Jourdain's early debut

The Mexican Champ Car convert will contest the full NASCAR Busch Series in a ppc Racing Ford, and given his total lack of previous stock car experience the team is eager for Jourdain to gain additional mileage prior to the championship's opening round at Daytona.

"We want to get Michel acclimated to competing in stock cars," said ppc owner Greg Pollex. "This month alone Michel is starting his first NASCAR-sanctioned race and then he's testing at other big tracks on the West Coast.

"We know Michel can race and win, he's proven that in open-wheel competition. We want the transition to stock cars to be smooth and we think we'll see some surprising results before the first (Busch) race of the season."

Jourdain has already tested twice with ppc, having been recommended to the team by Ford after the withdrawal of his long-time sponsors Gigante halted the Mexican's Champ Car career. NASCAR is keen to boost interest in its championships in Jourdain's homeland prior to the Busch Series' first visit to Mexico City in March, and IRL IndyCar Series team owner Adrian Fernandez is also being lined-up for a one-off drive in the race.