Juan Pablo Montoya has admitted it would be logistically impossible for him to participate to the IRL season finale in Las Vegas.
The IndyCar Series has tempted drivers from ouside the series to join the last event of its 2011 season, promising $5M to any driver who could win it against the best IRL drivers.
Montoya and his Chip Ganassi NASCAR Team will be in Charlotte, North Carolina, that week-end, a city at the other side of the country, making it less than ideal to compete in both events: qualifying or practice or either one of those would be highly compromised.
For the sake of it, lets run the scenario along with Montoya: "Okay, let's try to even analyse it, I haven't even gone that deep. It's a three-hour difference [between Charlotte and Las Vegas] and it's about a four to five-hour flight. Is it feasible at all?
"So let's say you practice Saturday morning in Vegas, you've got to be done practicing at what time because it's going to be in a five-hour flight to Charlotte plus a three-hour time difference, it's eight hours!
"So it means I would have to start in the back of the field at Charlotte even if I made it to the race. Because if you think about eight hours, if the race is at 6:00 [pm] I need to be in the plane at 10:00 [in Vegas] in the morning. Ain't going to happen. It means I will have to leave the track at 9:00 or 9:15 if we go in a helicopter.
"It's true, the proposal is pretty freaking cool. Who is going to say no to $5 million bucks that easy? But it's just [impractical]..."
The Colombian has not raced a single-seater on an oval since the last Champ Car season finale at Fontana.
Despite keeping the door open to a possible participation, Montoya admits it would be almost impossible to compete properly in both events.
"Let's not even talk about if I would like to do it or not, it's just impossible logistics-wise," said Montoya. "If you really were going to go to try to win the $5 million bucks, you would have to get all the practices down and do it right. Are you going to show up on Sunday and race without practice and hope for the best? Who the heck is going to win that?" added the driver in Phoenix.
The IRL series must have thought this through because Formula 1 ain't exactly accessible either - not that any driver admitted to be interested, so far.
"I think Formula 1 are probably racing that weekend, I think they are in Korea or something, very close. Short flight as well," Montoya laughed.
The IndyCar Series has tempted drivers from ouside the series to join the last event of its 2011 season, promising $5M to any driver who could win it against the best IRL drivers.
Montoya and his Chip Ganassi NASCAR Team will be in Charlotte, North Carolina, that week-end, a city at the other side of the country, making it less than ideal to compete in both events: qualifying or practice or either one of those would be highly compromised.
For the sake of it, lets run the scenario along with Montoya: "Okay, let's try to even analyse it, I haven't even gone that deep. It's a three-hour difference [between Charlotte and Las Vegas] and it's about a four to five-hour flight. Is it feasible at all?
"So let's say you practice Saturday morning in Vegas, you've got to be done practicing at what time because it's going to be in a five-hour flight to Charlotte plus a three-hour time difference, it's eight hours!
"So it means I would have to start in the back of the field at Charlotte even if I made it to the race. Because if you think about eight hours, if the race is at 6:00 [pm] I need to be in the plane at 10:00 [in Vegas] in the morning. Ain't going to happen. It means I will have to leave the track at 9:00 or 9:15 if we go in a helicopter.
"It's true, the proposal is pretty freaking cool. Who is going to say no to $5 million bucks that easy? But it's just [impractical]..."
The Colombian has not raced a single-seater on an oval since the last Champ Car season finale at Fontana.
Despite keeping the door open to a possible participation, Montoya admits it would be almost impossible to compete properly in both events.
"Let's not even talk about if I would like to do it or not, it's just impossible logistics-wise," said Montoya. "If you really were going to go to try to win the $5 million bucks, you would have to get all the practices down and do it right. Are you going to show up on Sunday and race without practice and hope for the best? Who the heck is going to win that?" added the driver in Phoenix.
The IRL series must have thought this through because Formula 1 ain't exactly accessible either - not that any driver admitted to be interested, so far.
"I think Formula 1 are probably racing that weekend, I think they are in Korea or something, very close. Short flight as well," Montoya laughed.