Not bad for his first qualifying - Montoya gets 29th spot: With a massive 56-car entry aiming for 43 places in the race, Nextel Cup debutant Montoya's first challenge was simply to qualify. He did so with little drama, taking 29th despite not yet being content with the handling of his Ganassi Dodge. "I think the team did a really good job for me, but it was pretty tight," said Montoya. "We improved it a lot, but we're still not there yet." * * * * * her hope he had a good race! Carol (catching up on all the motorsports news of the day - here in my LQ of horse trailer at a show - ahhh the wonders of wireless internet and laptop computers!)
I will be there tomorrow. Since they rebuilt the turns at Homestead, the facility has pretty good side by side competition. Being the championship finale, the racing will be exciting. Always a fun event, and only an hour away. I do not share your enthusiasm for JPM, for all the hoopla, 29th is not very good in what is supposed to be a first tier team, and a supposed stellar F1 driver. His best bet is to stay out of the way and not to make enemies for the 2007 season. The "ovals are simple" mentality of some people is ridiculous, it takes a definite high skill level to keep a NASCAR car on track for 500 miles at constant high speeds. Montoya has an intense learning process ahead of him, and I still do not believe he will find top 5 success for a long time. I do hear from friends in the garage that he has learned one very important lesson, humility. He might actually become likeable. The real race to watch will be between Johnson and Earnhardt Jr. Interesting how most NASCAR fans also wear red.
29th sucks you say. Here's some known guys that are behind him. Labonte Edwards Mayfield Hamlin Busch Jarrett McMurry Eilloitt
Here's how it will go down. Hamlin and Harvick are having a real bad day running in the back. With 10 to go JPM is moving up with Earnhardt in his draft. As they approach 12th place Johnson and 11th place Kenseth, Johnson moves down on JPM. JPM taps his rear sending him and Kenseth into the wall. JPM, with Earnhardt in tow, move to the front. JPM wins his first Cup race and God's son wins his first championship.
29th is not so bad considering that 0.05 seconds separated 15th from 30th. I'm not the biggest fan of JPM, but I gotta give him a little credit here. The field is very, very close.
Just flipped it on to see how he's doing, and it doesn't appear well. Montoya is 32nd on lap 55 of 267. Has anyone been watching the whole race that can fill me in on what's been happening with him? Mark
JPM is 26th, 1 lap down but close to the lead lappers. I can't watch a whole Cup race, I just check in for updates.
He spun, hit the wall whereupon the car ruptured the fuel tanks and burst into flames. That's rare for a Cup car. He scrambled out quickly and was ok however. It's going to take him a lot more time in these cars before he's at all competitive.
I just got home from the race. Montoya has a lot to learn. No, I was not impressed with his driving. I did like that in interviews he is being honest about his mistakes. What may be worse for him, is this was the last race of the season. Everybody was being cautious. He did admit to "screwing up" by running into someone in pit lane. He still needs to learn about side to side drafting. His F1 days will not help him in NASCAR, his IRL days will. Daytona in February will be the real test. And then Bristol.
Man, I don't know what will be worse for him. Daytona or Bristol. Probably Bristol, since there's no getting out of the way there.
Montoya (#30) ran as high as the top 10 today. Ryan Newman (#12) deliberately spun him as payback for an earlier incident in which Newman thought Montoya spun him out (replay shows no contact in the earlier incident, just no downforce on the 12 due to the 30 being nearby). Newman and his crew chief were called into the Nascar hauler after the race for a discussion on the matter. I think Montoya is figuring out just how much he has to learn. He's got skills, but they're the wrong ones. I figure he'll finish mid 20s for the 2007 season, with a couple of top 10 finishes and maybe a road course win. 2008 he'll be a force to reckon with.
Thanks for posting the situation - hopefully Newman and crew chief got a reprimand for that! I think you are right, given a season of learning he's going to be the one to watch in '08. Carol
Some folks with a complete void of class show it in their posts. How would you feel if he crashed and got killed ? Yeah, I already know: you would still laugh...
That's only because they're far more talented and have accomplished so much more than JPM in their own motor racing careers.
Montoya never ran in the IRL. He ran in Cart. The year T. George let them run the Indy 500 with IRL equipment, the top Cart teams bought IRL cars for one race and kicked IRL butt. And that was the year Montoya won the Indy 500.
Yes you are right, Montoya ran for Ganassi in an IRL car to win the Indy 500. That was before the leading CART teams abandoned CART for the IRL. I don't remember though, was that before or after the stellar year that Penske cars were out qualified for the 500, and did not make the race? I am sure you understood my meaning though. Lessons learned at tracks like Indianapolis and Michigan will help Montoya much more in NASCAR than what he learned at F1 venues.
JPM will be fine. Will he win a championship, or be 'as good' as a Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon or Jimmy Johnson ? NOBODY knows. He might - but I kinda doubt it. I DO think he is fully capable of a top 10 in points in a few years, we will just have to see. Folks, I apologize, it just irks me when someone says they want to see someone crash so they can laugh at them. Crashes cost money, can hurt people, and can kill people, I lost a pretty good friend who burned to death in a G/D racecar, I don't wish that on my worst enemy.
