Montoya in driver’s seat
July 24, 2010 - 11:00 pm
INDIANAPOLIS -- Juan Pablo Montoya is in a familiar spot at Indianapolis Motor Speedway -- out front.
A year after a late speeding penalty denied him a victory in the Brickyard 400, he's hoping it sticks this time.
Montoya steadfastly has denied any lingering bitterness from last year's near-miss or any notion that the Brickyard owes him one. Instead, the pole sitter for today's race is treating this visit as a new opportunity.
"It's given me a lot, so I don't complain," said Montoya, who won the Indianapolis 500 for team owner Chip Ganassi in 2000.
In the days leading to today's race, he has had little about which to gripe.
His No. 42 Chevrolet was the fastest of 13 cars at an April tire test here, and Montoya paced both of Friday's practice sessions. Then he turned a lap at 182.278 mph Saturday morning to take the top starting spot at the Brickyard.
Four-time defending series champion Jimmie Johnson, who won his third Brickyard last season in part because of Montoya's gaffe, qualified second with a lap at 182.142. Hendrick Motorsports teammate Mark Martin qualified third, followed by Jamie McMurray, Montoya's teammate, Ryan Newman and Clint Bowyer, as Chevrolets took the top six qualifying spots.
Greg Biffle was the highest-qualifying Ford at seventh, Brad Keselowski was the best Dodge at 11th, and Martin Truex Jr. led the Toyota effort at 12th.
Former Formula One champion Jacques Villeneuve, like Montoya an Indianapolis 500 winner, qualified for his first Sprint Cup race since 2007 and will start last in the 43-car field. Four drivers failed to make the race: David Gilliland, Casey Mears -- nephew of four-time Indy 500 winner Rick Mears -- David Stremme and J.J. Yeley.
Attention probably will be on Montoya, who is coming off a busy week. The Colombian's wife, Connie, on Monday gave birth to the couple's third child, a daughter named Manuela, and Thursday was a trip to the emergency room for middle child Paulina.
"Her brother practiced his golf swing on her head," Montoya said with raised eyebrows.
So getting on the track provided relief from the madness, even though today's race comes with raised expectations.
He led 116 laps last year in a bid to become the only driver to win the IndyCar and NASCAR races at the Brickyard, only to be flagged for speeding on the final pit stop to drop to an 11th-place finish. Everyone expected a strong effort in his return, based solely on the assumption the No. 42 team wants to grab the victory it was denied last year.
But Johnson bristled Saturday at the suggestion that Montoya had the field covered last year.
"I think we were the best car last year," the winner argued. "I think Juan and the team did a great job getting up front and were in clean air. Yes, Juan was fast in clean air, but when he got mired in traffic, he couldn't go anywhere. Not taking a shot at Juan, but I'm really proud of what we did last year."
Montoya disagreed.
"If you think about it, I remember (Martin) nearly passed him with two laps to go," Montoya said. "So (Johnson) definitely didn't have the superior car. I think I had the superior car; I think (Martin) was the second-fastest car. (Johnson) probably had the third- or fourth-fastest car.
"He just had a good restart, and that's it."
The back-and-forth set the stage for what should be a decent show today at one of the most storied tracks in automobile racing. Montoya will be trying to give car owner Ganassi a rare "three-peat" in that he already this season won the Daytona 500 with McMurray and the Indianapolis 500 with Dario Franchitti.
Ganassi wants the sweep but was cautiously optimistic.
"To be honest with you, if we weren't up near the front (in qualifying), I would have been pretty disappointed because we were up there during the test and in the practice session," Ganassi said. "So we'll see what happens. You know, it's a long day, and we have a lot of things we have to do yet.
"This is just one step in a long flight of steep stairs for the weekend."
BRICKYARD 400 LINEUP
After Saturday qualifying; race today
At Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Indianapolis
Lap length: 2.5 miles
(Car number in parentheses)
1. (42) Juan Pablo Montoya, Chevrolet, 182.278 mph
2. (48) Jimmie Johnson, Chevrolet, 182.142
3. (5) Mark Martin, Chevrolet, 181.803
4. (1) Jamie McMurray, Chevrolet, 181.748
5. (39) Ryan Newman, Chevrolet, 181.741
6. (33) Clint Bowyer, Chevrolet, 181.517
7. (16) Greg Biffle, Ford, 181.353
8. (24) Jeff Gordon, Chevrolet, 181.251
9. (29) Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet, 181.210
10. (31) Jeff Burton, Chevrolet, 181.156
11. (12) Brad Keselowski, Dodge, 180.883
12. (56) Martin Truex Jr., Toyota, 180.730
13. (17) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 180.571
14. (2) Kurt Busch, Dodge, 180.426
15. (14) Tony Stewart, Chevrolet, 180.382
16. (43) AJ Allmendinger, Ford, 180.357
17. (88) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevrolet, 180.260
18. (11) Denny Hamlin, Toyota, 180.249
19. (99) Carl Edwards, Ford, 180.220
20. (71) Landon Cassill, Chevrolet, 180.213
21. (7) Robby Gordon, Toyota, 180.155
22. (78) Regan Smith, Chevrolet, 180.047
23. (18) Kyle Busch, Toyota, 179.845
24. (9) Kasey Kahne, Ford, 179.791
25. (77) Sam Hornish Jr., Dodge, 179.591
26. (98) Paul Menard, Ford, 179.497
27. (19) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 178.962
28. (6) David Ragan, Ford, 178.916
29. (00) David Reutimann, Toyota, 178.891
30. (82) Scott Speed, Toyota, 178.884
31. (21) Bill Elliott, Ford, 178.845
32. (83) Reed Sorenson, Toyota, 178.838
33. (87) Joe Nemechek, Toyota, 178.834
34. (20) Joey Logano, Toyota, 178.781
35. (13) Max Papis, Toyota, 178.621
36. (09) Bobby Labonte, Chevrolet, 178.377
37. (55) Michael McDowell, Toyota, 178.341
38. (37) Travis Kvapil, Ford, 178.013
39. (64) Todd Bodine, Toyota, 177.890
40. (66) Dave Blaney, Toyota, 177.578
41. (47) Marcos Ambrose, Toyota, owner points
42. (34) Kevin Conway, Ford, owner points
43. (32) Jacques Villeneuve, Toyota, 177.466
Failed to qualify
44. (38) David Gilliland, Ford, 176.783
45. (36) Casey Mears, Chevrolet, 176.626
46. (26) David Stremme, Ford, 176.236
47. (46) J.J. Yeley, Dodge