September 24th, 2009 
Journo Say what you want about Chip Ganassi and Juan Pablo Montoya, they’re cut from the same cloth.
By that I mean both of these guys are straight shooters. Arguably that isn’t always a good thing. One thing is sure though, you always know what they’re thinking and feeling.
After the conclusion of the “regular season” at Richmond, Lee Spencer quoted a very animated Ganassi.
“I don’t know, for years people have been saying how s***** my team is.”
Personally I wish she would have used the preferable AP style for expletives (first letter of the word and then hyphens for each of the letters). I’d like to know exactly “what” finally learned to drive. This quote though is classic Ganassi: passionate and honest.
During interviews if he doesn’t want to talk about something, or just flat out won’t talk about something, he’ll more than openly tell you not to waste your time asking the question. There are many reporters out there that have been on the receiving end of this. While he can certainly be difficult, he’s honest; and to be honest with you I kind of like that.
And how about Montoya. This is a guy who is known for speaking his mind to the press. If he’s pissed off he’s going to tell you. If you don’t believe me check his radio audio from the Brickyard this year: “I swear on my wife and kids!”
Or how about when ESPN/ABC’s Vince Welch asked him about some troubles with Kasey Kahne after the race at Pocono, and Montoya chastised him for trying to create a conflict that wasn’t there.
The best though, and you may have missed this, is the walking out of the interview before it ever began.
Let me set this up. Montoya was doing satellite interviews for NASCAR during the little New York trip last week. He was apparently told the interviews would be done at 5 p.m. Without fail Montoya held them to that. With one interview to go, and the little hand on the 5, as a random sports anchor got ready to interview him, Montoya said he was done, took off his mic and left.
As a side note check out the video if you can. The sports anchor at this Fox station in Sacramento, clearly put off by Montoya walking out on him, goes on a tirade against NASCAR. He starts off by saying he isn’t going to make a ‘federal case’ of the situation and then goes on to do just that. He says NASCAR’s popularity is waning and says the money is leaving and stuff like this is probably the reason why. Needless to say it was a little more than pitiful this guy created a story about not getting a story (don’t get me wrong, I would have been pissed too, but get a grip). The moral of the story is, Montoya hates fans in Northern California. I digress.
This too is classic Montoya. He has very set expectations of situations and you better be prepared to meet those expectations or he’ll let you know (often colorfully) he isn’t happy. Juan just recently got a new PR person, and I’ll tell you, I don’t envy her.
All the above said, I think it’s refreshing Montoya doesn’t conform to a polished image. He’s like the Tony Stewart of old. I think it’s good for the sport, though not always good for those covering the sport.
Good or bad, these two guys are a match made in Heaven. They’re passionate about and committed to their sport and while they’re upbringing was worlds apart, they’re actually very similar. And good or bad, no one will ever accuse them of playing coy.
P.S. You can probably add Felix Sabates to the above list. He’s generally not afraid to speak his mind either.
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JPM is a straight shooter and no one can ever deny that. A racer tried and true .
and your link to KK and JPM is way out of context… look here…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8X9qKfw8CY
Now with CG…my thoughts… his dealing the Cicero track in SW Chicago he’s cut from the same cloth as all the mobbed upped guys that brought that town down back in the day, he and his so called $$$$$, he put his money(some) up but left the the horse track owners holding the bankrupt bag, CG is scum and he’ll make sure he’ll write it in the contract so he won’t get bit from a (his) bad deal. They don’t even race the horses there any more.
DEI is sleeping with the devil but alas it was brought on by their own doing.TE only cares about what DE revenue can bring to the DEI name and CG is all for that.he’ll latch on to the next cashcow just like Felix has and run with it for as long as they can.
Felix,? come on he’s been a side step/redheaded step child since he sold his majority interest, he lost his voice a looooong time ago.
As for The sports anchor ‘is he a yank?’ (no he’s not really anything.. he’s from California) he’s just a back marker … who cares. If it wasn’t for the innernet (sic) this guy wouldn’t have a voice except for in the local market, but hey innernet viral is the new wave.
