Did Villeneuve get screwed?

[FS Myron]

Jacques Villeneuve decided to get into stock car racing. He ran a couple of races last year and had mediocre results. He came to Daytona needing to qualify on speed or race his way in. A wreck ended that dream. The next day he was out of a ride because of a lack of sponsorship. Should a former CART and F1 champ receive a little more respect from his team or should the almighty dollar determine whether a driver gets into a ride or not?

[KurtBuschFan]

It sucks to see Villeneuve's NASCAR career stopping before it really had a chance to start, but on the other hand you HAVE to make the race to score a sponsor to be able to fund the team.  The fact that someone is a former CART or F1 or even a former NASCAR champion shouldn't give them any different kind of treatment.  They're a driver just the same as everyone else.  Sadly the almighty dollar has determined who gets a ride for a very long time now.  In a much less publicized move, Willie Allen, ROTY for the CTS in 2007 got dropped from his ride because someone else came along with a large sponsorship.  Is it right?  Absolutely not, but it's business, and business is usually about making money.

[FS Kurt]

Villeneuve had hardly proven himself. Not trying to trash the guy, I think he showed a lot of class at Talladega last year moving to the back of the field, but just because Juan Pablo could make the transition doesn't mean everyone can, especially in lesser equipment.

[Tyyrus]

Well as stated Money talks and Bull S$%# walks...or watches from the sidelines !  I was really hoping Villeneuve would make the Transition ! I raced with his Dad and watched his career back in the Day !  He has always had Talent , since the Apple did not fall far from the tree ! But he has also had a chip on his shoulder ! He has always been far too outspoken , which is possibly what has caused this last dilemma !

[flamehothead]

Should a former CART and F1 champ receive a little more respect from his team or should the almighty dollar determine whether a driver gets into a ride or not?

I'm gonna answer this question first. Ganassi and the other owners who just couldn't wait to get their Open-Wheel stars in a Stock Car might be wondering if that was such a good idea. I'm sure most of you have heard that the IRL and CART are back as ONE again and thats whats got me wondering. If you ever watched an IRL or CART race then you know that the bleachers were usually empty and I think thats why some of those drivers wanted to get into Nascar. I wonder if that will have any effect on other open wheel drivers wanting to make the move to Nascar. Now that those 2 series are back as one I personally think there will be alot more fans filling those empty bleachers but then again the IRL and CART may have waited too long and now the fans have left completely. I think it's going to be very interesting.

Now on to the Post lol.

I was under the impression that Villeneuve had sponsorship for the 2008 season then I heard the news that he was out of a ride.

I'm still a little confused though, He gets out of the car and all of the sudden a sponsorship appears on the car the next week. I mean........Yeah........Mike Skinner is in the car but that just gets me even more confused, Did the new sponsor ever watch a Cup race during his Cup career.

I don't know, If I were Villeneuve I would maybe look at all options before keeping my feet planted in one race shop.

[Chris]

in a word... NO
IMO he and his indy car racing buddies should of had to move up the ranks and prove themselves just like everyone else.
To just START OUT in the CUP series just because you have done well in some OTHER form of racing is NO guarantee you'll even come close to even MAKING the fields in the CUP series
(Just ask AJ Allmendinger)

Move into CUP too soon and it can ruin a career before it even starts...
Look at AJ... he is now back to NNS and CTS