Villeneuve 'impressive' in first test driving for BDR

Monday's Craftsman Truck Series test session at Chicagoland Speedway was an eye-opener -- for both the veteran stock-car crew chief Slugger Labbe and the multiple open-wheel champion Jacques Villeneuve, who was in a NASCAR race vehicle for the first time.

Villeneuve had to be told the most infinitesimal details about what to do and where to go in his No. 27 Bill Davis Racing Toyota truck -- but after a full day and 135 laps of the fast, 1.5-mile speedway in Joliet, Ill., Labbe couldn't wait for their next time on track.

Former F1 champion Jacques Villeneuve will soon embark on a path that could place him in his own Cup ride for Bill Davis before this season is complete.

• Complete story, click here

"We ran 135 laps [Monday] and I never once saw him get sideways," Labbe said. "He run competitive and it was really a good test for a guy coming out of the box and never being in a NASCAR-type car. He did a great job.

"Right now, JV is so excited he'd run 100 laps if we didn't tell him to come in and pit, so we pretty much just gotta point him in the right direction -- but he's doing a great job."

Labbe said there were about 10 trucks at the test, which was staged by General Motors for its Chevrolet Silverado teams. Labbe said that, oddly enough, Toyota's Tundras were allowed to attend and that they outnumbered GM's teams.

Villeneuve's truck was fielded by BDR's No. 22 team. Labbe, whose assignment currently is to develop Villeneuve for a possible full-time Nextel Cup program in 2008, worked with the 22 team's regular crew chief, Doug Wolcott. BDR teammate and points leader Mike Skinner also tested.

Labbe said Villeneuve began the day "three-quarters of a second" off Skinner's pace, but by day's end he was lapping within two-tenths of Skinner.

"We had the truck set up pretty tight [to start the day], as we should have," Labbe said. "As the day went on we kept freeing it up and running faster and faster. He never got it crossed up or out of shape, and I think the shortest run he made was 10 laps.

"We run him hard and we ran the tires into the cords. I think every time we pitted, we put 19 gallons of fuel in, so we went from being full of fuel on new tires to just about out of gas. We're just trying to build a library and a catalogue for JV -- just to energize his brain with all this different technology.

"If we changed a 100-pound rear spring, or a right-front spring, we want him to understand what it does so that when we go to Vegas in a few weeks to qualify, he'll remember what these changes did at Chicagoland."

Labbe, who's been out of work for the past month or so after being the victim of a crew chief numbers game following the mid-July merger of Ginn Racing and Dale Earnhardt Inc., was scheduled to test with Villeneuve at Chicagoland on Tuesday.

"I haven't signed the deal with Bill yet, but me and [BDR competition director] Tommy Baldwin have been friends for a long time and I'm sure Bill and I will get something worked out," Labbe said. "When you're a racer, it don't matter -- you'll get something worked out. I just wanted to come here with these boys and get Jacques accustomed to all the things about testing, running fast and running competitive and making sure the truck stays in one piece. (Continued)