Stock car only difference for Villeneuve at Montreal (cont'd)

Villeneuve credited a couple of days of testing at South Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, S.C., for being able to quickly find a comfort zone.

"We did a couple of days and quite a lot of laps," Villeneuve said. "We did a lot of work on the setup, trying different things, and we kept gaining time. On an oval, a lot of things don't really react like I'm used to. On a road course, even though it's NASCAR, I could relate a lot easier to the different setup changes."

By the Numbers

Nine Canadians are entered at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.

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If there's one concern, Villeneuve said it was trying to chase a setup that's specific to Montreal's tight turns and long straights.

"We really had a great test last week," Villeneuve said. "Obviously, the track was different. I really hope what we found on that other track works here. If not, the lack of knowledge I've got in these cars might not give me enough time during practice to actually fix any problems. That's my worry."

Villeneuve's Sprint Cup season came to a premature end when he crashed in the qualifying race for the season-opening Daytona 500. He said despite his open-wheel success, he never was able to land a sponsor willing to fund his stock-car venture.

"I'm sure if I had tried to do [this] in 1998, after winning the championship, it would have been a lot easier," Villeneuve said. "At the end of the day, even though there's a lot of respect for what I've achieved, ultimately all anybody wants to know is how did you do in the 36-race season on the ovals, and are you still hungry enough to do it? That's always the biggest question mark, I guess."

Still, Villeneuve said he was surprised at the amount of cooperation he received from other drivers in the series.

"Everybody's been very helpful," Villeneuve said. "Jimmie Johnson, Jeff Gordon -- even Juan Pablo Montoya. We didn't get along in [Formula 1] but in NASCAR, he's been a very nice guy. That's a nice thing about NASCAR. Everybody seems to be helping each other out, to a certain extent, obviously."

Last year's race turned crazy with a handful of laps remaining. Villeneuve said that's just a combination of the circuit and the drivers.

"This track has always been a rough track for racing because there are so many opportunities to overtake so people will go for it," Villeneuve said. "In NASCAR, that's even truer."

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