No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Preview - Sargento 200
June 19, 2012
• Jacques Villeneuve, driver of the No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger, will make his first start of the 2012 NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) season Saturday afternoon in the Sargento 200 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, WI.
• From 2008 to present, Villeneuve has made a total of seven NNS starts. He has scored three top-10 finishes among those starts and has also captured five top-five and seven top-10 starting positions while competing in a limited NNS schedule over the last four years.
• This weekend will mark the first outing together for Villeneuve, the former Formula One champion and Indianapolis 500 winner, and crew chief, Jeremy Bullins.
• This race is the first of two NNS races that Villeneuve will participate in with Penske Racing during the 2012 season. Villeneuve is also scheduled to race in his hometown of Montreal, Canada on August 18.
• This will mark Villeneuve's third NNS start at Road America. He raced for Penske Racing at the course last season and earned a third-place finish. He also competed in two CART Series open-wheel races in Elkhart Lake in 1994 and 1995 as he won both events and captured the pole in 1994.
• This weekend the No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger will race with chassis PRS-211, which last saw action at Richmond in April before being converted to a road course car.
• Penske Racing has 357 all-time race victories with 102 stock car wins and 418 pole positions overall including 129 NASCAR poles.
Jacques Villeneuve on this weekend's Nationwide Series race at Road America
"Road America is one of my favorite tracks and I'm excited to be returning there with Penske Racing. It was a tough race last year but ultimately we had a strong and exciting run, and I know the No. 22 Discount Tire Dodge Challenger will be competitive this weekend. It's a track I know well - long straights, high-speeds and big braking zones. This will be my third NASCAR Nationwide Series outing at Elkhart Lake, and I ran at the front in both of the previous two races, so hopefully it'll be third time lucky. I'm really looking forward to getting out there."
Crew chief Jeremy Bullins on this weekend's race at Road America
"I'm excited to head to Road America this weekend. It's a track that I have yet to visit during my career so to be doing so with an experienced road course racer like Jacques Villeneuve is an honor. This weekend will be a new challenge but one that I am looking forward to. The Discount Tire Dodge Challenger has been coming on strong here in the last few weeks so hopefully we can continue that momentum heading into the weekend."