At 50 years old, the racing career of Jacques Villeneuve is about as complete as it gets. His face is on the Borg-Warner Trophy as the winner of the 1995 Indianapolis 500, a season where he also won the CART championship in American open-wheel racing. Arguably even greater is his title as the 1997 Formula 1 world champion.
Objectively, those are some of the greatest accomplishments a race car driver could hope for. But on Wednesday night, Villeneuve shared that earning the right just to race in the Daytona 500 is pretty close.
“It’s not like winning the Indy 500 or the F1 championship, but at this point in my career the last time I tried to qualify here was 14 years ago — just to make the show is incredible,” Villeneuve said. “Because it’s a small team, we didn’t link up with a big team to get the car ready, and it’s highly unexpected to be able to make it on time. So it ranks right after these big wins.”
In Wednesday night’s time trial qualifying for the Daytona 500, Villeneuve along with NASCAR Xfinity Series star Noah Gragson were the two fastest of the non-chartered cars, guaranteeing that they would be in the race based on their qualifying time. Gragson was 33rd fastest with a 50.689 second lap (177.553 MPH), while Villeneuve’s lap time of 51.010 (176.436 MPH) was just enough to beat Kaz Grala for second-quickest in the open class of cars.
For both a rising young star and a long-in-the-tooth veteran, qualifying for the Daytona 500 was enormously rewarding, particularly because both understand the pain of failing to do so.
Last year, Gragson missed the Daytona 500 after crashing out of his Duel qualifying race — the same thing that happened to Villeneuve in his only prior Daytona 500 attempt in 2008.
While Villeneuve’s vindication came through adding to his great career, Gragson found validation in getting the Beard family and their car in the race. Family-owned Beard Motorsports prepared the fastest open car just one year after the death of car owner Mark Beard in January of 2021.
“It’s really emotional to be able to be able to make the race after last year,” Gragson said. “… Last year not being able to make the race, it’s almost that much sweeter and you appreciate it that much more. I’m very grateful and thankful for the Beard family. I wish Mr. Beard could be here, but we’re carrying on his legacy into The Great American Race. I know he’s smiling, and I hope to make the Beard family proud this weekend.”
Gragson, who has five career wins in the Xfinity Series and was third in last year’s championship standings, will make his Cup Series debut on Sunday. For Villeneuve, it will be the fifth Cup race of his career, his first since 2013, and his first on an oval since the 2010 Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis.
