Jacques Villeneuve qualified for the Daytona 500!

The Canadian champion, Jacques Villeneuve, to whom many predicted hell or worse, set the 36th time in the qualifying session at an average of 176,5 mph (284 km/h) to grab one of the two places available on the grid for the 6 drivers who do not have a “charter”, year-round commitment. He thus saves himself the burden of having to win his ticket during the dreaded event of the Duels which will award the last two places. If veteran Greg Biffle and Kaz Grala, the pilot of l'eFloyd Mayweather's team, seemed last night in a good position to join the peloton, they will above all have to avoid the frequent racing incidents during these particularly lively and spectacular sprint races.

The Hezeberg Engineering Ford Mustang © James Gilbert/Getty Images

For this event, Villeneuve has a Ford Mustang entered by the Dutch team Hezeberg, a reference in the European series. NASCAR Whelen Euro Series organized by the Galpin family. Everything did not start ideally for the team with 3 technical verification failures just a few hours before the start of testing. While his team seemed resigned, the 50-year-old champion lost none of his legendary composure and launched into the arena to remind everyone of the burst of speed that allowed him to build his impressive record.

Daytona, a legendary venue

On Sunday, Villeneuve will make his 5th start in the Cup Series, the first during the premier event of the 500 miles of Daytona. His last participation in the major category was in 2013 on the Californian road course of Sonoma. He will try to do better than the 21st place obtained at Talladega during his last start on October 07, 2007.

He's in. #DAYTONA500 pic.twitter.com/AzmEaQ6WC5

— NASCAR (@NASCAR) February 17, 2022

By setting the best time in practice, reigning champion Kyle Larson took pole position ahead of his Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman. The rest of the grid will therefore be determined during the Duels, races of 60 laps.

Kyle Larson takes Pole