03/01/2007
NEWS STORY
 |
According to the latest reports, Jacques Villeneuve's hopes of following former F1 rival Juan Pablo Montoya into NASCAR appear "limited".
Writing for Canada's Globe and Mail, Jeff Pappone writes: "After weeks of searching for a sponsor to come up with the roughly $18m (US) he needs to secure a ride in the NASCAR Busch Series, the 1997 F1 world champion has apparently set his sights a bit lower".
A source close to Villeneuve is quoted as saying: "He's even talking about doing the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series now and then do some Busch to try to get into it."
Well, according to Pitpass' own, extremely well placed sources, a deal had been done whereby virtually everything was in place and Villeneuve's NASCAR future looked secure. Indeed, a sponsor had been found who was willing to meet the $21 - $23 million (US) bill which would see the Canadian line up for Roush Racing in the Nextel cup. However, there was one small proviso, and this related to the role of Villeneuve's manager, Craig Pollock.
It is alleged that Pollock had previously approached Roush, and according to our sources from the outset Jack Roush and Geoff Smith, who runs the Roush Racing operation, were left unimpressed by the Scot, who apparently wanted to see Villeneuve start with NASCAR rather than one of the lesser series in order to gain experience.
Our sources further claim that Pollock had expressed a desire to "run" the team - which would be made up of Roush employees - and while Roush was willing to do this, under a satellite operation, it was made clear that Villeneuve would have to adopt the "NASCAR lifestyle", which meant sponsor events, signing autographs, etc. The talks eventually came to nothing however, as Pollock was unable to secure the required funding.
Meanwhile, a third party had secured the necessary funding and talks aimed at getting the Canadian into NASCAR resumed. However, under the terms of this new deal, stipulated by the sponsor, Pollock's only role would be as Villeneuve's personal manager, nothing more.
Our sources allege that the money was on the table, Roush was happy, the sponsor was happy, even Jacques was happy... then came a change of heart, with the former World Champion demanding a role within the team for Pollock, a demand that brought negotiations to a swift end and the sponsor walking away with its money.
Finally, to further frustrate the Canadian's ambitions, it's worth pointing out that according to our sources, neither Villeneuve nor Pollock is aware of the identity of the mystery sponsor.