Villeneuve still eyes NASCAR move

The Canadian has already committed himself to racing at Le Mans with Peugeot this year but, speaking to Canadian press at the launch of his new album yesterday, he said that he may consider racing in ARCA, Craftsman Trucks and the Busch series before moving up to NASCAR.

"That's still the main plan," he was quoted as saying by the Toronto Sun. "We're working hard with Craig (Pollock, manager) on the NASCAR project for 2008."

Pollock has claimed that he is 'very close' to lining up a title sponsor for Villeneuve's NASCAR ride, although he has not identified the backer or any potential outfits he is talking to.

"There may be certain teams that really don't want to be involved with him but there are other teams, very good teams, that do want to be involved," said Pollock, who claimed there was no rush to get Villeneuve into the series.

"Jacques is 35 and Mark Martin, who was leading the Daytona 500 until the last seconds, is 48. Dale Jarrett is 50.

"So Jacques has 15 years. He still wants to race, but he wants to race in such a way that he has a fair chance, every time, of competing to win.

"At the Daytona 500 it was blatantly obvious what you need to do. You can't be out there as a single guy on a single team in a single car or you'll end up like Mark Martin at the end of the race.

"The slingshot he got was unbelievable. You've got to have your friends out there, your allies.

"His challenge is to go into something totally different and he's absolutely determined that that is going to be NASCAR."

Villeneuve is moving from his homes in Villars, Switzerland and Monaco to a new house in Westmount near Montreal so he can be closer to NASCAR.