BTW, I really want JPM to win the chase… it might sound snafu but it’s true.
VnF,
SW Chi- Town
does this mean that we can expect to see these guys crushed by das boot of nascar in the near future?
it is old info that nascar dont cotton to these types, they are rummied out,,,,one way ,,,or another.
at the very least they better be very careful about whom they buy engines (etc etc) from and they better be sure to double check all of the specs to make sure they are not being set up …. not to go all conspiracy theory, or anything; )
TC..you’re way off base. They’re is a difference between passionate, dedicated, honest and VERY rude. JPM walking out is not the same as Kyle Busch answering a really stupid question from Jamie Little, or Tony trashing Good Year. He walked out because it was 5:01??? Hey, life is like that..most of us have to be flexable. I guess if you’re rich and famous you don’t have to be. He obviously didn’t want to be there in the first place. He didn’t come across as dedicated or passionate…he came across as a spoiled, arrogant primadonna. However, I agree with you about the sports anchor..he was insulted and simply went on a tirade against NASCAR. IF the sport is failing it’s not because of fan/driver relations. It’s more about boring, predictable races and beyond awful TV coverage.
rain: Sorry you think I’m off base here. I might be. But actually, Journo wrote this post…
JPM is not anyone’s puppet.
I avoided this JPM controversy when it first appeared on the radar but now that it has been mentioned here I thought I’d check out the video.
I won’t comment on what a little baby that FOX reporter was after he didn’t get his interview … well I guess I just did.
To me there are other factors that some people may not be looking at. If his time was booked until 5pm he has every right to make plans that start at 5:01pm. Is it fair to the next group in line if the previous group can’t get their act together and finish within the scheduled time? Most definitely not.
JPM has always said that he’s a family man and my money says that he had a family dinner to go to and wasn’t putting it off for FOX news. And rightly so. Good for JPM.
JPM may be all that you posters say of him, however, he is one that has learned how to drive the COT. I don’t think we can say that for many Cup drivers who have been around for quite some time. Got to say he is a primma donna, but all of F-1 is that way, and everyone pretty much accepts it. As for these jerk sportswriters, they also know when interview time is over, but of course it means nothing to them. Maybe next time they will try & get their inquisitive questions asked to JPM on time.
Journo – with all due respect, JPM walking out was horriblly unprofessional. Call it passionate if you want. I call it being an asshole. The sportscaster was completely justified in going off on JPM and NASCAR drivers in general.
The lesson to all of the “random” sportscasters and local stations is quite simple…the next time a NASCAR driver is doing an SMT, don’t bother. Don’t waste the time and energy on them, they are likely to walk out on you. Let’s do a local pro stick & ball piece. Maybe college or high school. Maybe the local bowler that threw a 300 game. Anything but a NASCAR driver.
Yeah, yeah, I know…his PR person told him it would end at 5:00…so it was going to be 5:05 by the time he finished. Big deal…be a professional…he was not running out to qualify, practice or race. You cannot tell me he is at every appearance or photo shoot at the exact time (or earlier) he was scheduled. If JPM is going to go off on someone, he should have gone off on his PR people. They are the ones that did not manage his expectations.
While drivers walking out on interviews, storming off or being jerks may not be the entire reason ratings, attendance and sponsorships are down….they certainly do not help. They should al take some lessons from Richard Petty.
Sorry TC…Journo, you’re way off base. I could argue this topic all day. I can’t believe people are defending him because he might have had family time or something. Most of us are forced to put in extra time for a hell of a lot less money than JPM. He’s living a life only a very few of us see..screw him.
Don’t get me wrong all, the walking out of the interview wasn’t the proper way to handle that situation. It was unprofessional. But this is how Montoya is, love it or hate it. Nowhere in this post did I encourage this, or praise this behavior. Please re-read the post if you don’t believe me.
VnF- Isn’t protecting yourself in business deals what a good business person does? And are you saying that was out of context on my part? Vince Welch had asked a similar question to Montoya earlier in the weekend which started the frustration. When the bumping and banging occurred and Kahne came over and talked to Montoya, Welch, Montoya thought, by asking that question was trying to exaggerate the situation. Very much in context.
