Lessons learned in Juan Pablo Montoya’s quest for the 1999 CART Championship have shaped his strategy to stay in the Chase (he’s 7th now) for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.
Looking back, the hard-charging Colombian said “I nearly threw it (the CART championship) away in Australia. I was running second. I had a 25-point lead going in, I needed to finish like 20th in the last race. Trying to beat Dario (Franchitti), I stuffed it in the wall. I still won the championship, we ended up even in points, but I had the championship in the bag and I nearly threw it away,” he said.
His Earnhardt Ganassi Racing crew chief, Brian Pattie, has set Montoya straight; it’s about consistent top finishes.
As Montoya explained, “It is simple, it is an average. We know what average we have to run to be in the Chase. It doesn’t matter who beats you that one day or another.”
On the way to MIS Montoya did a public relations stop in Memphis and visited Graceland, the former home - now museum - of Rock & Roll legend Elvis Presley. When asked what he thought of the house Montoya smiles and said “It is a really, really, tacky house - but it was cool.”
photo:NASCAR
Looking back, the hard-charging Colombian said “I nearly threw it (the CART championship) away in Australia. I was running second. I had a 25-point lead going in, I needed to finish like 20th in the last race. Trying to beat Dario (Franchitti), I stuffed it in the wall. I still won the championship, we ended up even in points, but I had the championship in the bag and I nearly threw it away,” he said.
His Earnhardt Ganassi Racing crew chief, Brian Pattie, has set Montoya straight; it’s about consistent top finishes.
As Montoya explained, “It is simple, it is an average. We know what average we have to run to be in the Chase. It doesn’t matter who beats you that one day or another.”
On the way to MIS Montoya did a public relations stop in Memphis and visited Graceland, the former home - now museum - of Rock & Roll legend Elvis Presley. When asked what he thought of the house Montoya smiles and said “It is a really, really, tacky house - but it was cool.”
photo:NASCAR