Juan Pablo Montoya

Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán
Born	September 20, 1975 (1975-09-20) (age 36) Bogotá, Colombia
Achievements	1998 Formula 3000 Champion 1999 CART Champion 2000 Indy 500 Winner 2003 Monaco Grand Prix Winner 2007–2008 24 Hours of Daytona Overall Winner
Awards	1999 CART Rookie of the Year 2000 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year 2007 NASCAR Nextel Cup Rookie of the Year
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career
Car no., team	#42 – Earnhardt Ganassi Racing
2011 position	21th
Best finish	8th - 2009
First race	2006 Ford 400 (Homestead)
First win	2007 Toyota/Save Mart 350 (Sonoma)
Last win	2010 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen (Watkins Glen)
Wins Top tens Poles 2 49 7
NASCAR Nationwide Series career
Best finish	36th – 2007
First race	2006 Sam's Town 250 (Memphis)
First win	2007 Telcel-Motorola 200 (Mexico City)
Last win	2007 Telcel-Motorola 200 (Mexico City)
Wins Top tens Poles 1 3 0
Statistics current as of November 20, 2011.

Formula One World Championship career
Nationality	Colombian
Active years	2001–2006
Teams	WilliamsF1, McLaren
Races	95 (94 starts)
Championships	0
Wins	7
Podiums	30
Career points	307
Pole positions	13
Fastest laps	12
First race	2001 Australian Grand Prix
First win	2001 Italian Grand Prix
Last win	2005 Brazilian Grand Prix
Last race	2006 United States Grand Prix
Last updated on: May 2, 2009.

This name uses Spanish naming customs; the first or paternal family name is Montoya and the second or maternal family name is Roldán.

Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán (born September 20, 1975) is a Colombian race car driver known internationally for participating and winning in Formula One and CART race competitions. He has enjoyed great success. Currently, he competes in NASCAR, driving the #42 Target Chevrolet Impala for Earnhardt Ganassi Racing in the Sprint Cup Series. He and wife Connie have three children: son Sebastian and daughters Paulina and Manuela.

The highlights of his career include winning the International F3000 championship in 1998, and the CART Championship Series in 1999, as well as victories in some of the most prestigious races in the world. He is the only driver to have won the premier North American open-wheel CART title, the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Daytona, all at the first attempt. Montoya is one of two drivers to have won the CART title in his rookie year, the first being Formula One World Champion Nigel Mansell in 1993. He has also equalled Graham Hill's feat of being a Monaco Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500 race winner; Montoya is currently one of only two active drivers (along with Jacques Villeneuve) who has won two legs of the Triple Crown of Motorsport.

Montoya has also become a crossover race winner by winning races (starting in each case in his rookie year) in Formula One, CART, IndyCar, Grand-AM and NASCAR equalling in that respect Mario Andretti's caliber of success (except for the F1 World Championship); And shares honors as well with Dan Gurney in being IndyCar/F1/NASCAR race winner. Montoya is also the only driver to have competed in all three major events at Indianapolis, finishing fourth or better in each event. He finished 1st in the Indianapolis 500, 2nd in the Brickyard 400, and 4th in the US Grand Prix.

In October 2009, Montoya was ranked 30th in a list of the top 50 Formula One drivers of all time by Times Online.^[1]

Early career

He was born in Bogotá, Colombia, where he was taught the techniques of karting from an early age by his father Pablo, an architect and motorsport enthusiast.

Montoya moved to the Colombian Formula Renault Series in 1992, while racing there he won four of eight races and had five poles. The same year, he also participated in the U.S. Skip Barber driving school, and was hailed by driving instructors as being one of the best pupils to ever come through their school. 1993 saw Montoya switch to the Swift GTI Championship, a series he dominated by winning seven of eight races and earning eight poles. The following year, 1994, was a very busy year for the 19-year-old Colombian, as it saw him race in three separate series: the Sudam 125 Karting (he won the title), USA Barber Saab (finished third in points, won two races), and Formula N in Mexico (a series in which he won the title). As his success continued year after year, Montoya came to be known for his uncanny ability to win pole positions (as well as races), in some cases taking 80% of a season's poles (see Career results below). For the next three years, Montoya raced in various divisions, continually progressing upward. He raced in the 1995 British Formula Vauxhall Championship, winning three races and finishing third in the championship. In 1996, he raced in the British Formula 3 with Fortec Motorsport, winning two races, and finishing 5th in the championship points standings, as well as taking part in events in Zandvoort, Netherlands and Silverstone.

F3000 Career – F1 Testing

1997

Montoya got the opportunity to advance in his motor racing career when he was hired by the RSM Marko, Formula 3000 team in 1997. In the ten races during the season, Montoya had three wins and three pole positions. He finished his rookie season, second in the championship points standings, just 1.5 points shy of taking the overall season title. During this time, Williams noticed his potential and invited him to test with the team at Jerez, Spain along with three other drivers. Montoya was the fastest of them all and he and Max Wilson were signed by WilliamsF1 to be test drivers for the following season.

1998

Alongside his Formula One testing duties for Williams, he competed again in F3000 and took the title in a close contest with Nick Heidfeld who was driving for McLaren's F3000 team. During the 1998 F3000 season, Montoya opened the season up with a record four straight pole positions. He also achieved another record that year by being the first driver to lap the entire grid at the race in Pau. Montoya finished the 1998 F3000 season with four wins, seven pole positions, and nine podium finishes in twelve races.

CART career

1999

Renault, Williams' engine supplier for most of the 1990s, left Formula One at the end of the 1997 season. With no major engine suppliers available, Williams were forced to sign a contract to run customer engines for the 1998 and 1999 seasons. In 1998 the team failed to win a race for the first time in a decade. For the 1999 season, in the hope of attracting more investors to the underperforming team, Frank Williams agreed to a driver swap with CART team owner Chip Ganassi, in which Ganassi's 1997 and 1998 CART champion driver, Alessandro Zanardi, would return to Formula One and Montoya would take his place in the competitive American series.