Rain- I’m way off base? About what? I didn’t encourage the action and certainly didn’t praise it. This was a good illustrator of his personality, good or bad. I do however think the sports anchor in Sacramento made more of the situation than needed to be made of it (hence the reason for that paragraph). A bad deal yes, unprofessional yes, but some how tying this situation to bold statements he didn’t back up was not good. I even write after that “all the above said” which would suggest I don’t think those incidents are helpful to him.
Guys I’m sitting on both sides of the fence here.
Does JPM come across as arrogant? Sure!
Can JPM drive a race car? Before you answer…I mean “really” drive a race car, not just be a bill board in the seat? You betcha!
Could JPM have handled that particular situation differently? Perhaps, but we are not prevy to all of the facts.
Bottom line is that in NASCAR, fans, drivers, teams, owners and officials have sold themselves short and accepted the “sport” as a merely a show. When out of 43 qualifiers, only a handful of drivers, and even a less number of teams, have the ability to be competitive and actually win on talent. That is sad my friends.
People that know I’ve been in and a follower of motorsports for many years will ask me what driver I follow in NASCAR or other series? Truth is I don’t have a favorite driver. Well that is not exactly the truth. My favorite driver is the one that I feel sure throws everything they have at winning races and championships. If they sell mega shirts along the way, well that’s fine too. But they have to prove their worth w/ the start of each green flag. Heck, I own but single garmet related to NASCAR. A red #8 hat. Not because I cheer for JR…I just like the way the hat looks, it was a good buy and keeps the sun out of my face in Daytona.
Why do you think people boo Jeff Gordon? Because he usually beat their driver repeatedly. Kyle gets the boos because he broke a guitar, smarts off and leaves the car on the track. OK so hate him, but you cannot agrue that he doesn’t drive the wheels off the damn car. DW went though the hate phase because he won. No doubt Dale Sr. had his share of enemies, me included at the time for tactics, but I quickly realized he left little to nothing on the table.
So folks, rise up and stop settling for mediocrity in talent. Demand, after all you are the ones buying the ticket, that you are entitled to witness the greatest drivers in the world race. Not to put on an advertising show, but actually compete as the best of the best.
Add to the mix the fact that this was part of a media blitz to kick off the Chase, and Montoya had been doing one interview after another all day long. He probably hadn’t heard an original question in four hours. Sitting in a room hour after hour while a parade of blow-dried media types ask the same questions… I’d be ready for many cold ones, and I don’t think that JPM even drinks!
Neon, move over and give me some room on that fence.
I’m here to win that is my job. Fuel my fire, whine do whatever you must it’s only fuel to my fire on the track! Sorry what’s his face didn’t make the chase!
I’d like to respond to all the people that say it is ‘unprofessional’ of JPM to leave an interview early.
Is it not ‘unprofessional’ to commit to a certain block of time and not finish the job within that period of time. Then when you aren’t finished to expect everyone else to wait on you, wasting their time, because you weren’t professional enough to do your job within the period of time you said you would?
If mechanic said they would repair your car and it would be finished at the end of the day, then it wasn’t. Isn’t that ‘unprofessional’?
If you order some new furniture and the company indicates it will take a week to be delivered, then it actually shows up two or three days after that, isn’t that ‘unprofessional’?
I’m tired of people thinking its acceptable to use up more time then they’ve scheduled for meetings, interviews, and other work. Wouldn’t you much rather be told it would take a little longer and then have the work be finished earlier?
I agree with Scott here. What’s more unprofessional. Meeting your commitment for the specified time then leaving or exceeding the specified time & expecting the person who may have had other commitments to remain because it’s not a big deal after all.
Have any of you ever waited in line to get a driver’s autograph at a merch hauler & the line was cut off at the person in front of you? Hey, that’s life.
Since this was a “media blitz” my guess is JPM had somewhere else to be. He didn’t handle it in the most tactful manner but who cares?
Inside scoop is that JPM had to cut out on the interview so he could hurry home to read The NASCAR Insiders.
