Jacques Villeneuve is planning to enter the 2022 Daytona 500 with team Hezeburg.
Formula 1 champion Jacques Villeneuve is hoping to race in the NASCAR Cup Series this year. His race will enter the history books as successful NASCAR and Formula One drivers rarely cross over, especially among the most successful drivers in each discipline.
There is only one driver who has won an F1 World Drivers Championship and also raced in the Cup Series’ Daytona 500, Mario Andretti.
The 1997 F1 World Champion spent Tuesday and Wednesday testing a Next Gen car in Daytona for the Dutch team Hezeberg , which will compete in the 2022 Cup season for the first time. Villeneuve, the 1997 Formula One World Champion, spent Tuesday and Wednesday at Daytona International Speedway testing the Next Gen vehicle for Team Hezeberg, a Dutch team that will compete in the 2022 Cup season for the first time.
“(The Daytona 500) will be extremely special because it is also a standout race,” said Villeneuve.
“It is a very special race to participate in, and it’s hard to get into show when you have to qualify on time or in the duels. So it makes it a bit more stressful, and making the show would already be something special.”
During the team’s inaugural season, Loris Hezemans, the Whelen Euro Series champion, will pilot the #27 Ford Mustang on the road courses. Villeneuve had previously served as the team’s test driver at events in Charlotte and Daytona.
The Charlotte test which was conducted on the Roval track last October, saw Villeneuve nearly lose control of the vehicle before saving it, and he finished 12th out of twenty-one cars.
Villeneuve switched to stock cars after retiring from Formula One in 2006. He had planned to compete for Cup Series Rookie of the Year in 2008 but caused a big collision in his Daytona 500 qualification race and lost his place at Bill Davis Racing.
The 50-year old used his open-wheel circuit knowledge as a road course ringer in the Cup and now-Xfinity Series for the next five years. While his aggressive racing style enraged several drivers, he achieved six top tens, four top fives, and a pole in nine Xfinity appearances. His last Cup start was at Sonoma in 2013, where he finished forty-first due to mechanical troubles.
Additionally, Villeneuve competed sporadically in Canada’s NASCAR Pinty’s Series, finishing in the top five in two races. 2019 marked his debut in another NASCAR international league with Euro Series for Cup team Go FAS Racing, where he finished eighth in EuroNASCAR PRO points with three podiums.
In 2020 he signed with FEED Racing, where he finished second in a four-race calendar at Vallelunga, before joining Academy/Caffi Motorsport in 2021. Villeneuve won the final two races at Vallelunga for the first time since winning the 1000km of Spa in 2008.
