There remains an outside chance that former Formula 1 World Champion and Indy 500 winner Jacques Villeneuve could end up behind the wheel of a Nextel Cup car in 2007. That’s the word from Roush Racing President Geoff Smith, who said Roush would help Villeneuve put together a team, if his handlers can bring the money to make it happen. “We’re open to it, we’re willing to work with them, but, really the ball is in their court right now,” Smith said Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. “His (Villeneuve’s) manager, Craig Pollock, he’s the man behind the marketing of that, and … I’ve heard in the garage that certain sponsors are being pitched by him, so there is some activity going on.” If a deal were to happen, it would not be in a Roush car, since that would exceed NASCAR’s team-size limit. Instead it would be a squad the Canadian driver and his minions would assemble, with Roush providing the technical muscle. “There’s two kinds of chances, and they’re both related to whether or not his marketing organization, which supports him, can close on financial support,” Smith said. “If they’re able to close on full-time Cup support in the next few minutes, few days, then we can support that team with cars, engines, gears, all the hardware stuff — enough to get it up and running. If they’re not able to do that shortly, but they’re able to get a support for commitment next year that’s partial, then we’ll have a little more time to be able to put an infrastructure around helping them,” Smith said.(
Speed Channel)
November 19th, 2006
