule Nextel Cup Camry for Villeneuve and crew chief Slugger Labbe...were scheduled to be with Villeneuve at a truck test Aug. 27 at...
- Villeneuve eager to give stock cars a spin.
- Newspaper article from: Orange County Register (Santa Ana, CA) August 29, 2007 700+ words
...Nextel Cup Series. Jacques Villeneuve completed a two-day test...NASCAR Truck Series debut at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on Sept. 22...everything remain on schedule and Villeneuve indeed make it up to the Nextel...missing the ovals also," Villeneuve said. Before he headed off...
- BRIEF: Villeneuve looks to rekindle career in NASCAR's Truck series: Related...
- News wire article from: Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, NC ) August 29, 2007 700+ words
...Davis Racing who supervised Villeneuve's test this week at Chicagoland...the truck extremely well" Villeneuve hasn't raced on oval tracks...definitely learned a lot," said Villeneuve, who is scheduled to make his first Truck Series start at Las Vegas on Sept. 22 and could try...
Source: HighBeam Research, PLACE YOUR BETS; Jacques Villeneuve makes his NASCAR debut at Las...