Montoya Earns First NASCAR Victory in Mexico City
Results from Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez
1. Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge
2. Denny Hamlin, No. 20 Chevrolet
3. Boris Said, No. 9 Dodge
5. Scott Pruett, No. 41 Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit Dodge
Montoya Earns First NASCAR Victory in Mexico City
Mexico City, Mexico. (March 4, 2007)–It took just three races into the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series season before Juan Pablo Montoya and the No. 42 team returned Texaco/Havoline to victory lane. It was the team’s first victory of the season, and the first NASCAR victory for Montoya. Montoya earned his first win in just his seventh Busch Series start on the road course in Mexico City backed by the Texaco/Havoline crew and Crew Chief Brad Parrott.
Montoya took the green flag from the third position, but overtook the second-place driver after the first turn. He told Parrott the car was tight, but he was still able to pass teammate Scott Pruett on lap four to take the lead. The team made its first stop on lap 10 under green-flag conditions and made an air pressure adjustment to fix the tight handling car. The caution flag waved on lap 23 with just one car left to pit. Montoya regained the lead on lap 25 after the car pitted.
Trouble befell the Texaco/Havoline team on its scheduled pit stop on lap 45. Following a routine stop, the team realized the overflow tube from the fuel cell had fallen off into the trunk of the car. As a result, the car did not take on the needed amount of gasoline. The caution flag waved on lap 52, and the team pitted to fill the car up. The over-the-wall crew had to lift up the trunk in order to properly fill the car.
Racing resumed on lap 55 of 80 with the Texaco/Havoline Dodge in 19th. Just five laps later when the caution waved, the road ace had maneuvered his way back into the top 10. The green flag dropped again on lap 63 and Montoya passed three cars in one lap to sit sixth. Several cautions waved over the final 15 laps, and Montoya was able to gain spots and time on the leaders. With 10 laps to go, Montoya had worked his way up to third and was soon sitting second. On lap 72, he and teammate Pruett were racing for the same piece of pavement. The two tangled resulting in Pruett spinning. Montoya inherited the lead with seven laps remaining.
Montoya was able to hold off the hard charging, defending race winner Denny Hamlin in the closing laps to take the checkered flag in the Telcel-Motorola 200. He moved up to 14th in the driver’s standings, and the team sits 19th in owner’s points. Montoya heads to Las Vegas Motor Speedway next weekend where he will pull double duty in the Busch and NEXTEL Cup Series races.
CGRFS Driver Quoteboard
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA “It’s a big win for the Texaco/Havoline team and me. We got this one out of the way now and the next one is we need to win on an oval. I want to win on an oval. When I was in open-wheel, having a problem and fighting back to win just didn't happen. Once we had the problem, I just wanted to bring the car home and try to get a top-10 finish. But this is the reason I came to NASCAR, because of the racing."
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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