Jacques Villeneuve wants to stay in NASCAR

Despite having failed to qualify for the famed Daytona 500 and having been pushed aside the Bill Davis Racing team, Jacques Villeneuve wants to race stock cars. Villeneuve just split from his long-time manager and mentor Craig Pollock to take the full control of his career.

During a press conference held today at the Newtown in Montreal, Villeneuve confirmed that Australian Barry Green, the man who master brained his victory at the Indy 500 and took him to the 1995 CART title, now guides him.

"Before today, I was fully concentrated on driving race cars, without really knowing what was going on around me," Jacques declared. Craig was taking care of all these other things. But one month ago, I decided to retake control of my career. I contacted Barry Green to know if he was interested in managing my career. He gladly accepted. We decided to work from what had been done before in the Sprint Cup. I am now fully aware of what's going on."

Villeneuve mentioned he wanted to stay in the Sprint Cup. "It is an extremely competitive series," he explained. "If you lose one tenth of a second on one lap, you find yourself running at the back of the pack. It is very exciting! I am motivated as if I was 20 again. But I want to do things correctly because I have a lot to learn, very quickly. We are putting together a marketing team and everyone will work towards the same objective."

The former Formula 1 Champion confirmed that he is still in contacts with Bill Davis. "We are still talking to each other. I fully understand that he couldn't run me without any money. Bill has a very good team. The chemistry was excellent. I'd be glad to return there. At this point however, it's absolutely out of the question to buy an existing team or to build our own team. We need to go where everything is in place. A solid, experienced team. The plan is to race in the Sprint Cup this year, or next year. We're working on the long term."

Barry Green is happy to be back in motorsport. "I was enjoying myself playing golf! No, seriously. I saw Jacques run in Las Vegas and I must say that he hasn't lost a bit of his talent. He can win a Sprint Cup race. We now look at all the possibilities we have, in the Sprint Cup as well as in the Nationwide Series. There are a lot of people here in Canada who want to help Jacques."

Will Villeneuve compete in the NASCAR race in Montreal this next summer? "It is one of our objectives," Jacques revealed. "Last year, I was not aware at all of what was going on. It was a last-minute deal. This time, I am extremely interested."

During the press conference, Villeneuve never blamed Craig Pollock for his actions. "I always took all my decisions very quickly and I always faced the consequences," Villeneuve admitted.

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Jacques Villeneuve in his prime at NASCAR racing

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