Montoya Wins First Cup Race, Returns CGRFS and Texaco/Havoline to
Victory Lane
Results from Infineon Raceway
1. Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge
32. David Stremme, No. 40 Coors Banquet Dodge
40. Reed Sorenson, No. 41 Target Dodge
Montoya Wins First Cup Race, Returns CGRFS and Texaco/Havoline to
Victory Lane
SONOMA, Calif. (June 24, 2007) --- Juan Pablo Montoya drove the No. 42
Texaco/Havoline Dodge Avenger to a 4.097-second victory over Kevin
Harvick in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup road course race at Infineon Raceway.
It was Montoya's first NEXTEL Cup victory in just his 17th start, and a
first for the pairing of Texaco/Havoline and Chip Ganassi Racing with
Felix Sabates (CGRFS).
Montoya began the 110-lap race from the 32nd position, the deepest
starting spot for a winner at Infineon Raceway. By the completion of
the first lap he had driven the Texaco/Havoline Dodge up to the 27th
spot. He broke into the top 20 on lap 10 and never let up. The second
caution of the day waved on lap 14 with the No. 42 Dodge Avenger in
18th. He told Crew Chief Donnie Wingo the tires were chattering and he
was sliding around quite a bit. Wingo assured the 31 year old driver
they would make adjustments on the team's first stop, but track position
was crucial.
Green-flag pit stops began on lap 33, shortly after Montoya moved in to
the top 15. Wingo called Montoya down pit road on lap 35 for four
tires, fuel and an air pressure adjustment. When pit stops cycled
through, and the caution flag waved on lap 43 the black and red
Texaco/Havoline car was running 14th.
At the midpoint of the race, Montoya and the team were running in the
top 10. He told Wingo the car was still sliding around. When the
caution flag waved on lap 67, Wingo made the call to bring Montoya down
pit road and stretch the team's fuel mileage to the end. The
Texaco/Havoline crew jumped pit wall to make another air pressure
adjustment, change four tires and pack the car full of fuel. Four cars
in front of Montoya remained on the track, and he restarted the race
from the 12th spot on lap 69.
Montoya passed the No. 25 car on lap 71 for 11th and had his sights set
on the top 10. The cars that remained on the track during the caution
period on lap 67 began to peel off the track and down pit road for fuel.
On lap 77 Montoya and the team found themselves in the third spot, with
Jamie McMurray, Harvick and fuel mileage between them and victory lane.
Wingo came over the radio several times to remind Montoya to "save
fuel." Montoya got around Harvick with 18 laps to go as the front
runners were in fuel conservation mode, but still turning quick lap
times. Montoya was quickly running down McMurray, and made the pass for
the lead with just seven laps remaining in the event. The road-racing
expert was able to save enough fuel to take the checkered flag for his
first NEXTEL Cup victory.
Montoya and the Texaco/Havoline team moved up to two spots in the
standings to 21st (technically tied in points with Casey Mears in 20th)
with their victory today. The team sits 259 points out of the 12th
position - the final transfer spot to the Chase for the Nextel Cup.
Montoya also increased his lead in the Raybestos Rookie standings to 15
points over David Ragan.
Notables
- First NASCAR NEXTEL Cup win for Montoya in just his 17th start
- First victory for Texaco/Havoline with CGRFS
- First victory for the new Dodge Avenger
- Wingo's first win since Sonoma in 1993 with Geoffrey Bodine
- First victory for a Hispanic driver in NASCAR's top series
- Montoya is the first rookie to ever win at Infineon Raceway, he leads the Raybestos Rookie standings by 15 points over David Ragan.
- Montoya joined racing legends Dan Gurney and Mario Andretti as the only drivers to win races in the NEXTEL Cup Series, IndyCar] and Formula One.
CGRFS Quoteboard
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA "I thought it was a good day for the Texaco/Havoline
team and the entire Chip Ganassi Racing organization. I would say right
now it's the biggest thing I've done in my racing career. It's
unbelievable, actually. In open wheel I was meant to be winning in and
in stock cars I wasn't. To get our first win in our first year is huge.
The reason I came to Chip is because he wants to win as bad as I do and
I think Donnie (Wingo) and the whole team wants to do the same thing.
We started 32nd and you don't know how fast you are, you don't know how
hard people are trying. We were just getting the laps in, trying to
move forward and just be patient. And being patient really paid off
today. We took our time. The pit stop changes and calls were amazing.
Donnie (Wingo) made some changes with the pressures on the car,
especially the second time, that made a big difference and it was just
good. It was hard when I was running behind traffic because the hairpin
can get really slow in Turn 7 and 11 and to get on the gas was really
hard. It would spin the wheels really easy. It was one of those deals.
I knew I was running third with 20 to go and I didn't want to finish
third. I did want to save a lot of fuel. I picked up the pace a little
bit, passed Kevin (Harvick), and then at the same time I started working
on Jamie (McMurray). I was trying to roll the car as much as I could.
It's really hard here to save a lot of fuel. In Turn 1 I was saving a
lot of fuel through there and a couple other places just being very
patient on the throttle and it really paid off."
Donnie Wingo, Crew Chief "This is a great day for the team. We kind of
got ourselves in a hole a little bit in qualifying. We knew we were
going to have to do something today to try to make up track position
because we knew he could get at least half of them, and if we could get
the other half we'd be in good shape. When the caution actually fell
about one lap earlier than what we wanted it to, it kind of put us in a
situation where we had to gamble. We didn't have a choice. Juan just
did a great job all day. He kept all the fenders on it. He passed what
he needed to pass. The fuel mileage is what saved us. The motor shop,
those guys have been working really hard on it and finally it paid off
for them. Sonoma was the last time I went to victory lane with Geoff
Bodine. It's been since 1993, so it's been a while. Just like I said,
I'm just glad to be a part of it, this big group of people, this
organization. Everybody has worked so hard and we've been close over
the past few years but we haven't been able to close the deal. And to
finally be able to do that today, it's big for Texaco/Havoline. It's
just big for our whole organization and all our partners."
Chip Ganassi, Team Owner "Like Donnie said, we've been close a lot of
times and we didn't quite close the deal. And it was close again today.
We were saving fuel there at the end like everybody was. It means a lot
for our entire organization. We've had our share of pundits and reasons
for that sort of thing over the last four or five years since we visited
victory lane and I had a hard time finding the place. My hat's off to
everybody in the organization because we all knew we had it in us.
Everybody in the organization, from the top to the bottom, the people
all running things, we've all won races and we knew how to win. We've
got a guy that pushes the pedal. That sure helps. It feels pretty good
to be here (victory lane), to tell you the truth."
About Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates
Following a strong career as a driver, Chip Ganassi created his own
one-car IndyCar team in 1990 and established a partnership with a new
sponsor, Target Stores. Today, his teams include two IRL IndyCars, two
Indy Pro Series cars and along with Felix Sabates he has three cars in
the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series, a Daytona Prototype in the world of Grand
American Rolex Sports Car Series racing and two entries in the NASCAR
Busch Series. Ganassi's IndyCar teams have amassed five Championships
and 50 wins since 1994; his NASCAR teams have nine wins and a
Rookie-of-the-Year title; and the Grand American team has won two of the
last three Rolex Series Daytona Prototype Championships and the 2006
Rolex 24 At Daytona. Chip Ganassi Racing operates out of
state-of-the-art race shop facilities in Indianapolis, Ind., and
Concord, N.C., with a corporate office in Pittsburgh, Pa.
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