When you're an Indianapolis 500 winner and an ex-F1 world champion, nothing you do goes unnoticed by the racing world.

Just ask Jacques Villeneuve.

This summer highlighted a new side of Villeneuve: a calm, confident, and cool one. As he gears up for a move to NASCAR with the Bill Davis Racing team, Villeneuve's attitude towards the press and the public seems to have changed for the better.

Villeneuve moved back to North America along with his wife and kid last year. He says he has enjoyed his NASCAR experience thus far, and that his last practice session in Chicago aboard a Craftsman Truck Series vehicle was a productive one.

In fact, Villeneuve's times were as good as those registered by the series leader.

Villeneuve will make the jump from the Craftsman Series to the Nextel Cup Series at the end of the season. He'll have to go through the same adjustment period endured by old IndyCar and F1 rival Juan Pablo Montoya, who moved over to NASCAR in 2006.

Villeneuve says he's anxious to battle with the best NASCAR pilots next season. Will he be able to compete as a rookie?

Only time will tell.

(Picture: Canadian Press)