Thursday, Feb. 3, 2005 | 9:47 a.m.
Although Michel Jourdain Jr. turned 165 laps on Las Vegas Motor Speedway's 1.5-mile oval during last September's Champ Car World Series race, the experience didn't help him in the least when he showed up Wednesday to test his NASCAR Busch Series car.
Jourdain, who is making the move from open-wheel racing to stock cars this season after a nine-year career in Champ Car, acknowledged that he is a rookie in every sense of the word.
"I've got so much to learn, you know?" Jourdain, the 28-year-old native of Mexico said during a break in testing Wednesday. "Every track is kind of new. I've been here and Fontana and Phoenix, but the feeling is completely different in these cars.
"It's a whole new experience for me. The only thing that's similar is that you go left all the time."
While he may have a lot to learn about stock cars, Jourdain, who earned two victories and a pole in 152 Champ Car starts, has proved to be a quick study. In his first competitive laps in a stock car, Jourdain qualified 16th and finished sixth in the NASCAR Grand National, West Series race at Phoenix International Raceway.
"I was very, very, very happy," said Todd Gordon, Jourdain's crew chief on the No. 10 ppc Racing Ford. "Weather cut practice short to about 45 minutes so he had only 27 laps on the racetrack in a stock car (before qualifying) and he qualified 16th and finished the race sixth.
"I think he's done very well. There's definitely a feel difference between the Champ Cars and these things.
"Obviously, Michel has a ton of talent in driving racecars, but we wanted him to start working on the ability to race the racecar. These tests are good for the two of us to understand each other and what he's looking for and what I want him to have, but race experience is the thing he's going to have to learn and that (race) was a big deal to start on -- understanding racing stock cars."
Jourdain, who said he didn't know what to expect from his first race in a stock car, said he was pleased with the result.
"I had a lot of fun in Phoenix in the weekend in the Grand National West race ... and I think it was a very good result," he said. "I think it was good -- probably a little better than I expected -- but at the end you always want more, you know? The only happy guy is the guy that wins, but I was happy, too."
Jourdain said he would try to approach his first few Busch Series races in much the same manner as he did last weekend in Phoenix.
"I didn't make mistakes and I think that that was what I was looking for and what I'm looking for in the first races; I want to finish them with no mistakes, no problems," he said. "Right now, I don't have any set goals, like I don't have to finish x result by this race or x result in the championship or anything.
"Right now, I want to be in top 30 in the championship after the fifth race so I can stay there and have a guaranteed start. But the thing I need the most is laps and doing the races, definitely."
Aside from the season-opening race Feb. 19 at Daytona International Speedway, Jourdain said he is looking forward to the March 6 race in his hometown of Mexico City. Although NASCAR does not have the huge following in Mexico that it does in the United States, Jourdain said he believed the event would be a hit with the Mexican fans.
"The promoters are doing a pretty good job there and I think once the fans go ... I think they're going to love it," he said. "The Champ Car races in Mexico are huge but here you have so many big races, too, so I think this race in Mexico will be really big."
NOTES: The only significant incident of Wednesday's test occurred in the morning when David Reutimann, who was testing Joe Nemechek's Busch car, oiled down the track after blowing an engine. Carl Edwards spun in the oil and backed into the wall between Turns 3 and 4, damaging the rear clip on the No. 60 Ford. Johnny Sauter also spun in the oil, but avoided making contact.
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