Jacques Villeneuve’s career in the Sprint Cup Series is on hold. Villeneuve will be replaced next week at California, likely by Mike Skinner, unless a sponsor can be found for the Bill Davis Racing car over the next 24 hours. Mike Brown, the general manager at BDR, said there are no other plans to use Villeneuve until a sponsor is found. “It’s a race-to-race thing,” Brown said. “We thought we had one sponsor, down to having the uniform with the logo on it. We just never got the deal closed. It’s unfortunate for everyone.” Brown said the decision to go with a driver such as Skinner was based totally on experience. “By missing Daytona and putting ourselves in position of having to qualify to make the race we need somebody with Skinner’s ability,” he said. “Mike has run so well in the Truck Series out there.” Brown said Villeneuve, whose attempt to make Sunday’s Daytona 500 ended with a crash in Thursday’s qualifying race, continues to work on finding a sponsor and rebuilding his marketing team, which was disrupted with a recent split with manager Craig Pollock. “Jaqcues is working hard to put all the right people in place with different Canadian companies,” he said. “He just needs to regroup and get his management team in order.”(ESPN.com)(2-15-2008) UPDATE: Bill Davis Racing (BDR) announced that it will tap into its pool of veteran Cup Series drivers to pilot the #27 Toyota Camry during the next several Sprint Cup Series races. Truck Series drivers Mike Skinner and Johnny Benson are both expected to step behind the wheel of BDR’s #27 entry. BDR will continue to support Jacques Villeneuve in his pursuit of a successful career in the Sprint Cup Series [find a sponsor]. “We know that Jacques has the talent and the desire to be in NASCAR, and are diligently working on a long term relationship with him,” commented team owner Bill Davis. Skinner will drive the #27 Toyota next weekend at California Speedway.(BDR PR)(2-16-2008)
