Montoya Finishes 11th in NASCAR Busch Series Debut
Memphis, Tenn. (October 28, 2006) --- Juan Pablo Montoya made his anticipated NASCAR debut at Memphis Motorsports park in the Busch Series race on Saturday. Montoya piloted his Texaco/Havoline Dodge to an 11th-place finish after a few bumps along the way at the ¾ -mile short track. "It was pretty wild to be honest," said Montoya. "I learned you've got to be patient. You've just got to pace yourself. I got spun today in the Texaco/Havoline Dodge and I spun a few guys. But it's a learning process. We did what we needed to do as a team." Montoya started the Sam's Town 250 from the ninth position. He moved into the top five on lap 13 after passing the No. 14 car. He began to encounter slower lapped traffic on lap 25, but was able to maneuver the traffic and stay in the fifth position until the caution waved on lap 44. Crew Chief Brad Parrott called Montoya down pit road for an air pressure adjustment in the left-side tires, four fresh Goodyear's and fuel. Montoya was fifth for the restart on lap 49. Green-flag racing lasted for just two laps before a multi-car incident occurred in Turn 4. It took NASCAR six laps to clean up the debris and get racing underway. The eventual race winner passed Montoya on lap 56 and he slipped to seventh on lap 58. Spotter Tab Boyd told Montoya to check up on lap 59 as cars were spinning in front of the Texaco/Havoline Dodge. Montoya avoided the wreck and remained in the seventh position. With only 30 cars on the lead lap, traffic became tough for the top 29 cars. Montoya told Parrott the car was a lot tighter in the center now and dropped to ninth when the yellow flag waved on lap 98. The Texaco/Havoline team made several adjustments to the car including air pressure, trackbar and wedge. After the four-tire stop was completed, Montoya restarted the race in ninth on lap 103. Montoya had his first run-in with a slower car on lap 106 when the No. 36 turned down into him. The contact sent the No.36 car spinning and brought out the caution flag yet again. The damage was minimal on the Texaco/Havoline Dodge, so Parrott told Montoya to remain on the track in ninth. Caution flags continued to plague the race, and Montoya was still struggling with the tight condition. Montoya drove the No. 42 Dodge Charger down pit road on lap 143 for tires, an air pressure adjustment and fuel. Five cars remained on the track and Montoya lined up 11th for the restart on lap 146. The second close call for the Texaco/Havoline team came on lap 147. Montoya was racing the No. 18 car when they made contact. The No. 18 car spun, while Montoya was able to maintain control of his Dodge. When racing resumed on lap 152, he thought he had a tire going down as the car became extremely loose. At the same time, the No. 66 car got inside of Montoya and the two made contact. The Texaco/Havoline Dodge spun, but Montoya was able to keep the car from suffering extensive damage. Parrott called Montoya down pit road for right-side tires and to fix the right-front fender. He came back down pit road on lap 158 for left-side tires and to check for tire rubs. The green flag waved on lap 159 and Montoya was now scored in the 31st position. The caution flag waved one lap later and Montoya came back down pit road to have the fender checked. The team looked over the Texaco/Havoline car and sent him back onto the track for the restart on lap 166. Now sitting in the 25th position, Montoya began his march up through the field. When the yellow flag waved on lap 191, Montoya was up to 17th. On lap 209, Montoya appeared to have gotten into a short-track rhythm and was picking off cars one at a time. He passed the No. 06 car on lap 206 for 16th and moved back into the top 15 when he drove under the No. 5 car on lap 211. He didn't stop there, and took over the 14th spot on lap 213 and was sitting 13th when the caution waved on lap 231. With just 14 laps schedule left in the race, Montoya took the green flag on lap 236 in 12th. Two additional cautions waved before the end of the race and set up a green-white-checker finish on lap 250. In the closing lap the No. 11 car spun and Montoya was able to avoid the wreck thanks to the guidance of his spotter and finish his first Busch event in the 11th position. CGRFS teammate Reed Sorenson finished seventh. Up next for Montoya and the Texaco/Havoline team is the Busch Series Texas 300 at Texas Motor Speedway on Saturday, November 4th (2:00pm ET, TNT).
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