7 reasons to watch the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway: No. 5 - Juan Pablo Montoya

By Art Weinstein

Thursday, October 15, 2009

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It was Mark Twain, the 19th century American humorist and writer, who popularized the statement: “There are three kinds of lies: lies, damned lies, and statistics.”

That quote comes to mind when I think of Juan Pablo Montoya in the Chase For The Sprint Cup. In the four Chase races to date, the Earnhardt Ganassi Racing driver has shown that his past NASCAR statistics have zero relevance in predicting how he’ll perform.

Case in point: Montoya had seven top-five finishes in his first 99 Sprint Cup starts. That’s good, but certainly not great.

Now, Montoya has four consecutive top-fives to start the Chase. That’s Jimmie Johnson-esque.

That’s why we can look at Montoya’s career statistics at Lowe’s Motor Speedway and shrug. He has never led a lap at LMS. In five races there, his average finish is 27.4, his worst figure of any track on the Sprint Cup circuit.

Forget the statistics. I’m betting Montoya leads a bunch of laps and knocks down another top-five finish Saturday in the NASCAR Banking 500.

And that’s no lie.

- Art Weinstein