While Zanardi had a miserable year in Formula One, Montoya, with Honda power and a great Reynard chassis at his disposal, took the American motorsport scene by storm. He took the 1999 title in his rookie year, something accomplished six years earlier by former Formula One Champion Nigel Mansell.

The season that saw Montoya crowned as the youngest ever CART FedEx Championship Series Champion at the age of 24 was closely fought, especially with Dario Franchitti who led the championship going into the final race in California. Both drivers finished the season with equal number of points but having won seven races to the Scotsman's three decided the title in the Colombian's favor. However, the CART rookie also attracted criticism—notably from Michael Andretti and his team for his aggressive style of driving.

Montoya still had a contractual relationship with Williams and after his impressive rookie season the Grove-based team were keen for him to drive for them in Formula One. However, the young Colombian decided to race in the US for one more year.

2000

In 2000 the Ganassi team switched to Toyota engines and Lola chassis. The package was strong for ovals and high speed tracks, but was less well suited to street and most road circuits. Toyota’s engines were not yet reliable and often failed the team. Despite this, Montoya led more laps than anyone else and took the maiden victory for a Toyota engine in the series. He was also the most popular driver, but in a season where he failed to finish in 40% of the races, he was out of contention for the championship.

The Ganassi team also competed in the prestigious Indianapolis 500 race, part of the rival Indy Racing League series using a G-Force(Panoz) chassis and a Comptech-tuned Oldsmobile Aurora engine. Media and drivers were critical of the way Juan Pablo approached the Brickyard, many IRL drivers labelled him as reckless and predicted an early retirement from the race. The media activity around the event was intense, with Montoya and his CART teammate Jimmy Vasser being the first CART drivers to "cross-over" to drive in the Indy 500. Despite public warnings from two-time Indy 500 winner Al Unser, Jr. claiming that if a driver does not respect the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the place "will bite you - hard" Montoya shrugged off the advice claiming that all four corners were exactly the same and that the track required less attention than the road courses in the CART series and in European racing.

In the event, the Colombian star led 167 of 200 laps and claimed top honours at the end of the 500-mile (800 km) race, taking an easy victory on his first attempt. He was the first to do so since Formula One World Champion Graham Hill in 1966 and was the first Colombian winner. His compatriot Roberto José Guerrero had previously finished twice as runner up.

Montoya won the next week the Miller Lite 225 at The Milwaukee Mile. That victory marked his eighth and Toyota's first win in the CART (Champ Car World Series) series.

Formula One career

Over the weekend of the 2000 Indianapolis 500, Williams-BMW announced a two-year deal for Montoya to partner Ralf Schumacher starting in 2001. During the first half of his Formula One career, he consolidated his position as a fast driver and a race win challenger; Montoya became a title contender during 2003 but the hopes of fighting for the title gradually faded as his cars lacked pace and stronger, more consistent, challengers arrived on the scene.

Montoya has been criticized during his Formula One career for his unreliability and tendency to make costly mistakes. His driving style is too characteristic of the 80s Formula One era. In this matter, it was difficult to build a car that suited him well as engineers and aerodynamicists had to adapt their work to build chassis that were more suited to finer and smoother driving styles. Moreover, Montoya failed to adapt to the cars that were provided for him.

Entering his sixth season, in 2006, it was evident that Juan Pablo Montoya had not developed into a title contender. In particular, after five full seasons, the necessary consistency never materialized. However, he often challenged for race victories and was voted top Latin American driver at the Premios Fox Sports awards in 2003 and 2005.^[2][3]

Williams

2001

Montoya made his Formula One debut for the BMW-powered Williams team in the 2001 Formula One season at the Australian Grand Prix. In that race, he qualified 11th and went off in the first corner and went further down the order but, with a good drive and a high rate of retirements, he went up to fifth until he retired with an engine failure.

The second round was the Malaysian Grand Prix and Montoya qualified better in sixth place but stalled on the grid and had to start from the back. He only lasted for three laps before retiring after spinning off in a rain shower.

Less than a month after his debut, in the Brazilian Grand Prix, he had his best qualifying, a fourth place finish. He got up to second on the first lap and there was a safety car due to an incident in the first corner. On the restart, which was on the third lap, Montoya shocked the F1 world by passing World Champion Michael Schumacher into the first corner. He held off Schumacher, who was on a two-stop strategy compared to Montoya's one stop strategy until Schumacher's first stop. Montoya now seemed to have the race in his pocket as he had a five-second advantage over eventual winner David Coulthard. However, while he was lapping Jos Verstappen, the Dutchman accidentally rammed into the back of him, taking Montoya out.

After his performance in Brazil, expectations were high going into the fourth round, the San Marino Grand Prix. Montoya qualified in seventh, and was well set for points in the race but more bad luck, this time due to a brake failure which took him out of fifth place, leaving him without a point after four races.

Round 5 was the Spanish Grand Prix and Montoya needed a good result but did not look like getting it, so, after another poor qualifying, Montoya found himself down in 12th place. He made up for it by making a quick start by gaining five places and was up to sixth in the first corner (David Coulthard was starting from the back of the grid after stalling on the formation lap). He got ahead of Jacques Villeneuve in the second round of pitstops. He stayed on the track and climbed up to second due to a high attrition rate. The second place finish was just what he needed after the four retirements.

