Comments on: Montoya Making Strides

By: Doug in CA

Doug in CA — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 15:02:05 +0000

The question remains: now that his three-year contract is up, will he stay in NASCAR? At Ganassi?

By: bartpoh

bartpoh — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 05:41:35 +0000

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!

By: mert7878

mert7878 — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 03:08:19 +0000

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 ... ]

By: West Coast Kenny

West Coast Kenny — Tue, 07 Jul 2009 02:55:08 +0000

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

By: Journo

Journo — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 21:28:39 +0000

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.

By: windowlicker

windowlicker — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 17:50:51 +0000

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.

By: Zieke

Zieke — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 16:44:45 +0000

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.

By: Neon

Neon — Mon, 06 Jul 2009 13:56:31 +0000

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.