Neon…Amen…should be enuf said…but…
I don’t have favorite either. Pulling for the old man cause I’m getting up there too. Martin came close in the Strohs car back in the day….hoping he can pull it off this year….But my underdog pick is JP….why?
He thought through the process: knew each week where & how he had to finish. Now he is racing for championship. Got to admire his transition, determination and success thus far.
If I pay for a ticket I want to see driver out there hanging it all out, using it all up and leaving no doubts that they race for the hardware. JP fits that criteria.
Oh boy…here we go again with Neon and his “got to have the best drivers” rant!
Neon, seriously, I do agree that I want the most talented drivers, crews, teams out there. However, I think you can have the best talent and still have people act professionally.
I have not heard the details of the day for the NYC SMT, but I really do not care. We are not talking about delays of hours. We are talking less than 5 minutes. I hear NASCAR is not happy at all. JPM get a grip.
Yes, SMT’s, photo shoots, sponsor dinners, signing autographs are a pain in the ass. But that is a part of the job. I am guessing all of us here have parts of their job they do not like…quite possibly dread. There are things that go wrong and you stay late, work through the night/weekend. It sucks, but you do it. Get your paycheck and go home. You don’t throw a fit and cry about it. Ok, fine, maybe to your spouse.
As you can see, I have a real problem with “stars” crying about the fans and media and all of the horrible attention people give them. You knew that fortune & fame came at a price, but you wanted it anyway. So deal with it. If it is that bad, sell the houses, jets, cars & boats and give the money to charity. Go back to sweeping floors at the dealership and racing at the local dirt track.
Ross- I think i heard that too.
I live in Sacramento, and this sports anchors is definitely not at the top of my list. He is known for complaining about sports stars, he has a “crybaby of the week” segment…but he also loves NASCAR. But I don’t agree with how Montoya handled the situation when there was only 1 interview left;suck it up for a few more minutes!
If Ganassi is such a straight shooter, let’s see an interview about the wind tunnel in Laurel Hill.
Guys, remember we are talking less than 5 minutes. We are not talking about hours or weeks.
If my mechanic said the car would be done at 5:00 and I walked into the shop at 5:01 and he says…”sorry I could not finish it today. Come back tomorrow sometime and pick it up.” That would be unprofessional.
If he says….”sorry, it took a little longer than we anticipated, but it is coming down off the lift now. Let’s get your bill settled..is that debit or credit? Here is your copy. And look there is your car.” That would be professional. He got the job done and did not punish the customer.
But let’s go back to JPM. We do not know why they were running a few minutes late. Was JPM on time? Mic’d up and ready to go at his precise time? Or did he cause them to start late? Did JPM need a potty break? Did they have technical difficulties?
Let’s assume, JPM was on time and none of the running late was his fault. He punished and showed his ass to the wrong people. A professional would have done the interview, finished the job and the chewed out the people that were at fault. Not punish the customer.
Wade- If you had a secret tunnel in the mountains of Pennsylvania would you talk about it? But seriously, that is kind of an advantage for his team, something that gives them an upper hand. It’s very proprietary, and you don’t talk about things like that. Would you reveal your team’s secrets to the press? I wouldn’t.
This would be a real coup if JPM wins the chase. He really took the bull by the horns when he accepted the NASCAR challenge. He could have stayed in F-1 , made scads of loot, driven half the races, and had his PR people take care of all the often asked dumb questions. But in his few amount of races he has outclassed many, many others. So there.
Journo, I think it should be talked about because the Laurel Hill Tunnel was built with tax dollars and is still owned by the state I pay my taxes to.
As a JPM fan, I have to say, I find myself cringing A LOT. Seriously, the guy was an amazing driver in the open wheel circuits, and so I stuck with him. I still do, and I’m glad that he’s finally making the cut in NASCAR. He has to wise up though. Fans have a right to hate a guy that acts the way he does. I can’t imagine sponsors want that negative image associated with them.
Hey vettsnfrets, I know this is a little delayed, but I just read your informative post. Boy would I love to compare notes with you.
And Wade Baker, great comment as well.