In the next race, the Austrian Grand Prix, Montoya finally outpaced his teammate Ralf Schumacher in qualifying and took a career-best second. It looked better and better for him as he took the lead at the start and pulled away, with second-placed Ralf holding up a string of five cars behind him. But, after 10 laps, Ralf retired with brake failure. It was proven that even Montoya was struggling with the same problems, and Ralf was told to hold the others up so Montoya can build a gap. With Ralf out, the five drivers, led by Michael Schumacher began to zero in on Montoya at over a second a lap. Soon Schumacher was right on Montoya's tail and tried to pass him around the outside at Remus Curve. Montoya kept on the inside, braked late, locked up and went to the gravel. Schumacher was also forced to go to the gravel to avoid Montoya. Montoya rejoined seventh, just behind Schumacher. Montoya went for an early stop which solved his problems. He was set for one point in sixth until he stopped on the track with a hydraulic failure. After the race, Schumacher said that 'all Montoya was doing was to try to take Schumacher out with himself off the circuit'.

In the Monaco Grand Prix, Montoya did not reproduce his previous form and had to be satisfied with qualifying seventh. In the race, he made 1 position at the start. He then tried to pressurize teammate Ralf Schumacher to make a mistake, but it was he himself who made the mistake, by sliding into the barriers on the Swimming Pool section on lap 3. That was the end of the race for him.

Montoya went into the Canadian Grand Prix desperately needing some points, after having had only 6 points from seven races. His qualifying did not help the cause at all though, as he qualified way down in 10th. He gained one place at the first corner but then could not keep the pace of the cars in front. He came under pressure from a charging Rubens Barrichello, and pushed his car too hard and retired after crashing into a wall while trying to both fend off Barrichello and catch up with the cars in front.

The ninth round of the season was the European Grand Prix and Montoya held pole for most of qualifying only for both Michael and Ralf Schumacher to bump him down to third in the final seconds. At the start of the race, he kept third and ran three seconds behind the two leaders. After the first round of stops, the two leaders came ahead of the one-stopping David Coulthard but Montoya came behind. He was stuck there for five laps and it cost him three seconds. He was forced to settle for third and that became second when Ralf was given a ten-second, stop-and-go penalty for a pitlane infringement. Montoya finished in second, and the result gave him more confidence than ever.

Montoya only finished six races, but he nevertheless won three pole positions and stood on the podium four times, including his maiden Formula One victory at the 2001 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

2002

In the 2002 Formula One season, Montoya was the best of the rest as Ferrari's dominance left available no better place than third. Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello won 15 of 17 races. Although he did not win a race, unlike Coulthard and his team mate Ralf Schumacher, Montoya was one of the few drivers to compete with Schumacher on the track. As in 2001, he stood out for his forceful overtaking moves on the World Champion, although several times he lost places through clashing with the German. For qualifying, the BMW WilliamsF1 FW24 could be set up to use its tires more effectively than its rivals and generate more grip. With this weapon, Montoya was able to achieve seven pole positions, usually setting his pole time in the very last seconds of the session. He set the fastest-ever average speed over a lap during the qualifying session of the 2002 Italian Grand Prix at Monza.

2003

Montoya at the 2003 French Grand Prix, a race in which his Williams team finished first and second.

Although the 2003 chassis was built by the team specifically for Montoya's driving style, the machine needed time to be developed. Problems with oversteer were still present, often resulting in 360° spins in front of the crowd, in addition to reliability problems with the BMW engine.

From the Monaco Grand Prix, the FW25 proved to be the class of the field, allowing Montoya to take victory at Circuit de Monaco from Kimi Räikkönen. During the 2003 French Grand Prix, after a misunderstanding with the pit crew, there was a vocal exchange of expletives between the Colombian and his team. This was followed by a formal letter of reprimand from the BMW Williams F1 team.^{[citation needed]} McLaren-Mercedes announced that they would take on his racing services from 2005 at an end of season announcement, although it was believed that Montoya had already decided to leave immediately after the French GP.

Bad luck for rivals and excellent on-track performances from the Colombian meant he was a title contender, particularly after a key victory at the German Grand Prix. Williams, however, were unable to keep pace with the latest developments from Ferrari, coupled with a midseason amendment to tyre regulations that forced the Michelin-shod Williams, among others, to quickly make a new design to avoid being disqualified. With that, the Bridgestone-shod Ferraris returned to form. Montoya failed to claim another victory that year. A drive-through penalty at the United States Grand Prix after a collision with Ferrari's Barrichello ended his title chances in the last race he would finish in 2003. He was leading the final race of the season in Japan when he had a hydraulic failure.

Juan Pablo Montoya driving for Williams at the 2004 US GP.

2004

2004 was a disappointing year for Montoya. His relationship with the team was strained throughout the season since both parties knew he would be leaving for the McLaren team at the end of the year.

Early season promise faded as the radical looking ‘tusked’ Williams FW26 initially lacked pace and both drivers were frequently left struggling to score points. However, the car was significantly overhauled during the season and the radical nose designed by a former Ferrari aerodynamicist was finally replaced with a more conventional one for the final stages of the season. Montoya left the team on a high note by winning his last race with them, the 2004 Brazilian Grand Prix, which was closely contested with future team mate Kimi Räikkönen.

McLaren

2005

After driving for Williams for four full seasons, Montoya found the McLaren Mercedes car unpredictable, often claiming it felt like the steering wheel was not "attached" to the rest of the car.^{[citation needed]}

Having been criticised in previous years for his lack of fitness, Montoya began a training program under the direction of McLaren personnel but all the effort was lost when, just after the Malaysian Grand Prix, he injured his shoulder while in Spain. After missing two Grands Prix he made an early return before he was completely healed. In fact he was often seen with his arm almost motionless for the remaining five Grands Prix even while in the paddock for the British GP.^{[citation needed]}

In practice for the Monaco Grand Prix Montoya was penalized to start from the back by race stewards for brake-testing his former Williams team mate, Ralf Schumacher, causing a four car collision. At the Canadian Grand Prix Montoya was in contention for the win, but he was disqualified after leaving the pitlane under a red light. As a Michelin runner, Montoya did not start the US Grand Prix (see 2005 US Grand Prix). The Colombian was on track for a possible podium finish at Magny-Cours when his hydraulics failed. He retired from the lead of the Hungarian GP due to a broken driveshaft. His team mate had a similar failure 8 GP before, which shows the differences in suspension geometry between both McLarens as the torsional forces are carried out in different manner.

