Texaco/Havoline Team Finishes 34th After Early Race Blown Tire
Results from Atlanta Motor Speedway
1. Jimmie Johnson, No. 48 Chevrolet
3 Reed Sorenson, No. 41 Target/Breast Cancer Awareness Dodge
34. Juan Pablo, No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge
39. David Stremme, No. 40 Coors Light/St. Jude Dodge
Texaco/Havoline Team Finishes 34th After Early Race Blown Tire
HAMPTON, Ga. (October 28, 2007) --- Juan Pablo Montoya and the Texaco/Havoline team had worked their way into the top 15 by lap 30, but a blown right-front tire on lap 33 dashed their hopes of a solid finish. Montoya slipped one spot in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup standings to 20th following his 34th-place finish.
Montoya started the Pep Boys Auto 500 from the 21st position on Sunday. He told Crew Chief Donnie Wingo the car felt pretty good. He maneuvered his way up to 12th by lap 25. On lap 31 he radioed into to the team that he felt a vibration, so Wingo told him to bring the car to the pits. As Montoya began to slow down, the right front tire blew out. It caused extensive damage to the right front of the car.
Montoya drove the car to the pits where the team began to repair the damage. After three trips to pit road, Montoya was back on the track in 42nd position and one lap down. He was 41st on lap 45 and told the team the car was really tight. Just 10 laps later the right front tire went flat again. Montoya eventually pulled the Texaco/Havoline Dodge into the garage so the team could work on it. Although they could have returned to the track by just putting on four tires, for the safety of Montoya and the other drivers on the track Wingo wanted to repair the car properly.
Montoya returned to the track after spending 40 laps in the garage on lap 99, but he was still 41st. Several other cars experienced problems throughout the race, and by repairing the damaged No. 42 Dodge, Montoya and the team picked up seven spots before the checkered flag waved to finish the race 34th.
Montoya now sits 20th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup standings after the 33rd race of the season, just 82 points out of 17th. He also continues to lead the Raybestos Rookie standings over David Ragan with three races remaining in the 2007 season.
CGRFS Driver Quoteboard
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: "That was a really disappointing day. The car was really good and I was actually taking it easy at the start of the race to conserve the tires. We definitely had a car capable of running of front. If you look where my teammate (Reed Sorenson) finished, the Texaco/Havoline Dodge was as good as his."
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. 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 52 wins since 1994; his NASCAR teams have 10 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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