Montoya's Potential Top-15 Night Derailed By Mid-Race Accident
Results from Richmond International Raceway
1. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet
19. David Stremme, No. 40 Energizer Dodge
32. Reed Sorenson, No. 41 Target Dodge
41. Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge
MONTOYA’S POTENTIAL TOP-15 NIGHT DERAILED BY MID-RACE ACCIDENT
RICHMOND, Va. (September 8, 2007) --- Juan Pablo Montoya lined up 15th at Richmond International Raceway (RIR) Saturday night to take the initial green flag for the 400-lap competition and proceeded to maintain a top-15 run the entire first half of the race. Then, on lap 242, the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge was running 10th when a multi-car accident left Montoya with no way to escape as he was hit from behind and slammed into the car ahead of him. Fortunately, Montoya escaped the crash unscathed, but the No. 42 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) car was damaged beyond repair and called it a night in 41st place.
Prior to the accident, Montoya raced up to as high as fourth place on lap 30 after a two-tire pit stop advanced him seven positions. He then went on to run inside the top 10 until a lack of grip seemed to slow the Texaco/Havoline team’s earlier momentum. Still, Montoya and team never fell outside of the top 15 until the night-ending contact on lap 242.
With a current tally of 2,479 points, Montoya and the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline team dropped to 21st in the overall NEXTEL Cup owner standings. Montoya also lost one spot in the driver standings, where he is now 20th overall.
Up next, the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup teams will head to New Hampshire International Speedway to run the Sylvania 300 on Sunday, September 16. The race will broadcast on ABC (LIVE, 1 p.m. ET).
CGRFS Driver Quoteboard:
Juan Pablo Montoya: "I don’t know. I think the [No.] 2 car spun and then everybody started hitting me. I just got rubbed from behind and pushed into another car. There was just smoke everywhere. I got pushed, hit the guy in front, and the next thing I hear is my spotter telling me ‘Get out, get out. It’s on fire [smiles].’ We had a good run going in the Texaco/Havoline Dodge. That was the first time where we actually fell back, made more changes and then picked it up again. That’s the thing that’s huge. A lot of times we qualify well, we were kind of keeping up and I saw today that we were actually making good changes and we were making a lot of progress. And to have a result like this is terrible."
About Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates
With 13 wins already in 2007, including the company’s best stretch in history with six victories in 30 days, CGRFS continues to add to its tally of 89 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, one Indy Pro Series car and along with Felix Sabates he has three cars in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup Series, two entries in the NASCAR Busch Series and two Daytona Prototypes in the world of Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series racing. Ganassi’s IndyCar teams have amassed five Championships and 56 wins since 1994; his NASCAR teams have 12 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 are the two-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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