During the year Montoya suffered even more from oversteer than he had at Williams.^{[citation needed]} On several occasions he spun during practice. More seriously he spun in his return from injury at the Spanish Grand Prix and most notoriously at the last corner during qualifying for the German Grand Prix. On that occasion he made up for it by climbing from 20th to 8th after the first two corners eventually finishing in a respectable 2nd.

Juan Pablo Montoya qualifying in the 2005 US GP.

Montoya worked with the team during the year to identify suspension geometry and aerodynamic problems that were making the car unpredictable. It is said^{[by whom?]} that he helped the team to improve the car a lot, benefiting both himself and his team mate.

He had to learn how to cope with a very nervous and 'oversteery' car,^{[citation needed]} in these conditions and after bad luck for his team mate, he scored his first victory for McLaren Mercedes in the British GP and in the same conditions at Monza.

For most of the season Montoya's major concerns were the ongoing problems with backmarkers. Both Tiago Monteiro and Antônio Pizzonia collided with him, as had Jos Verstappen in 2001, and Jacques Villeneuve forced him off the track in one of the final races of the year. These incidents prevented Montoya from completing his main task for the team; stopping Fernando Alonso and Renault F1 from increasing their lead in the standings.

In the final stages of the season it was clear that Montoya and his car were finally adapted to one another.^{[citation needed]} The Colombian has often attributed this to the greater effort made by the McLaren-Mercedes Team than by Williams to tune the car to his driving style.^{[citation needed]} In the last 7 grands prix Montoya finished, he scored 3 wins, 2 poles and 5 podiums, as well as setting a track record(fastest lap) of 1:24.770,^[4] which stands today still, at the 2005 Turkish Grand Prix. At the Brazilian GP, Montoya led home McLaren's first 1-2 result in years, ahead of newly crowned world champion Fernando Alonso in third. It was his last finish of the year. In Japan he was forced off the track by Jacques Villeneuve on lap one, while in China a loose drain cover rose up and hit his car, damaging the engine.

Montoya testing for McLaren in early 2006

2006

Montoya started his 2006 Formula One World Championship campaign learning that the 2005 F1 Champion Fernando Alonso had been contracted by McLaren-Mercedes for the 2007 season. At the same time McLaren did not take up their option on Montoya for 2007, while his teammate Kimi Räikkönen remained a free agent, although it was later revealed that Räikkönen had signed with Ferrari for 2007 before Alonso had signed his McLaren deal.

During the first three races, Montoya consistently underperformed on the track, not managing to improve his position from the start at the Bahrain and Malaysia Grands Prix. Problems with his engine mapping also contributed, resulting in poor straight line performance.

At the Australian Grand Prix, he drove an excellent race but with a few mistakes. His car spun near the end of the warm-up lap, caused by too much throttle while warming the tyres, and if Fisichella had not stalled his Renault before the start of the race and triggered another formation lap, Montoya would have started at the back end of the grid. He did manage to regain his grid position though, which angered other team managers. His race ended when towards the end of the race he hit a kerb on the exit of the final corner, while chasing Ralf Schumacher hard for third place. The impact triggered an automatic electronic device in the McLaren MP4-21, shutting down his engine as it went into safety mode.

In the San Marino Grand Prix, Montoya was forced to use the team spare car for the qualifying session when it was learnt that his car had a fuel pressure problem. McLaren fitted his engine into the team spare car, thus saving Montoya from a 10-place grid penalty. He managed to qualify in seventh place ahead of Räikkönen. The race however was very undramatic for him and a steady performance saw him finish third, earning his first podium finish of the season.

The races at the Nürburgring and the Circuit de Catalunya, however, were very disappointing for Montoya. He qualified in 9th position for the European Grand Prix but then was stuck behind traffic for almost the whole race before his engine failed a few laps from the end. Catalunya saw Montoya failing to qualify in the top 10 for the first time in the season. He qualified 12th in an underperforming McLaren. He was heavily fuelled and was on a one-stop strategy for the race but he spun and his car got stuck on a kerb and his race was over. Montoya had a solid race at Monaco, inheriting second place 14.5 seconds behind championship leader Fernando Alonso after Räikkönen and Mark Webber went out with engine problems on lap 50. Once again, though, he appeared to be somewhat off his team mate's pace.

Montoya at the 2006 Canadian Grand Prix.

The Canadian Grand Prix saw Montoya pull off a stunning overtaking move on Michael Schumacher on the opening lap, but contact with Nico Rosberg on the next lap and a mistake at the last corner resulted in Montoya bracing the wall and damaging the car, leading to retirement.

The US Grand Prix also brought further disappointment to Montoya's season. An 8-car crash on the first corner saw him retire from the race, yet again taking no points. This crash also involved team-mate Räikkönen, and as one of the main instigators of the crash, this cast further doubt upon Montoya's future in Formula One.

Montoya's Formula One career effectively came to an end on July 9 when he announced in a public press conference from the US that he had signed a contract to run in the NASCAR series from 2007. On July 11, 2006, McLaren-Mercedes announced that Montoya would stop racing for the team with immediate effect. This ultimately confirmed Montoya's exit from F1. However, in the press conference on July 14 at the French Grand Prix, Ron Dennis stated that Montoya was still under contract with McLaren-Mercedes and he would remain in contract with the team until the expiration of the deal. Following further speculation that he could start racing in the NASCAR series as early as 2006, Dennis publicly offered Montoya an early exit from his contract with McLaren-Mercedes, provided that he resigned from receiving any payout to terminate his contract.^[5][6]

NASCAR

2006 season

Juan Pablo Montoya practising for the 2007 Ford 400 at the Homestead-Miami Speedway.

