Villeneuve meets approval for NASCAR's COT test (cont'd)

Villeneuve said that's been the pleasantest surprise for him.

"You hear so many things before coming here and you hear negatives, they all say it's a heavy car and so on," Villeneuve said. "So you really don't think you'll enjoy it. But after the first few laps, you find out it's a real racecar and once you get it dialed in you can really drive it hard and precisely, so it's actually a fun racecar to drive."

And at least to this point, Villeneuve said he's managed not to shock himself.

"No, no -- I didn't get anything scary happen to me yet, in three days of testing," Villeneuve said, laughing. "I'm sure it will happen, but I'm not sure yet what it means to get a scary moment. It feels like it would hurt a lot less than it did back then in the Indy cars, so that's a good thing."

And Labbe confirmed that was exactly his plan at this stage of his charge's development.

"The more laps he runs the better he gets," Labbe said. "He hasn't had a loose condition yet, with the truck or the COT. We've been fighting tight, or understeer, as he calls it, just trying to get the vehicle freed up.

"We've got it comfortable for him to drive and really haven't had any situations yet. You couldn't tell if it was him driving or Dave Blaney or Jimmie Johnson."

On Wednesday, Labbe said he did get to make a head-to-head comparison with Hendrick Motorsports test driver David Green, who was also there for the day.

"We were on different tires most of the day, so there was really no basis to compare, but then we borrowed a set of tires from them that had a fair amount of laps on them, just to let him see the difference in the tires," Labbe said. "And there was a big difference in the times. At the end, he ran comparable [lap times] to David, so that was all we could ask for."

Ultimately, most everyone considers Villeneuve's process a series of baby steps, including the final seven Truck Series races this season, to potentially prepare him for a possible attempt at the 2008 Sprint Cup schedule. That process might include the 2007 season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

"If it could happen it would be great," Villeneuve said, "because it would be good to get a race done before next season starts, so it's no surprise when it gets to the first race. But right now the plan is to get as much [testing] mileage as possible."

Juan Montoya, another former Formula One driver who raced against Villeneuve, made his initial Cup start at Homestead last season and was involved in a crash.

Villeneuve said he could see plusses and minuses to getting familiar with his competition ahead of time.

"It is important to know the drivers you're racing against," Villeneuve said after pausing to consider his response. "But sometimes when you don't know you'll do something that you might not have done and it might work out.

"So it's not always good to know everyone around. But the way NASCAR works, I think it's better to know the drivers, because it seems there's a lot going on in the races."

Villeneuve had the last laugh when he said he wasn't sure of his plans to attend any races before he actually competes in one.

"Probably, but right now I don't know," he said. "There's a million other things to do."