Juan Pablo Montoya demonstrated his road racing prowess again by
stretching his final fuel load to the limit and grabbing his first
NASCAR Nextel Cup win at Infineon Raceway on Sunday.
Montoya, who qualified a disappointing 32nd in the 43-car field
for the Toyota/Save Mart 350, was the first driver to win on the
Northern California road circuit starting further back than
13th.
The Colombian driver, who jumped from Formula One to the
American stock car circuit late last season, got his first Cup win
in his 17th start and gave team owner Chip Ganassi his first win in
NASCAR's top series since Jamie McMurray won in October 2002.
"It's huge" Montoya said. "I would say right now it's the
biggest thing I've done. In open-wheel, that's what I was meant to
be winning in. In stock cars, I wasn't.
"To get our first win in our first year is huge. We know we're a
little bit behind on some of the ovals, but I think this is a big
boost for everybody working in the shop."
Series points leader Jeff Gordon overcame a 41st-place start to
finish just behind Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart in seventh with a
strategic effort in the first road race for NASCAR's new Car of
Tomorrow.
Gordon, who became a father for the first time Wednesday when
his daughter, Ella Sofia, was born, and Hendrick Motorsports
teammate Jimmie Johnson, the reigning Cup champion, were both
banned from practice and qualifying on Friday and had to start from
the rear of the field after NASCAR inspectors found their cars had
illegally modified front fenders.
Both drivers and their crew chiefs face more penalties from
NASCAR in the next few days, but they ran hard to overcome their
handicapped start Sunday. Johnson's fuel strategy didn't work as
well as Gordon's and, after getting into the top 10 for a while, he
finished 17th.
Montoya, whose only other NASCAR victory came earlier this year
in a Busch Series race on the road course in Mexico City, passed
McMurray, who now drives for Roush Fenway Racing, eight laps from
the end and stayed out front of the 110-lap event on the 1.9-mile
(3-kilometer), 12-turn course.
"I was very surprised by the level of the drivers here on the
road course," Montoya said. "In Mexico, we had a really good car
and the top five cars were really strong. But, behind that, it was
really easy."
The winner got past McMurray for a moment two laps earlier,
driving his Dodge past McMurray's Ford in the slow hairpin near the
end of the circuit, but Montoya got too wide and McMurray was able
to squeeze back by.
The pass that counted came in turn two, with Montoya getting
under McMurray's car and passing easily.
"I saw he was always hugging that corner and I thought, 'This is
it.' I knew I could pass him there," Montoya said.
Donnie Wingo, his crew chief, said it was mostly Montoya's
ability to conserve fuel that won the race. Wingo figured Montoya
would run out about a lap short of the end.
"Today, we had to play a little bit of catchup, so we had to
take a gamble there at the end," Wingo said. "He did a great job on
saving fuel, everybody did a good job on the stops and the motor
shop did a great job. Without the fuel mileage we'd have never made
it."
(China Daily via Agencies June 26, 2007)