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Barely halfway through his rookie season in the NASCAR Nextel Cup Series, Colombian native and former open-wheel standout Juan Pablo Montoya stands on the verge of making history.
Montoya, a former Indy 500 and Grand Prix of Monaco race winner, on Sunday will attempt to become the first driver in history to win three NASCAR road races in the same season. Tom Jensen, SpeedTV
For a lot of fans, Juan Pablo Montoya is not only proving himself in the sport, he’s paving a path that will likely lead to a Championship in NASCAR’s premier series in seasons to come. Montoya also exhibits the skills and thrive that commonly appear as a trait among such drivers as Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson and others. A trait that’s characterized by a desire to go forward until there is nowhere else to go. Andrew Brookman, InsiderRacingNews
Aug 09, 2007
Montoya has done well in his first year on the Cup circuit. He’s done better than some expected since there were skeptics who didn’t see him even lasting out the season in NASCAR. He’s got a lot of talent and he’s with a top-notch organization in Chip Ganassi Racing. Johnny Benson, MSNBC
July 31, 2007
Montoya is a talented driver, but he has driven in fewer than 25 Nextel Cup races.
And Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a technically difficult track, even for the best stock-car drivers, because its turns are so fast and so flat. And drivers had almost no practice before Sunday’s race.
July 30, 2007
Montoya, sitting next to Gordon in the interview room at the famed 2.5-mile track, smiled at the memory. “It was fun,” he said. So was Sunday, when in the midst of another round of Hoosier hysteria, the 31-year-old from Bogota turned in a runner-up finish in the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard that should dispel any doubts about his ability to contend for victories on any type of track on the Nextel Cup tour. David Caraviello, NASCAR.COM
July 30
Making his first start in a stock car at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Montoya made history before the race even began – he’s now the first driver in the famed race track’s history to start in all three major series to run there (Indy Racing League, Formula One, and NASCAR). His experience showed on Sunday, as the No. 42 car was a mainstay in the Top 5 for much of the event; the car was strongest late in the race, and Montoya wound up battling Kevin Harvick in the latter stages to come home in second place. Tony Lumbis, FrontStretch.com
July 28
With Sunday’s Allstate 400, Juan Pablo Montoya will become the first driver to race three different types of cars at Indianapolis Motor Speedway: IndyCars, Formula One and NASCAR.
Of the three, the big, bulky Nextel Cup cars “will be the hardest,” Montoya said Friday as rain denied him even a chance to practice. Qualifying is scheduled for Saturday morning. Ed Hinton, LATimes.com
The world got a peek at what could happen in late June, when Montoya won at Sonoma for his first Nextel Cup victory. Colombian flags flew from the main grandstand, according David Caraviello of NASCAR.com. Chants of “Co-lom-bia! Co-lom-bia!” went up to the California sky. It was all very un-NASCAR-like, in a way France no doubt found encouraging. Ben Smith, The Journal Gazette
This weekend, when he becomes the first driver to compete in all three of Indy’s major racing divisions, Montoya faces a different challenge. He must forget, to an extent, what he knows about the Speedway from his days in Indy cars and F-1.
He can’t drive his No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge full-bore into the track’s first turn, as he did with the Indy car, and he won’t navigate the road course as he did seven times in F-1. Curt Cavin, IndyStar.com
Juan Pablo Montoya navigated his golf cart through the infield at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, zipped into a parking spot and hopped out.
He didn’t even make it a full step before a security guard stopped him in his tracks and ordered him to move the cart.
Not even an Indy great gets a break at the Brickyard. CBS SportsLine.com
