Tell a Friend - NASCAR: Montoya Not A Title Contender After Richmond Slip

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“I feel a lot more comfortable now than I did a week ago. From here on out, it’s just track time and communication that we need, and I feel a lot better now about it than I did.”—Jimmy Elledge Almost a month after a crew chief swap at Chip Ganassi Racing put Jimmy Elledge in charge of Juan Pablo Montoya’s team, the two are finally getting to know each other. The two didn’t have a real chance to communicate before their debut race at Talladega Superspeedway, where handling doesn’t matter and Montoya finished a season-best second. Then it was on to Richmond International Raceway, where in two quick hours of practice time, Elledge was unable to get the car to Montoya’s liking. <span class="intext"> <script type='text/javascript'></script><noscript><a href='http://www.autoracingdaily.com/0pen@ds/www/delivery/ck.php?n=abcb3366&cb=INSERT_RANDOM_NUMBER_HERE' target='_blank'><img src='http://www.autoracingdaily.com/0pen@ds/www/delivery/avw.php?zoneid=47&cb=INSERT_RANDOM_NUMBER_HERE&n=abcb3366' border='0' alt='' /></a></noscript> </span> “It was such a tight schedule and we had so many questions at Richmond, and not enough time to answer them, and we just pretty much missed it. We didn’t have a car suitable for him,” said Elledge, who spent 80 races with Reed Sorenson before he was moved to Montoya’s crew. “The last two days is the first time we’ve had a chance to work together and test together. Different drivers respond to different things, and you kind of get programmed when you work with a certain driver for so long. So this was good to be able to run through changes and understand what Juan responds to. I’ve got a lot better understanding of what he looks for in a car now.” After moving up to 12th in the standings after Talladega, a 32nd-place finish at Richmond for the No. 42 Dodge dropped Montoya to 16th in the standings and out of contention for the Chase for the championship. “I feel a lot more comfortable now than I did a week ago. We went to Richmond, and all I can do is what I’ve known to do and that wasn’t right for him,” Elledge said. “From here on out, it’s just track time and communication that we need, and I feel a lot better now about it than I did.” http://www.autoracingdaily.com/19412/