MONTOYA FINISHES 23RD AT KANSAS SPEEDWAY

Target Team Finishes 23rd at Kansas Speedway

Kansas City, Kan. (October 9, 2011) – The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series returned to Kansas Speedway for the second time in 2011 for the 30th race of the season. Juan Pablo Montoya and the Target team worked relentlessly on the handling of the No. 42 Chevrolet from the first day of practice on Friday until the checkered flag waved. The team would post a 34th-place qualifying effort and look to improve handling for the majority of the race before settling for a 23rd-place finish.

With only six races remaining in the 2011 schedule, the Target team is still in pursuit of their first win of the season. The team unloaded the same chassis they ran at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and readied themselves for 400 miles at Kansas Speedway. As the race got underway, the Target Chevrolet advanced nine positions in the opening laps. Soon after, Montoya radioed in a concern over the handling. Crew chief, Jim Pohlman, brought the Target Chevrolet down pit road seven times for tires, fuel and major adjustments. As the laps progressed the car started to turn around and Montoya ran mid-pack through the long green flag runs. When the checkered flag was displayed on lap 272 the Target Chevrolet crossed the finish line in the 23rd position.

“Tough weekend for our Target team,” stated Montoya. “The car was a handful and we made some aggressive changes to get it handling better there at the end. Our finishes don’t show the amount of work these guys are putting into these cars.”

NOTES
- Montoya has two poles, two top-five and eight top-10 finishes this season
- Montoya has the highest number of laps run this season out of any driver with 8677 including all 12 of the Chase contenders
- Montoya sits 19th in the point standings
- Montoya has no DNF’s in 2011

The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series teams will move to Charlotte Motor Speedway, Saturday night Oct. 15 for the Bank of America 500, the only night race in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup.  ABC and radio stations affiliated with PRN will have live coverage beginning at 7:30 p.m. ET.