July 5th, 2009 
Journo I have to say when Juan Pablo Montoya entered NASCAR in 2006 I was a skeptic. I recognized the talent and credentials he brought with him: a Formula 3000 championship, a CART championship, a Indy 500 win, seven F1 wins and 11 CART/IRL wins. But I knew the transition to NASCAR would not be an easy one. I had to ask, would he be ready to take on the challenge? And would Chip Ganassi be willing to give the him the time it would take for him to develop?
After winning at Sonoma and Mexico and winning Rookie of the Year honors in 2007, Montoya looked poised to do great things. But 2008 was not a good year for him. In 2007 Montoya had an average start of 21.5 and an average finish of 22.7, in 2008 his average start dropped to 23.3 and average finish dropped to 23.9. He didn’t do himself any favors in the points standings either; 20th at the end of 2007, to 25th at the end of 2008.
Admittedly Montoya faced challenges last season. Ganassi’s Dodge program just wasn’t what it had been and Montoya had been through three crew chiefs by the end of the season. Stability was lacking in his program.
The merger between Dale Earnhardt Inc. and Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, looked to be another kink in Montoya’s development, but pre-season testing had him hopeful.
He started out the year with a 14th at Daytona and an 11th at California. He went on to score his first ever Sprint Cup Series pole at Talladega and has racked up eight top-10s.
While the season has certainly had its bumps, Montoya has only had six finishes outside the top-20. As a result he now sits 11th in points, 86 points ahead of 13th.
The improvement in Montoya is marked. He is a smarter, more consistent driver and that is evidenced by his situation in the points. His attitude is even different. I never thought I would hear Juan Pablo Montoya say he was points racing, but making the Chase is what is important to him right now.
On top of that is the improvement in the performance of his Earnhardt Ganassi team. While his teammate Martin Truex Jr. has struggled with his equipment and the merger all season, Montoya has excelled, showing week in and week out that he can be competitive. The move to Earnhardt Childress engines has given Montoya the necessary power and crew chief Brian Pattie has given him the necessary consistency. The top-fives and the wins have been elusive to this team, but I believe they are on the horizon.
There is still a lot of season to go, but Montoya is doing something few have been able to do and that’s compete in several of the World’s most elite motorsports series.
I think the combination of his talent and his tell-it-like-it-is personality make him one of the most exciting guys out there.
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Journo-1st of all, thanks for the breath of fresh air w/ today’s post. No discussion of lawsuits, racism or penalties.
Having followed Montoya from the early days of Barber-Saab, through CART, F1 and some sport car racing in between IMHO (back then) his move to NASCAR was a purely for a change of pace w/ a new challenge. Sure the money would be nice, but (paid, not paying) F1 drivers command a pretty hefty salary. To step away from the technologically advanced F1 to a relatively low-tech CUP car, I quite frankly just didn’t expect JPM’s attention span to remain long enough to endure the learning process. IMO the fact that Montoya has only won a single road course race in CUP and one in NW and no ovals makes me think that is why he is improving 3 years in. If JPM had jumped in a won a bunch right off the bat, he probably would be bored w/ the NASCAR scene. Right now the “challenge” of navigating a 3,500 lb high HP ill handling pig is what drives him to improve. Seeing guys like Bush, Gordon, Johnson, Stewart and Edwards run up front consistently makes JPM push harder to be in that lead group. Although not a points racer at heart, he has to be in the chase to be considered a member.
I wish we still had IROC around. JPM would have provided a great show.
Just think how good JPM would be behind the wheel of a Hendrick or Gibbs car. I probably could count on one hand the # of drivers that could beat him.
Any thoughts on if for some reason the manufacturer switch suited him in some way? It seems like night & day since he went to a chevy.
Windowlicker- I think the support from Chevrolet is a lot better (in fact I know it is) and the ECR engines clearly have a lot more horsepower than the Elliott Dodge motors. On top of that is bringing together chassis builders and mechanics from DEI and putting them with the best Ganassi had to offer.
Journo,
Since you mention Montoya, I thought I’d mention Marcos Ambrose as another open-wheeler who showing a lot of potential. He seems to be driving like Mark Martin; aggressive, yet very mannerly. Ambrose seems to have a sixth sense about trouble. He finishes very well each week.
West Coast Kenny
Alameda, California
Montoya just gets better week in and week out. He is clearly operating inferior equipment relative to Hendrick, Gibbs, Roush, yet he’s in the hunt. Look at Truex; he’s no slouch; he has two Busch/NW titles, a Sprint win & he’s 20th-something in points. I think, except for Stewart [& maybe Martin, if he'd just be more consistent], Montoya is having the best season relative to his team & pre-season expectations. [Of course, excepting the points leader is a pretty big exception ... ]
Being European and now living in the US I never thought I would enjoy watching cars on Ovals, but with Montoya coming to NASCAR I started to watch and I truly enjoy it.
It’s great to see that more and more people start to appreciate the Colombian doing what he does. It has been a brave move and it shows he is a real petrolhead going for what he likes best, competive racing no matter what the series is.
I am biased for sure but I think he is close or in the elite group of Edwards, Gordon, Stewart, Johnson and Kyle Busch as I see that group with an independent mind on any other driver than Montoya.
I will be making my way to a race real soon never tought I would but NASCAR does what F1 lacks putting on great racing with great drivers and with respect to those who pay them in the end!
The question remains: now that his three-year contract is up, will he stay in NASCAR? At Ganassi?