Dan Peters
Sports Editor Suburban
Journals of Chicago Inc.
Oak Park Journal
Forest Park Journal
November 18, 2006
Juan Montoya set to make Nextel Cup
debut at Homestead.
by Dan Peters
Former Formula One standout Juan Pablo Montoya will attempt
to make his Nextel Cup debut in this Sunday’s Ford 400 at the
Homestead Miami Speedway.
Montoya needed some of the same success that he has had recently
in his debuts in the NASCAR Busch
series and ARCA REMAX series. He
had to qualify the #30
Ganassi/Sabates Dodge on speed. Having no “Owner” points,
Montoya made the show on speed. The Columbian will be racing in
Saturday’s Ford 300 Busch race.
Was Montoya worried? Not in the least. He easily made
the show, and now will get some
valuable seat and track time in preparation for next
year’s Daytona 500.
During his qualifying run, crew chief Steve Boyer came on the
radio and told Juan “We need a little more,
bud.” Montoya
delivered. “It’s amazing how he was able to find almost a
quarter of a second in the car,” Boyer said. “And
that’s what
got us into the show.”
His lap of 30.755 seconds with a speed of 175.581 mph was
good enough for the 29th starting spot Sunday, fifth among the
20 drivers who needed to make the show on speed. In all, 56 drivers
attempted to qualify for this final race of the season.
“He was pretty calm, actually,” Boyer said. He did a
real good
job of picking up on the second lap and if he wouldn’t have, we
would have been in trouble – but Juan did a great job. The
biggest thing I saw in him today was that he was cautiously
optimistic. We were Safely in by a tenth-and-a-half at the end of
practice and we knew that if we picked up
just a little bit that we would be fine.”
“He’s adapting very well, and these things like (what he
experienced) today teach you a lot about yourself. For Juan to
come here (and qualify), he probably learned more about himself
and a little bit about his abilities. The more he
runs, the
more comfortable he’ll feel.”
Owner Chip Ganassi said the feat was “One more small step
in
seven or eight more we have to make before next season.”
Montoya said he was more nervous trying to make the ARCA
Iowa race last month, more so than even the
Indianapolis 500 and Formula One. “Yes it’s stressful – you don’t
get any second chances. One of the hardest things I’m
getting the handle on is you go out on cold tires.”
Montoya said. “It takes forever to get the heat in the tires and
then it’s straight down to business (but) it’s pretty cool.”
Juan also needed to qualify on speed for the Busch race, and
he
did. He was 22nd fastest of the 52 cars to qualify and ninth
among the 22 drivers that needed to make it on
speed Starting
at the Daytona 500 next February, Montoya will be in the #42
Dodge currently driven by Casey Mears.
