Juan Pablo Montoya sees championship hopes plummet
By Bob Pockrass - Associate Editor
Sunday, October 18, 2009
Earnhardt Ganassi Racing's Juan Pablo Montoya finished 35th in the NASCAR Banking 500 at Lowe's Motor Speedway Saturday.
Chuck Yadmark
NASCAR Scene
CONCORD, N.C. – Juan Pablo Montoya suffered damage from a chain-reaction fender bender and that resulted in his Chase For The Sprint Cup hopes crashing during the NASCAR Banking 400 on Saturday night at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.
Trying to nurse his car around the track after getting the damage on lap 125, Montoya lost a lap before spinning and losing another lap. He wound up four laps down in 35th, falling from third to sixth in the standings and seeing the points margin balloon from 58 to 195 behind leader Jimmie Johnson.
“It’s OK,” the Earnhardt Ganaassi Racing driver said. “It’s racing. If you’re expecting to have 10 clean races then you’re dreaming. We knew it could happen and here, always the restarts are an issue and I managed to slow down and I just got hit from behind. It happens.”
Montoya, competing in just his third full Sprint Cup season and his first where he is (was?) in championship contention, was the only driver to post top-five finishes in each of the first four Chase races.
“We made the Chase and up until today we had four top-fives in a row and what’s bad about it?” Montoya said. “You know what I mean? We were actually surprised. Everybody on the team is doing such a good job that even today we had a faster car than the No. 48 [of Johnson].
“So, it happens. It’s one of those racing things that will happen and we’ve just got to move on.”
The former Formula One driver got caught up in an incident that probably wasn’t his fault. Another Chase challenger, Mark Martin, was the one who got into him.
“They all kind of went [on the restart] and then they checked up and I checked up and I don’t know – somebody didn’t slow down and just ripped off the whole rear of the car,” Montoya said. “Then I got hit into the car in front of us. I don’t know, just one of those deals. It was weird.”
The caution never came out until Montoya spun about 40 laps later.
“Actually a lot of things on the race track you could see and the cautions never came out,” Montoya said. “I think they got criticized last week and I think they went too far this week. It is what it is. Whether you like it or not they are in charge."
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15 responses to "Juan Pablo Montoya sees championship hopes plummet". Post a Comment.
Backtothegarden said:
Oct 18, 2009 at 12:33 AMJPM, you were the last hope of making this year's chase something worth watching. With the exception of Talladega, I'll likely be checking the race results online on Monday mornings from here on out.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportthewrights913 said:
Oct 18, 2009 at 9:37 AMSeeing JJ attempt to make history and win a 4th championship should be exciting to watch but for some reason just isn't. I agree at least JPM had a chance and it was fun to watch him.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportBDAVISON said:
Oct 18, 2009 at 1:14 PMWhy did Gordon bring the field around so slow?
Report as AbuseReally sorry for what happened to JPM. Was really hoping for a good chase. Maybe next year.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportipopakeg293388 said:
Oct 18, 2009 at 1:34 PM# 3 Jeff brought the field around so slow,because he only took two tire's! Now the media said that,and you know they are never wrong,right? Never question the media,they don't like it!
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» Confirm Abuse Reportnascarnutsheeler said:
Oct 18, 2009 at 2:55 PMToo bad Juan you had it going for you for a while.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportgooly1313 said:
Oct 18, 2009 at 3:54 PMJeff has said before that he will bring the field around slowly to mess them up. He laughs when he says this. Guess you have to make your own breaks. i'm sure JPM isn't through. Still got 5 to go. Anything could happen. I'm a JJ fan through and through but i don't wish bad luck on any of the chasers. I believe that whoever wins it will have worked for it and they are all busing their tails every week to get there.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportwasapola said:
Oct 18, 2009 at 4:30 PMI'm with Gooly1313, It ain't over til the fat lady sings... just how Pessimistic can people get? Colombians have alot of spirit, and JP shows it...I know I'll be cheering him on to the end.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportjvstoro said:
Oct 18, 2009 at 6:38 PMI was crushed to see what happened to JPM. As far as I can see, he was the only one who had and has anything for the 48 and 5 cars. maybe he should of taken out the 5 when he had the chance(joke). JPM, being new, he would have been criticized terribly if he did that, I did not see any criticism for the 5 getting into him though... bad break, and although he may be out due to points, it will be pay back time very shortly...maybe Talladega??? Wish you well JPM and you have made the Chase this year all that more exciting! Good luck your doing one hell of a job!!
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» Confirm Abuse Reportminkee2 said:
Oct 18, 2009 at 6:41 PMI guess I can see the point of making the Chase more interesting, but as mentioned, it's not over until it's over so JPM still has a chance. But, he lost my respect when he said he didn't care about fans. He said all he cared about was his team and sponsors. So, while I am a great JJ fan, if he can't win, I hope it's Mark or Jeff.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportjvstoro said:
Oct 18, 2009 at 6:53 PMI don't think for a minute he meant what he said about the fans, he was simply trying to say, I am a racer and thats what I am going to do, Race! I think we will see a very aggressive 42 car in upcoming races, and won't be as forgiving as he has been, this is not the real Montoya, wait and watch, he wants those wins and he is a go getter!Go JPM go!!!
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» Confirm Abuse Reportpapaof4ncrc said:
Oct 19, 2009 at 9:12 AMThink Juan meant exactly what he said about the fans.And he shows about the same amount of respect to the drivers that are not in the chase.Runs like a bull in a china closet.While Ifeel that he is a good racer to get respect first you must give it.Maybe next year Juan.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportphilipbirtwistle758 said:
Oct 19, 2009 at 12:08 PMLet's hope that Jimmy is due his bad race and closes things up again. Nobody wants championships settled too soon do they?? Not apart from the winning driver anyhow...
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» Confirm Abuse ReportAnonymous said:
Oct 19, 2009 at 1:12 PMHow did you like Pablo whining that NASCAR should have called a caution for his little bump with Mark ? One week they b*tch NASCAR calls too many cautions, then the next not enough. I guess it depends on who needs one.
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» Confirm Abuse Reportjvstoro said:
Oct 19, 2009 at 8:49 PMYes it seems to depend on who needs one. I don't think a caution was warranted but JPM crew chief should have called him into the pits to get fixed. He did not allow him to come in, even though he wanted to...guess he (JPM) was just follwing orders. We'll have to see what happens at Martinsville, although I think his chances are very slim unless the 48 team has some devasting bad luck.
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» Confirm Abuse ReportHateda88 said:
Oct 22, 2009 at 3:24 AMFace it your only real hope was if you went to Hendrick for a ride. No one is using the 88.
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