On July 9, 2006, Montoya announced his plans to compete in the NASCAR Nextel Cup series beginning with the 2007 season, racing for Chip Ganassi and Felix Sabates' NASCAR operation, Chip Ganassi Racing, in the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Car. "I'm looking forward to racing in the Nextel Cup Series for Chip Ganassi in the Big Red Car. I think I will learn a lot from my teammates and other drivers around me. It will be tough though to get used to the difference in the cars." Montoya made his stock car debut in an Automobile Racing Club of America (ARCA) event at the Talladega Superspeedway on October 6, 2006. He qualified second, led the first nine laps, and finished third when the race was called after 79 of 92 laps.^[7] Three weeks later he followed this with an 11th place finish after a mid-race spin at the Sam's Town 250 at Memphis Motorsports Park, his first appearance in NASCAR's second division Busch Series.^[8] He competed in the final three races of the Busch Series season, but did not better this performance. He would later run 17 Busch Series races on a part time schedule the following year. On November 19, 2006, Montoya competed for the first time in NASCAR's premier division, the NEXTEL Cup Series. He qualified 29th in the #30 Texaco car at the Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. He was running just outside the top 10 when contact with Ryan Newman ended his race on lap 251. His car ended up in the grass engulfed in flames due to his fuel cell erupting during the crash and he was credited with a 34th place finish.^[9] Finished 71st in series points.

2007 season

Montoya's 2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup car at Texas

Montoya visited victory lane three times across three different racing series in 2007. He kicked off 2007 with a win in his first Rolex 24 At Daytona race in the Grand American Road Racing Association. Then, in just his seventh-career Nationwide Series race, Montoya took the checkered flag in Mexico City to earn his first win in a stock car. His abilities on the road course were evident to his competitors when he captured his first Sprint Cup victory after qualifying 32nd at Infineon Raceway. Montoya and his No. 42 crew went on to amass one win, three top-five and six top-10 finishes during the 2007 Sprint Cup season. Montoya also earned the honor of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 2007 Rookie of the Year and finished 20th in series points.

2008 season

In 2008, Montoya and the No. 42 team amassed two top-five, three top-10 and seven top-15 finishes which include a runner-up finish at Talladega Superspeedway. In addition, Montoya became the first driver in history to win in his first two starts in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, which he won with teammates Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas and Dario Franchitti. Montoya ended the season 25th in the points standings, 5 spots lower than in 2007. On November 14 it was announced the Ganassi team would merge with Dale Earnhardt Inc., Montoya was confirmed to drive the #42 as the team switches from Dodge to Chevrolet.^[10]

2009 season

It was announced in January that Target would take over as Montoya's primary sponsor for the 2009 Cup season.

Montoya ran in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona and finished second after a thrilling duel with David Donohue. Montoya's Lexus did not have the speed that Donohue had in the Porsche he was driving, and when Montoya was slowed by lap traffic in the chicane, Donohue was able to pass Montoya and hold him off to take the victory, denying Montoya his third straight 24 hour win. The margin of victory in the 2009 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona was 0.167 seconds, making it the closest finish in Rolex 24 hour history.

Montoya finished 14th in the Daytona 500 and finished 11th at Auto Club Speedway.

On April 25, he won his first career pole at the Aaron's 499 at Talladega. After going a lap down Montoya finished 8th at the Pocono 500 at Pocono Raceway. He followed this up a week later with a 6th place at the Lifelock 400 at Michigan International Speedway. After racing in the top 10 all day Montoya got his third top 10 in a row with a 6th place at the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma. Montoya got his best ever finish at Daytona International Speedway in the Coke Zero 400 where after going a lap down twice he battled back to 9th. Montoya dominated Allstate 400 at the Brickyard in Indianapolis on July 26 after starting from second position. It was the first time in his NASCAR career that he scored bonus points for leading the most laps in the event, however he was penalised with pass-through after his last pit stop for speeding in the pit lane. His healthy 5 second advantage over the rest of the field was gone and he ended up finishing 11th. After a pit lane error Montoya slipped back from his top 10 spot at the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway. However, a good pit call meant Montoya pitted prior to a caution which meant he started the next restart in 4th. After slipping back to 5th he made up good ground to pass Bowyer second. He went after leader Hamlin but could not catch him. The second place finish was his first top 5 of the year and joint best on an oval. At the Carfax 400 at Michigan, Montoya posted the 3rd quickest qualifying time just 0.087 seconds off of the pole. In the race Montoya gradually slipped back and grew frustrated with crew chief Brian Pattie as the car was getting tighter and tighter, Kasey Kahne and Montoya made contact when the 9 car got loose and its splitter touched the 42's right rear tire. The contact resulted in Montoya's right rear going flat and he lost a lap on pit road fixing the minor body damage. However he shortly got the lucky dog and raced up to 20th before dropping back to 23rd, Montoya gained 4 positions on the last lap as others ran out of fuel, resulting in a 19th place finish which at least kept Juan 7th in points.

Montoya finished the first 26 races in eighth place in the standings, which made him the first foreign born driver to qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup. He began the Chase in 11th place after reseeding, and was placed as high as 3rd during the Chase before finishing the year in eighth place.

On October 24, 2009, Montoya was the victim of a racial stereotype during ESPN's coverage of a college football game between Ohio State and Minnesota. During a break from the action, the commentators were discussing the NASCAR Sprint Cup chase. Commentator Chris Spielman remarked on Montoya's poor performance in the chase, and in response Bob Griese said: "He's out having a taco." Griese later apologized at the conclusion of the broadcast. Nonetheless, ESPN suspended Griese for one week.^[11]

2010 season

Montoya ran in the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona for Chip Ganassi in the #02 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates BMW Riley with NASCAR teammate Jamie McMurray and Indycar champions Scott Dixon and Dario Franchitti. The team led for around four hours and completed 249 laps. However, the car was forced to retire after 8:29:58 due to an engine failure, robbing the team of a potential victory. The Ganassi #01 entry then took the lead before Action Express Racing ultimately took the checkered flag.

