J P Montoya Crosses the Border into NASCAR
Written by Allan Brewer · July 9, 2006
Former Indy 500 and Monaco GP winner Juan Pablo Montoya announces contract with Chip Ganassi Racing for 2007 season.
McLaren/Mercedes team driver Juan Pablo Montoya has agreed to move to NASCAR from his choice Formula 1 ride. Montoya notified McLaren’s Ron Denis and Mercedes’ F1 Sports Director Norbert Haug this morning of his decision to leave the team and drive the #42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge Chip Ganassis Racing with Felix Sabates car in the domestic series next year.
Speaking to the media at Chicagoland Raceway near Chicago, Illinois Sunday afternoon, both Ganassi and Montoya downplayed the switch of one of F1’s premier names to American stock cars as a sure-fire win for either. Citing the drastic differences between the heavy, draft-happy tin-tops and the lightning-fast, G-loading single seaters, they acknowledged a learning curve will be necessary before JPM likely is a contender for race wins in NASCAR. Montoya has raced exclusively in F1 for the past six seasons.
“It’s a challenge, for sure” said Montoya, whose only previous experience in a stock car was the “Trading Paint” SpeedTV outing featuring Jeff Gordon and himself in 2003. In that oft-repeated taped broadcast, Gordon took the wheel of Montoya’s Williams/BMW for a spin around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway roadcourse, while Montoya drove Gordon’s #24 “Rainbow Warrior” stock car on the circuit. “When I drove the car that day it felt really comfortable. I could slide the car around and had a good time with it…it felt really good to me.”
At the conclusion of the current F1 season, in which Montoya now holds sixth place in the World Drivers Championship points competition, JPM will begin testing and practice in earnest with Ganassi’s team in Charlotte, North Carolina in anticipation of a 2007 Daytona 500 start. He currently has a home in Miami, Florida.
“I just want to race.” is all Ganassi could add to what Montoya is saying privately about the change. The two have a history of success in the past working together, winning open-wheel’s CART Championship in 1999 and the 2000 Indianapolis 500 as owner and driver. Montoya has hinted in the past that he might enter stock car racing at some point in his career, but some consider the 30-year old Colombian’s move now to be curious. Financial terms of the agreement were not disclosed, but apparently the two sides came to terms quickly in what will almost certainly amount to a substantial pay-cut for Juan Pablo.
The announcement comes one week after Montoya’s rear-ending of McLaren/Mercedes teammate Kimi Raikkonen in the United States Grand Prix at Indianapolis, knocking both drivers and the team out of contention for the race. The chain of events that followed ultimately removed eight cars from the competition. The incident was not cited as a contributing factor to JPM’s surprising decision to leave the F1 series where he has seven career victories.
When asked of his thoughts about the long NASCAR season, Montoya replied “I would rather be in the car racing every weekend than testing out in the middle of nowhere”, referring to F1 teams’ penchant for holding their off-week practices at remote locations during the season. Frustration crept into his voice when he noted the long distances F1 travels to some of its world-wide events. “It’s a twenty-seven hour plane ride to Australia!” he said. Montoya is married with a wife and young son. An American base would greatly reduce travel times to and from venues on the stock car circuit, and simplify personal logistics for himself and his family.
Juan Pablo’s switch to NASCAR comes on the heels of reports that former Formula 1 World Champion Jacques Villeneuve, an Indianapolis 500-winner himself, has expressed interest in driving in the series. Both the newly-married Villeneuve and Montoya are at the end of their current F1 team contracts with the conclusion of the present year’s campaign. Most veteran observors did not feel Montoya was being courted to continue at McLaren/Mercedes with reigning F1 champ Fernando Alonso coming to the team in 2007.
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I think JPM has seven F1 victories, but I’m not going to quibble. It is a curious move at this point, since I think he still has the talent to be a champion in F1. He just needs the right team. It’s funny that while everyone is riding Raikkonen’s jock, he has not been F1 champ either, so c’mon. JPM will do well in NASCAR. The guy is a racer, if nothing else. I’d much rather see him succeed in F1, because I’m a road course guy, but I’ll follow his progress in NASCAR. He’s definitely my favorite on the road courses.
Curious move? JPM had no ride in F1 next year, and wasn’t going to get one. His only consistency is causing troubles for others on the track.
Yeah, JPM will do great in NASCAR - he’s shown in the past two races that he’s not afraid to run into others… and that “bump draft” move that he pulled on Kimi at the USGP was top notch!
Hopefully McClaren will get JPM out of the seat before he kills someone on the F1 circuit. Let Pedro get in there and find some points… heck, he won’t have a 3rd driver position next year anyway.