jaques villeneuve to run nascar?
 

i just was checking out the espn auto racing site and there is an unconfirmed rumor that villeneuve has signed with rousch racing to perhaps replace the retiring mark martin.

i hope it is true. it wil offer some interesting diversity to the nascar fields to go along with juan pablo montoya!

those guys should be able to race with robby gordon on a road course!

tom w

Beats me, but I hope it takes up more of his free time than F-1 did; anything to keep him out of the studio. Ever heard his music? Scary.

http://www.myspace.com/jvofficial

Why do guys like JV and Whatshisass (the Reds pitcher who thinks he's a rock star) think they can sing?

"...wishing and hoping and praying and ..." forgot the next line. when you are making millions a year, it can tend to make you believe you can do anything and be successful.

and to be a race car driver you have to have an enormous ego, i think.

tom w

I predict a very short lived NASCAR career. NASCAR women are different.

i hope you are wrong. i have always liked jacques and his dad. he is really a better driver than his dad who had all the heart and balls and not enough sense of self preservation. he died when jaqcues was about 11 i think.

jaques has always always been a complete driver who can bring a car home even if it is not perfect.

i remember with fondness him battling robby gordon at cleveland in the indy cars about 1994 ror 5. he was new at it and robby has been always very aggressive. they were battling for position and robby tried to bully jaques a bit for the corner. jaques stood his ground and they both slid off the course but jaques was still in the lead when it sorted out. i chuckled and thought "the kid is ok." i also remember him battling schumaker in f1 and a similar thing happening.

watching him again battling the nascar regulars should be fun. he will not be bullyed. i hope he will do well.

i am not sure what you mean about the nascar women though. my impression of him is that he is happily married.

tom w

I read a quote from jaques in the espn website.... he kindof jabbed Indy cars and Champ car by saying in America Nascar is the top level.

The author was kindof acting surprised.....no surprise to anybody who has been paying attention.

Jaques will tell it like it is with no adornment.

If he keeps that up in Nascar he will be about the only one, and that will be refreshing.

Oh yeah, Montoya is pretty outspoken too.....another reason I like him..... Robby Gordon too.

Oh and did I mention Jaques can really drive?

Tom W

Nascar definately needs something to get the interest up again. I have been a fan since around 97, and a lot of the races are getting to be pretty boring. Bristol at night used to be the race of the year, but it actually put me to sleep last week. The F1 guys certainly have something to prove, and if it means more bumping and banging, then I am all for it. I hope that the teams still try to find that certain edge in the mechanics of the cars, but the Gestapo is really coming down hard on that type of behavior.

With the exception of Michael Schumacher, NASCAR would have to be considered top level in terms of money anyway.

I think Jacques would transition quite nicely and might enjoy finally being able to swap paint without fear of going airborne. Montoya has managed to fit in pretty well and adapted.

Plus, Jacques adds that French (Canadian) F1 driver quality to NEXTEL like Jean Girard in Talladega Nights: The Ballad of Ricky Bobby, sans the homosexual part. He might be able to take some beer cans away from Jeff Gordon!:)

So Jaques will debut at Talledega!

I predict that the COT will make passing even more difficult. Remember back about ten years ago they ran these huge wedges for wings on the Champ cars in an effort to reduce speed? It reduced speed all right but racing strategy was totally altered. If you drafted up behind someone as soon as you pulled out to pass you went backward. It was ludicrous.

I think that is how it will be at 'dega.

Anybody could win. Including Jaques. Whomever figures out the strategy in the new cars fastest will win....or it could be totally random.

Tom W

I heard mention that they were running the largest opening restrictor plate they ever have at Talladega which should up the HP by about 80. Since the COT is larger and has more drag they lessened the restriction to get the cars about on par with where the standard chassis run.

With the C'sOT it very well could be single file after a lap or two with only cautions bunching the cars up again.

It seems likely the racing will be drastically different from the old style cars, either three wide all day or so unstable they run single file til the last lap.

I am thinking they will be very unstable in packs with the larger hole they are punching in the air, making running three wide unsafe and causing even more "big ones".

With the actual bumpers which match up more bump drafting will be the order of the day too, which probably will be bad.

Tom W

Well, they did 'dega and nobody got killed. I think the new cars are less stable than the old, evidence several folks who just started going sideways for no reason at all and spun out or hit the wall.

Jaques aquitted himself well and Juan Pablo ran in the top five for a good long time.

Jeff Gordon again....he is a truly great driver on the best team (at present) so I guess he deserves to win but I just can't get too enthusiastic about it. I do like his wife though.

Tom W

You dirty dog ;)

Villeneuve and Montoya hung in there.

I'm fairly indifferent towards Gordon, but whenever Smoke gets the ***** end of the stick I'm pretty pleased. Unfortunately the way Biffle has been running this year (in spite of his win last week in KS) I haven't had a whole lot to cheer for. He was just hanging back trying to stay out of trouble and got taken out in that late wreck on 176.