NASCAR: Juan Pablo Montoya and Jeff Gordon Weigh In on Renault and F1's Crash-gate

Juan Pablo Montoya, the ex-Formula One driver, and Jeff Gordon, who drove Montoya’s F-One Williams at an exhibition at Indianapolis, expressed novel reactions to the controversy roiling the Formula One circuit

Montoya, a veteran of Williams and Mercedes McLaren, sitting under a photo of the late Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead at New York’s Hard Rock Cafe sarcastically commented “Formula One at its’ best.”

Formula One fans will note he summarily departed the McLaren Mercedes team after crashing with his teammate Kimi Raikkonen on the first lap of the USGP in 2006. So no love lost there.

He said he looked at the video and “it didn’t look like he was making it up.” It’s hard to interpret if the Colombian, who drives for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing was saying it was claiming Nelson Piquet Jr was making up the charge that he crashed on purpose.

He added “to tell you the truth, I don’t care.” Which has been Montoya’s perpetual response to questions about Formula One.

Four-time NASCAR Cup Champion, Jeff Gordon, sends a mixed message. On one hand he understands the high stakes game when he said “… the fiercer the competition the more that’s on the line, the more gain the more broad your strategy becomes.”

On the other hand, as a driver, Gordon said he’d feel “cheated,” out of championship or a win in those circumstances. He added “the wins mean too much to me, and the championships, to take it in that way or to lose it in that way.