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Montoya’s patience pays off at Infineon
By Tom Zulewski June 24, 2007 |
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SONOMA – In his prior Nextel Cup races, rookie Juan Pablo Montoya was nothing more than a pain in the side of his fellow competitors. Patience was more of an afterthought. On Sunday at Infineon Raceway, Montoya won the fuel-mileage battle and gained a little more respect. The driver from Colombia made his fuel hold up over the final 41 laps and won the Toyota/Save-Mart 350 for his first NASCAR victory, beating out Richard Childress Racing teammates Jeff Burton and Kevin Harvick. “You don’t know how fast you are or how hard everyone else is trying out there,” Montoya said of the stretch run. “Being patient really paid off today.” Montoya found himself locked in a dogfight for the lead after pole-sitter Jamie McMurray found his way to the front on Lap 75. When Montoya passed Harvick for second place, after starting 32nd, on lap 92 of 110, the fight was on. From that point, the message from crew chief Donnie Wingo was simple. “Don’t overdo it. Save fuel,” Montoya said. Montoya’s patience finally paid off when he beat a fading McMurray on the right-hand Turn 2 with seven laps left and took the lead for good. Not only did McMurray run out of fuel, but Carl Edwards, last week’s winner at Michigan, ran out during his late charge. “We were in the hole in qualifying. We had to do something to try to make up the track position,” said Wingo, who guided Montoya from the deepest starting position a winner has had to overcome at Infineon. “It put us in a position where we needed to gamble.” Harvick was among the drivers impressed with Montoya’s performance. “He won the race with pit strategy. He wasn’t fast like he was (at the March Busch race) in Mexico City,” he said. The strategy played out to perfection as Montoya gave car owner Chip Ganassi his first win since, ironically, McMurray won at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in October of 2002. “Doubts have crept into my mind, but Juan never once flinched,” Ganassi said. “From racing on the dirt at Eldora (Speedway) to the streets of Monte Carlo, he’s got the disease.” And Montoya surprised even his boss with the patience to make Sunday’s effort work on a difficult road course. “When Juan stressed patience, I looked at Wingo, he looked at me, and I said ‘is this someone else’s radio?’” Ganassi joked. The rest of the top 10 finishers were Clint Bowyer, Greg Biffle, Tony Stewart, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch, Boris Said, and Denny Hamlin. Notes: McMurray has not won in 164 races and he finished 37th. … Montoya’s win was his first in his 17th Nextel Cup start. He is the third foreign-born driver to win a Nextel Cup race, joining Mario Andretti (Italy) and Earl Ross (Canada). … The win was Dodge’s first since Kasey Kahne won at Lowe’s last October. |
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