Team News
Former Indianapolis 500 Winner Montoya Claims Brickyard Pole
By: Nate Ryan, USA Today
July 25, 2010
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INDIANAPOLIS — Comfortable as he seems flying at breakneck speeds across the yard of bricks, there was a moment Juan Pablo Montoya wasn't so enamored with turning laps in a stock car at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
When Montoya, then running Formula One, traded cars with Jeff Gordon at Indianapolis in 2003 to promote the United States Grand Prix, the plan was to put the Colombian in the No. 24 Chevrolet on the 2.5-mile oval.
Montoya, who was worried about embarrassing himself wrangling a balky, 3,400-pound car after experiencing Indy with only lightweight and precision-handling open wheelers, elected to run the road course (just as Gordon did in his Williams).
"I said, 'There's no way in hell I'm going to drive the oval in a Cup car,'" Montoya said with a chuckle Saturday. "And here I am on the pole."
Qualifying first for Sunday's Brickyard 400 was further confirmation that regardless of the type of vehicle, Montoya is the master of the Indianapolis.
After turning a 182.278-mph lap, he will lead the field in the 17th running of a race where he led 112 of 160 laps last season before being doomed by a pit-road speeding penalty.
Even if he's a year late in visiting victory lane a second time, the 2000 Indianapolis 500 winner's timing still would be impeccable.
A win would make Chip Ganassi the first team owner to win the Daytona 500, Indianapolis 500 and Brickyard 400 in the first year.
He and Ganassi were typically understated, though, at sizing up their chances of winning on a 2.5-mile superspeedway where passing is difficult and starting toward the front can be key.
"We have a lot of things to do yet," Ganassi said. "This is just one step in a long flight of steep stairs for the weekend."
Montoya wasn't as fast in the final two Saturday practices (ranking 14th and 18th), but the Colombian has been tabbed as a favorite for Sunday since dominating an Indy tire test three months ago.
His biggest challenge figures to come from the same driver who took advantage of his mistake last year to win his second consecutive Brickyard.
Jimmie Johnson qualified second Saturday — which is 14 spots better than where his No. 48 Chevrolet started in 2009. The four-time Sprint Cup champion says that'll make it much easier in his bid to become the second NASCAR driver to win four at Indy (joining teammate Jeff Gordon, who will start eighth).
"I think we were the best car last year," Johnson said. "I think Juan and the team did a great job getting up front and were in clean air. The fact that we started 16th and drove up into the battle for the lead shows a lot for what our car did last year.
"Yes, Juan was fast in clean air, but when he got mired in traffic, he couldn't go anywhere. Not taking a shot at Juan, but I'm really proud of what we did last year."
Told of that, Montoya accepted the challenge, intimating that Johnson was slower than teammate and 2009 runner-up Mark Martin (who will start third Sunday).
"(Martin) nearly passed him with two laps to go," Montoya said. "So he definitely didn't have the superior car. I think I had the superior car."
If he has it again, the No. 42 Chevrolet will have to avoid mistakes. Eight of the past 12 winners at Indy have gone on to a championship, indicating how little margin for error exists here.
Montoya says he won't err again on his speed entering the pits.
"We understand what happened," he said. "We were just too close to the limit. Just back it down a little bit like, you know, 40 or 50 (RPMs), and that's it.
"If somebody has a better car and they have a better pit stop or pass us, they deserve to win. It's freaking 400 miles, it's not like a three-lap shootout."
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