NASCAR.COM - Villeneuve aims to join Montoya in Indy books

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Villeneuve aims to join Montoya in Indy books (cont'd)

Villeneuve had a chance to take the car out for a three-lap shakedown in the first practice and got it up to 163.848 mph. However, at that point, he was the slowest of the 44 cars which recorded times. He finished with a fast lap of 168.146 mph, 45th of the 46 cars to hit the track.

With most teams opting to run qualifying setups in the day's second practice, Villeneuve moved himself closer to a possible place in the field. Even though his best lap of 175.490 mph was only 42nd-best of the 47 cars on the track, he was quicker than three other of those needing to qualify on time.

The biggest issue for Villeneuve wasn't being familiar the track as much as being familiar with the cars. When Villeneuve qualified for the 500, it was a matter of holding the gas pedal to the floorboard for four laps. But that's not possible in a heavier, less-nimble stock car.

"It will drive very differently," Villeneuve said. "But the banking is not that strong, so it should drive a little bit like a high-speed road course in a way. Well, that's what I'm hoping for.

"If we get going and the car is well-balanced from the start, then we should be all right. There's not much time to fix the setup if we're a little bit off, but we have two hours to work on it. I'm just excited to get behind the wheel and to get those laps going."

However, Villeneuve feels his experience at running 500 miles at Indy will pay off if he makes Sunday's field.

"The one thing, though, that can be helpful is the memory on how it's a long race and a lot happens on this track. There's no point in going crazy early on. In [1995], within the first 30 laps, two laps were taken away from us because we got a penalty and we had to catch back those two laps. This is definitely a track where you have to bide your time."

Villeneuve has been extremely competitive in his three Nationwide Series starts, including a tremendous battle for the lead late in the race at Road America in June. He said his biggest challenge is in the translation, since NASCAR lingo is different than what is used in open-wheel racing.

However, crew chief Trent Owens, who handled the mechanical side of things for Villeneuve in Wisconsin, will be in the pit box again this weekend, which helps build Villeneuve's confidence.

"The way you set the car up, talking with the crew chief using inches instead of millimeters and that kind of stuff," Villenueve said. "So sometimes the conversations can be a little bit confusing because it's hard to understand what we're both talking about because we're using different words and different habits of working. But that just takes a little while to get up to speed."

Villeneuve won't be 40 until April, but since leaving Formula One in 2006, he's been on the outside looking in. He'd definitely be open to returning to full-time racing if given the right opportunity. Even though his name continues to pop up in Formula One circles, he'd prefer giving stock cars a try.

"I really, really enjoy driving [in NASCAR]," Villeneuve said. "That's why I moved back on this side of the ocean in 2006, was to concentrate on NASCAR. And it's taken a while to get going.

"Right now, we got Elkhart Lake going, we're coming here to the Brickyard. So it's starting to open up a little bit. It would be great if we could carry on doing more ovals."

Related:
• Villeneuve talks about the Brickyard