Former Indy 500 winner Jacques Villeneuve makes NASCAR Brickyard 400 field

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Jacques Villeneuve, 39, made a successful return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday when he qualified -- barely -- for the NASCAR Brickyard 400 stock-car race.

The Canadian driver, who won the Indianapolis 500 in Indy-style race cars in 1995, will start last in the 43-car field in Sunday’s race after qualifying his No. 32 Braun Racing Toyota at 177.466 mph.

‘I am very exited,’ said Villeneuve, who also won a Formula One championship in 1997. ‘It was very stressful because we didn’t get a lot of [practice] laps. And I hadn’t been in a Cup car in over two years.’

Villenueve’s qualifying speed was nearly 5 mph slower than the one posted by pole-sitter Juan Pablo Montoya, another former Indy 500 winner and Formula One driver.

Even so, ‘it was quick enough to get enough to get in the show,’ Villeneuve said.

-- Jim Peltz in Indianapolis