Juan Pablo Montoya had to work for his money Sunday at Infineon Raceway.
Facing a level of competition that surprised him with its quality, Montoya conserved fuel at every opportunity during the final 41-lap green-flag run and made it to the finish line first in the Toyota/Save Mart 350.
It was the first NASCAR Nextel Cup victory for the much-publicized rookie from Formula One, who joined Mario Andretti and Dan Gurney as the only drivers to win in F1, IndyCars and NASCAR Nextel Cup.
In his No. 42 Ganassi Racing Dodge, Montoya also posted the first Car of Tomorrow win in a car other than a Chevrolet. Montoya, of Colombia, is the first driver born outside the United States to win a race in NASCAR’s foremost series since Canadian Earl Ross triumphed at Martinsville in 1974.
The Richard Childress Racing trio of Kevin Harvick, Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer stretched fuel mileage to claim positions two through four. Believing Montoya might run out of gas, Harvick raced conservatively over the final 10 laps and crossed the stripe 4.097 seconds back.
Greg Biffle was fifth, followed by Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Boris Said and Denny Hamlin.
“I was very surprised at the level of driving here on a road course, ” said Montoya, who made up for Friday’s 32nd-place qualifying effort. “The top five or six cars were really strong, but them, the top 20 was like — whew! — I definitely worked for the money.
“We worked hard for it, and the whole team deserves this. ”
Before Montoya’s victory, no Cup race winner at Infineon had started deeper in the field than the 13th starting spot.
Montoya, who won the Busch Series road race at Mexico City in March, battled polesitter Jamie McMurray over the closing laps of the 110-lap race and finally took the lead through Turn 2 on Lap 104. McMurray ran out of fuel on Lap 109, coasted into the pits and fell to 37th place at the finish.
Asked whether the victory was more satisfying than his wins in Formula One or IndyCars, Montoya, 31, said it would be difficult to compare his successes.
“It’s hard to say this is bigger than that, ” said Montoya, who won seven F1 races in addition to winning the 2000 Indy 500 and the CART championship in 1999 as a rookie. “I would say right now this is the biggest thing I’ve done. It’s unbelievable. In open-wheel, that’s what I was meant to be winning in. In stock cars, I wasn’t.
“To get our first win in our first year is huge. We know we’re a little behind at some of the ovals, and we still need to work hard, but I think this is a big boost for everybody working in the shop. ”
The victory wouldn’t have happened, however, had Montoya been unable to get the most out of his gas tank.
“We missed it a little bit in qualifying, so today we had to play a little catch-up and take a gamble at the end, ” said No. 42 crew chief Donnie Wingo. “We made our last stop (under the final caution on Lap 69) and just saved enough fuel to make it.
“We had it figured a lap short, and he did a great job saving fuel. ”
It was an adventurous seventh-place run for Gordon, the points leader, who started 41st after NASCAR barred the No. 24 Chevrolet — along with the No. 48 Chevy of Gordon’s Hendrick Motorsports teammate, Jimmie Johnson — on Friday for body modifications that fell outside the sanctioning body’s tolerances.
Gordon and Johnson, who started 42nd, were not allowed to practice or qualify on Friday but were allowed to practice Saturday and race after their cars were repaired. Johnson, the reigning Cup champion, finished 17th Sunday.
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