Montoya Hits With Two-Laps Penalty At New Hampshire
Jun 30, 2008
CIA Stock Photo, Inc.
Busch, the Sprint Cup points leader, was hit intentionally by Juan Pablo Montoya during what turned out to be the final caution of Sunday’s Lenox Industrial Tools 301, relegating Busch to a 25th-place finish.
The two drivers had battled side-by-side, making contact shortly before Clint Bowyer and Sam Hornish Jr. spun to bring out the caution on Lap 280.
After Montoya and Busch had taken the yellow flag, Montoya turned left directly into Busch’s No. 18 Toyota. Busch spun and clipped Montoya’s car, sending both cars to pit road. Before the race could restart, it began to rain and NASCAR called the race after 284 laps.
“He hit me under caution, he hit me under green and I retaliated, “ Montoya said after meeting with NASCAR officials after the race. “Did I go too far in retaliating? Yeah.
Montoya said after leaving the NASCAR hauler that he was just trying to defend himself.
“On the restart, I got around on the outside of him in turn two and he just went wide like I wasn’t even there, “ he explained. “Then we touched each other and (I) got beside him to the next corner and he starts banging on me like he was trying to wreck me.
Busch said he had no idea what happened.
“I didn’t turn down into him and just barely touched his quarterpanel, “ he said. “Then I got by him in (turns) three and four and he run me up the racetrack in the left rear. Then we came to that caution flag and he thought he beat me to the caution flag and I was just trying to get around the car in front of us there and touched him on the door. He just turned left and spun me down the front straightaway.
“I don’t know what his beef is but, obviously, NASCAR should probably fix it. “
Busch probably should not have bumped Montoya at all, but what Montoya did was dangerous and unnecessary. It happened right before the yellow flag (and both were aware of this) while they were in a crowd. This could have ended the day for several others who were near the two drivers. These guys are both hot-headed and very competitive, but this was uncalled for. If you are going to turn someone, do it where no one else will be involved. If you don’t push back, you will get bullied, but vengeance shouldn’t come at the expense of an innocent party.
Montoya had no problem admitting he deliberately ran into Busch’s car.
Apparently, Montoya was assessed a two-lap penalty for rough driving outside of race procedureoutside of race procedure. It dropped him to 32nd in the finishing order.