Montoya began his NASCAR season with Daytona Speedweeks; the first race was the Bud Shootout exhibition race in which he finished 10th. Montoya had earlier posted the fifth fastest time in Daytona 500 qualifying but the unique qualifying system during Speedweeks meant Montoya would start P2 in the 2nd Gatorade Duel on Thursday the 11th to race for starting position in the Daytona 500 on the 14th.

Montoya during the 2011 Coca-Cola 600

Juan Pablo Montoya started the 2010 edition of the Watkins Glen race in 3rd place and led 74 of the 90 laps to win his 2nd career Sprint Cup Series race. This made him the first foreign-born driver to have multiple wins in NASCAR Sprint Cup history. Montoya did not make the Chase for the Sprint Cup and ended up 17th in points with six top-fives and fourteen top-tens. Montoya also won the pole for the Lenox Industrial Tools 301, the Brickyard 400, and the AMP Energy Juice 500.

2011 season

The 2011 season has started well for Montoya. Montoya, Scott Dixon, Dario Franchitti, and Jamie McMurray drove the #02 Chip Ganassi Racing BMW Riley to start 5th and finish 2nd in the Rolex 24 hours of Daytona. The #02 team finished behind their team mates driving the #01 Chip Ganassi Racing BMW Riley. The #01 drivers were: Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas, Graham Rahal, and Joey Hand.

Montoya started the 2011 NASCAR season on a high note finishing 6th in the Daytona 500 and 5th in points. He was involved in two wrecks, both involving Jamie McMurray, his teammate. No serious damage occurred to either of the cars; they both ended up in the top ten. Two weeks later in the Kobalt Tools 400 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, Montoya, in a blue Clorox scheme led seven laps and finished 3rd. He currently sits 19th in the standings with one race remaining in the season. Montoya won the pole for the Auto Club 400 and the Crown Royal 400. It was announced that his crew chief since mid-2008, Brian Pattie, would be replaced by Jim Pohlman.

2012 season

Montoya has re-signed with Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing to remain in the #42 car in the Sprint Cup Series in 2012.^[12]

Helmet

Montoya's helmet was silver (or white) with red and blue arrow designs on the sides with yellow lines on the arrows' center and the yellow mouthplate area.^{[citation needed]}

Racing record

Season	Series	Team Name	No.	Races	Poles	Wins	Points	Final Placing
1994	Barber Saab Pro Series	-	4	12	1	2	114	3rd
1995	British Formula Vauxhall	Paul Stewart Racing	4	14	3	3	125	3rd
1996	British Formula Three	Fortec Motorsport	4	16	1	2	137	5th
	International Touring Car Championship	Warsteiner Mercedes-AMG	3	2	0	0	0	NC
1997	International Formula 3000	RSM Marko	2	9	3	3	37.5	2nd
	Formula One	WilliamsF1	Test driver
1998	International Formula 3000	Super Nova Racing	1	12	7	4	65	1st
	Formula One	WilliamsF1	Test driver
1999	FedEx Championship Series	Chip Ganassi Racing	4	20	7	7	212	1st
2000	FedEx Championship Series	Chip Ganassi Racing	1	20	7	3	126	9th
	Indy Racing League	Chip Ganassi Racing	9	1	0	1	54	25th
2001	Formula One	WilliamsF1	6	17	3	1	31	6th
2002	Formula One	WilliamsF1	6	17	7	0	50	3rd
2003	Formula One	WilliamsF1	3	16	1	2	82	3rd
2004	Formula One	WilliamsF1	3	18	0	1	58	5th
2005	Formula One	McLaren	10	16	2	3	60	4th
2006	Formula One	McLaren	4	10	0	0	26	8th
	NASCAR Busch Cup	Chip Ganassi Racing	42	4	0	0	438	68th
	NASCAR Nextel Cup	Chip Ganassi Racing	30	1	0	0	61	69th
2007	NASCAR Nextel Cup	Chip Ganassi Racing	42	36	0	1	3487	20th
	Rolex 24 At Daytona	Telmex Ganassi Racing	01	1	0	1	N/A	1st
	NASCAR Busch Series	Chip Ganassi Racing	42	15	0	1	1525	22nd
2008	NASCAR Sprint Cup	Chip Ganassi Racing	42	36	0	0	3329	25th
	Rolex 24 At Daytona	Telmex Ganassi Racing	01	1	0	1	N/A	1st
	NASCAR Nationwide Series	Chip Ganassi Racing	40	2	0	0	230	86th
2009	NASCAR Sprint Cup	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing	42	36	2	0	6252	8th
	Rolex 24 At Daytona	Chip Ganassi Racing	01	1	0	0	N/A	2nd
2010	NASCAR Sprint Cup	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing	42	36	3	1	4118	17th
	Rolex 24 At Daytona	Chip Ganassi Racing	02	1	0	0	N/A	15th
2011	NASCAR Sprint Cup	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing	42	36	2	0	932	21th
	Rolex 24 At Daytona	Chip Ganassi Racing	02	1	0	0	N/A	2nd
2012

Complete International Formula 3000 results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	DC	Points
1997	RSM Marko	SIL Ret	PAU 1	HEL Ret	NÜR 4	PER 11	HOC 5	A1R 1	SPA DSQ	MUG 3	JER 1			2nd	37.5
1998	Super Nova Racing	OSC 15	IMO Ret	CAT 1	SIL 1	MON 6	PAU 1	A1R 2	HOC 3	HUN 3	SPA 2	PER 1	NÜR 3	1st	65

