Despite winning a Formula 1 world championship, that too against Michael Schumacher, and the Indianapolis 500, Jacques Villeneuve has an itch, something he still wants to prove in his racing career. That ‘thing’ is the Daytona 500.

And this time around he has made it through qualifying, after failing to do so in his only other attempt 14 years ago.

Villeneuve credited the fact that he got a chance at Daytona 500 to the Next Gen car, “because that’s allowed the team to come in and build a car and that was a big thing.”

The Canadian was jubilant to finally have a shot at winning the Great American Race. But regardless of the outcome on Sunday, the former Williams F1 driver is happy with the qualifying.

“Obviously, it’s not a win. 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 we’re 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.”

Jacques Villeneuve is flying at 50

In a post-qualifying interview, Villeneuve, who is 50-years-old, described how making it to the Daytona 500, that being in the racecar makes him forget that he’s 50.

“It’s satisfying and amazing because there’s quite a few times where I’ve been hearing, ‘OK, come on. You’ve passed it. Just give it up.’ No, the hunger has never stopped…until the day where I guess you start getting your foot off the throttle because you get a little bit scared or you don’t get that adrenaline rush anymore as a positive thing, that’s when you should stop,” he added.

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As for where his career will head after the Daytona 500, Jacques Villeneuve wasn’t entirely clear, but clear enough – “As long as it carries on like this, I can’t imagine myself stopping racing.”

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