The 50-year-old doubted he could make it into the race through Wednesday night's time trials at Daytona International Speedway. His Ford wasn't particularly fast and needed three tries to pass NASCAR inspection.
The Canadian wasn't fast enough to earn a front row starting spot, which are technically the only two positions for the season-opening Daytona 500 available via time trials. Reigning Cup champion Kyle Larson earned the pole and will lead Hendrick Motorsports teammate Alex Bowman to the green Sunday. Villeneuve was in one of the six cars vying for those one of the spots and locked himself into his first Daytona 500 by beating the other five open teams. Noah Gragson, who was born a year after Villeneuve won his 1997 F1 title, earned the second spot.
The final two open spots will be filled in Thursday night's duel qualifying races, which set the entire starting lineup.
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