CART Championship

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Team	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	Rank	Points
1999	Ganassi	Reynard	Honda	MIA 10	MOT 13	LBH 1	NAZ 1	RIO 1	GAT 11	MIL 10	POR 2	CLE 1	ROA 13	TOR 22	MIC 2	DET 17	MDO 1	CHI 1	VAN 1	LAG 8	HOU 25	SUR 16	FON 4	1st	212
2000	Ganassi	Lola	Toyota	MIA 23	LBH 19	RIO 22	MOT 7	NAZ 4	MIL 1	DET 18	POR 17	CLE 6	TOR 24	MIC 1	CHI 12	MDO 24	ROA 16	VAN 17	LAG 6	GAT 1	HOU 2	SUR 24	FON 10	9th	126

Indianapolis 500 results

Year	Chassis	Engine	Start	Finish	Team
2000	G-Force	Oldsmobile	2	1	Chip Ganassi Racing

Complete Formula One results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position; races in italics indicate fastest lap)

Year	Entrant	Chassis	Engine	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	WDC	Points
2001	BMW WilliamsF1 Team	Williams FW23	BMW P80 3.0 V10	AUS Ret	MAL Ret	BRA Ret	SMR Ret	ESP 2	AUT Ret	MON Ret	CAN Ret	EUR 2	FRA Ret	GBR 4	GER Ret	HUN 8	BEL Ret	ITA 1	USA Ret	JPN 2			6th	31
2002	BMW WilliamsF1 Team	Williams FW24	BMW P82 3.0 V10	AUS 2	MAL 2	BRA 5	SMR 4	ESP 2	AUT 3	MON Ret	CAN Ret	EUR Ret	GBR 3	FRA 4	GER 2	HUN 11	BEL 3	ITA Ret	USA 4	JPN 4			3rd	50
2003	BMW WilliamsF1 Team	Williams FW25	BMW P83 3.0 V10	AUS 2	MAL 12	BRA Ret	SMR 7	ESP 4	AUT Ret	MON 1	CAN 3	EUR 2	FRA 2	GBR 2	GER 1	HUN 3	ITA 2	USA 6	JPN Ret				3rd	82
2004	BMW WilliamsF1 Team	Williams FW26	BMW P84 3.0 V10	AUS 5	MAL 2	BHR 13	SMR 3	ESP Ret	MON 4	EUR 8	CAN DSQ	USA DSQ	FRA 8	GBR 5	GER 5	HUN 4	BEL Ret	ITA 5	CHN 5	JPN 7	BRA 1		5th	58
2005	Team McLaren Mercedes	McLaren MP4-20	Mercedes FO 110R 3.0 V10	AUS 6	MAL 4	BHR	SMR	ESP 7	MON 5	EUR 7	CAN DSQ	USA DNS	FRA Ret	GBR 1	GER 2	HUN Ret	TUR 3	ITA 1	BEL 14	BRA 1	JPN Ret	CHN Ret	4th	60
2006	Team McLaren Mercedes	McLaren MP4-21	Mercedes FO 108S 2.4 V8	BHR 5	MAL 4	AUS Ret	SMR 3	EUR Ret	ESP Ret	MON 2	GBR 6	CAN Ret	USA Ret	FRA	GER	HUN	TUR	ITA	CHN	JPN	BRA		8th	26

Records in F1

• Fastest average lap speed (in practices): 262.242 km/h - 2004 Italian Grand Prix ^[13]
• Fastest average lap speed (pole position): 259.844682 km/h - 2003 Italian Grand Prix ^[13]
• Fastest top speed: 372.6 km/h 2005 Italian Grand Prix ^[14]

NASCAR Sprint Cup results

(key) (Races in bold indicate pole position)

Year	Team	No.	Sponsor	Make	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	15	16	17	18	19	20	21	22	23	24	25	26	27	28	29	30	31	32	33	34	35	36	NSCC	Points
2006	Chip Ganassi Racing	30	Texaco/ Havoline	Dodge	DAY	CAL	LSV	ATL	BRI	MAR	TEX	PHO	TAL	RIC	DAR	LOW	DOV	POC	MIC	INF	DY2	CHI	NHA	PO2	IND	GLN	MI2	BR2	CA2	RI2	NH2	DV2	KAN	TL2	LW2	MR2	AT2	TX2	PH2	HOM 34	69th	61
2007	Chip Ganassi Racing	42	Texaco/ Havoline	Dodge	DAY 19	CAL 26	LSV 22	ATL 5	BRI 32	MAR 16	TEX 8	PHO 33	TAL 31	RIC 26	DAR 23	LOW 28	DOV 31	POC 20	MIC 43	INF 1	NHA 19	DY2 32	CHI 15	IND 2	PO2 16	GLN 39	MI2 26	BR2 17	CA2 33	RI2 41	NH2 23	DV2 10	KAN 28	TL2 15	LW2 37	MR2 8	AT2 34	TX2 25	PH2 17	HOM 15	20th	3487
2008	Chip Ganassi Racing	42	Texaco Havoline	Dodge	DAY 32	CAL 20	LSV 19	ATL 16	BRI 15	MAR 13	TEX 19	PHO 16	TAL 2	RIC 32	DAR 23	LOW 30	DOV 12	POC 38	MIC 38	INF 6	NHA 32	DY2 38	CHI 18	IND 38	PO2 40	GLN 4	MI2 25	BR2 19	CA2 20	RI2 31	NH2 17	DV2 39	KAN 20	TL2 25	LW2 34	MR2 14	AT2 40	TX2 43	PH2 17	HOM 17	25th	3329
2009	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing	42	Target	Chevrolet	DAY 14	CAL 11	LSV 31	ATL 27	BRI 9	MAR 12	TEX 7	PHO 24	TAL 20	RIC 10	DAR 20	LOW 8	DOV 30	POC 8	MIC 6	INF 6	NHA 12	DY2 9	CHI 10	IND 11	PO2 2	GLN 6	MI2 19	BR2 25	AT2 3	RI2 19	NH2 3	DV2 4	KAN 4	CAL2 3	LW2 35	MR2 3	TL2 19	TX2 37	PH2 8	HOM 38	8th	6252
2010	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing	42	Target	Chevrolet	DAY 10	CAL 37	LSV 37	ATL 3	BRI 26	MAR 36	PHO 5	TEX 34	TAL 3	RIC 6	DAR 5	DOV 35	CHA 38	POC 8	MIC 13	INF 10	NHA 34	DY2 27	CHI 16	IND 32	PO2 16	GLN 1	MI2 7	BR2 7	AT2 9	RI2 7	NH2 16	DV2 14	KAN 29	CAL2 14	CH2 11	MR2 19	TL2 3	TX2 28	PH2 16	HOM 35	17th	4118
2011	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing	42	Target	Chevrolet	DAY 6	PHO 19	LSV 3	BRI 24	CAL 10	MAR 4	TEX 13	TAL 30	RIC 29	DAR 23	DOV 32	CHA 12	KAN 17	POC 7	MIC 30	INF 22	DY2 9	KTY 15	NHA 30	IND 28	PO2 32	GLN 7	MI2 25	BR2 19	ATL 15	RI2 15	CHI 14	NH2 9	DV2 22	KA2 23	CH2 14	TL2 23	MA2 22	TX2 18	PH2 15	HOM 31	21th	932
2012	Earnhardt Ganassi Racing	42	Target	Chevrolet	DAY	PHO	LSV	BRI	CAL	MAR	TEX	TAL	RIC	DAR	DOV	CHA	KAN	POC	MIC	INF	DY2	KTY	NHA	IND	PO2	GLN	MI2	BR2	ATL	RI2	CHI	NH2	DV2	KA2	CH2	TL2	MA2	TX2	PH2	HOM	N/A	N/A

