Race Report - Aarons 499 at Talladega Superspeedway
Results from Talladega Superspeedway
1. Kyle Busch, No. 18 Toyota
2. Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Dodge
28. David Stremme, No. 40 Tums Quick Pack Dodge
43. Reed Sorenson, No. 41 Polaroid Dodge
MONTOYA AND NO. 42 TEAM FINISH SECOND AT TALLADEGA
TALLADEGA, Ala. (April 28, 2008) - Juan Pablo Montoya drove his No. 42 Dodge to a second-place finish at Talladega Superspeedway and boosted the team into 12th place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup standings. Nine races into the 2008 season, Montoya and the team find themselves in position to earn a spot in the “Chase for the Sprint Cup.”
The finish came on the heels of Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates teammate Dario Franchitti being sidelined after an ankle injury in the Nationwide race on Saturday. The team called on Montoya’s friend and 2007 teammate David Stremme to pilot the No. 40 Dodge. It was also the first race Montoya would be partnered up with his new Crew Chief Jimmy Elledge.
Montoya started the event from the 26th position and was never content to be one of the drivers to run around in the back of the pack. He worked several lines throughout the race, and drafted with several different cars to see how his No. 42 Dodge would react. On lap 50 the No. 11 car hooked up to the rear bumper of Montoya and pushed him from 10th to the lead by lap 53. It was the first lap led for the No. 42 team this season. It was a surprise to most that a two-car draft worked so well when in years past a longer draft line was always quickest.
Montoya tested the two-car draft again on lap 126 when he got on the bumper of Jeff Gordon and pushed him to the front. Montoya would remain a front-runner for the remainder of the race. The caution flag waved on lap 180 and Montoya was running in the fourth position. He got on the rear bumper of the No. 18 car of Kyle Busch and the two drafted to the front of the field. Busch and Montoya took the white flag nose-to-tail, but Montoya never had the opportunity to see if he could overtake the No. 18 car as the caution flag waved during the last lap. Montoya finished the event in the second position, his first top five of the season.
Montoya gained five positions in the driver standings and now sits 12th and is currently in position to make The Chase. It is the team’s eighth top-20 finish of the season out of nine races. The team heads to Richmond International Raceway for a short track race under the lights on Saturday night.
Montoya was one position away from giving team owner Chip Ganassi three race wins in one weekend. Ganassi’s Grand-Am Sports Car Series team won the Saturday race at Virginia International Raceway, while his IndyCar team captured the win Sunday night in Kansas.
CGRFS Driver Quoteboard:
Montoya: "I thought it was a pretty good race. Our No. 42 Dodge was pretty good all day. I fell back to 20th place with about 15 laps to go and made a couple of moves that took me all the way to the front. I really helped Kyle (Busch). When you could get into someone’s bumper, you could push him all the way around the track and make up a bunch a ground. It worked well and I got up to second and then dropped to fifth and got up to second again. It was a pretty cool and interesting race."
"I've loved restrictor plate racing since the first time I came to Talladega, I love it. The bumping, it's tough; we got a good result today, but you can finish 20th in a heartbeat or 30th. It's pretty exciting because it takes a lot of strategy and you always have to learn to pick the right lane, and when you pick the lane, you make sure you get enough to make sure the line moves. It was the first time where you had to be up front to be in position to win, you couldn’t come from the back with five laps to go like they have in the past."
About Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, Inc.
With five wins already in 2008, the team continues to add to its tally of 94 trips to victory lane. Chip Ganassi created his own one-car IndyCar team in 1990 and established a partnership with a new sponsor, Target. Today, his teams include two IRL IndyCars, and along with Felix Sabates he has three cars in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, two entries in the NASCAR Nationwide Series and a Daytona Prototype in the world of Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series racing. Ganassi’s IndyCar teams have amassed five Championships and 57 wins since 1994; his NASCAR teams have 12 wins and two Rookie-of-the-Year titles; and the Grand American team has won two Rolex Series Daytona Prototype Championships and are the three-time defending Champions of the 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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