Year Starts Wins Top Fives Top Tens Poles Rank Team(s) 2006 1 0 0 0 0 69th Chip Ganassi Racing 2007 36 1 3 6 0 20th Chip Ganassi Racing 2008 36 0 2 3 0 25th Chip Ganassi Racing 2009 36 0 7 18 2 8th Earnhardt Ganassi Racing 2010 36 1 6 14 3 17th Earnhardt Ganassi Racing 2011 36 0 2 8 2 21th Earnhardt Ganassi Racing 2012 N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A N/A Earnhardt Ganassi Racing Totals 181 2 20 49 7 26.66

References

1. ^ Kevin Eason (October 19, 2009). "The 50 greatest Formula One drivers: updated after Button's title triumph". Times Online. http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/sport/formula_1/article6880955.ece. Retrieved 22 January 2010. 
2. ^ Formula 1 Driver Juan Pablo Montoya Named Premios Fox Sports Athlete of the Year; Esteban Loaiza, Adrian Fernandez, Carlos Valderrama among Athletes Honored at Inaugural Show www.hispanicprwire.com Retrieved April 29, 2006
3. ^ 3rd Annual Premios Fox Sports Shines Spotlight on Latino Athletes From the United States and Latin America www.hispanicprwire.com Retrieved April 29, 2006
4. ^ FIA Website www.fia.com/en-GB/sport/championships/f1/2010/turkey/Pages/circuit.aspx
5. ^ Notes: Montoya ready to roll - NASCAR - Yahoo! Sports
6. ^ Chip Ganassi Racing - News
7. ^ NASCAR.COM - Montoya gets third after ARCA race called early - Oct 6, 2006
8. ^ ESPN - Harvick wins again, Montoya 11th in NASCAR debut - Auto
9. ^ Nascar.Com
10. ^ http://www.nascar.com/2008/news/headlines/cup/11/12/dei.ganassi.merger/index.html
11. ^ [1]
12. ^ "CHEVY NSCS AT PHOENIX TWO: Juan Pablo Montoya Press Conference Transcript". Team Chevy. Detroit, Michigan: General Motors. November 11, 2011. http://media.gm.com/content/product/public/us/en/gmracing/news.detail.html/content/Pages/news/us/en/2011/Nov/RACING17. Retrieved 2011-11-16. 
13. ^ ^{a b} "All time Formula One records". http://www.f1technical.net/f1db/stats/. Retrieved 2010-11-14. 
14. ^ "Montoya bate el récord de velocidad de un Fórmula 1". http://www.elmundo.es/elmundodeporte/2005/09/01/motor/1125602079.html. Retrieved 2010-11-14. 

External links

• The official site for Juan Pablo Montoya
• Juan Pablo Montoya on Twitter
• News videos and results of Juan Pablo Montoya
• The Greatest 33
• Greatest 33 Profile

Sporting positions
Preceded by Ricardo Zonta	International Formula 3000 Champion 1998	Succeeded by Nick Heidfeld
Preceded by Alex Zanardi	CART FedEx Championship Series Champion 1999	Succeeded by Gil de Ferran
Preceded by Tony Kanaan	CART Rookie of the Year 1999	Succeeded by Kenny Bräck
Preceded by Kenny Bräck	Indianapolis 500 Winner 2000	Succeeded by Hélio Castroneves
Preceded by Robby McGehee	Indianapolis 500 Rookie of the Year 2000	Succeeded by Hélio Castroneves
Preceded by Denny Hamlin	NASCAR Nextel Cup Series Rookie of the Year 2007	Succeeded by Regan Smith
Awards and achievements
Preceded by Jenson Button	Autosport Rookie of the Year 2001	Succeeded by Mark Webber
Preceded by Jenson Button	Lorenzo Bandini Trophy 2002	Succeeded by Michael Schumacher
Preceded by Michael Schumacher	Autosport International Driver of the Year 2003	Succeeded by Jenson Button