In the 2000 Indianapolis 500 mile race, the first race of the new millennium, a 24 year old Colombian named Juan Pablo Montoya dominated the month of May and won the race with almost ridiculous ease. Starting from 2nd place, Montoya in his Chip Ganassi Target sponsored G-Force Oldsmobile, led 162 laps and put his face on the Borg Warner trophy with a 7:1839 second lead over second place Buddy Lazier. He was less than humble about his victory, and inferred that winning the 500 hadn’t been much of a challenge. It was already known that at the beginning of the 2001 he would be joining the Williams Formula 1 team, so driving an Indy car was relatively small potatoes. Montoya made it clear that with his Indy 500 victory he would never be returning to Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
His win was during the time of the great feud between the Indy Racing League (IRL) and the Championship Racing Teams (CART). In 1999, the young Colombian had come to the U.S. to drive for Chip Ganassi’s CART racing team. Montoya was an immediate sensation, driving his Honda powered Reynard to 6 wins and the CART championship. Comparisons were made to a young Mario Andretti and Ayrton Senna. His future in racing was bright to say the least.
Juan Montoya had started racing Go-Karts as a boy and progressed through the various stages of amateur racing with distinction. He quickly caught the eye of the international racing community. He came to the Skip Barber Racing School 1992 and impressed all the instructors with his natural ability. He tested on a course with a Williams Formula 1 car and showed professional skill.
He joined the Williams team in 2001 and had some very impressive moments. But this was also the time when the Ferrari Team started its dominance of the series with Michael Schumacher as the number one driver. During his four years with the Williams team, Montoya managed to win five races, including a victory at the prestigious Monaco Gran Prix in 2003. He stayed with the Williams team through 2004 but there were reports of strained relations between Montoya and his crew. The 2004 season was disappointing for him. He joined the McLaren F-1 team in 2005 and had some limited success, but rumors that Juan had a temper problem began to spread. He won 2 races for McLaren but also spun out and collided with other cars in several races. He was always a fast qualifier with 13 pole starting position to his credit, but finishing races seemed to elude him. During his F-1 career the United States Formula 1 Grand Prix was being run at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, so Montoya did indeed return to the Brickyard. Some enthusiasts hoped he would win and become the first winner of two different events at the track, but a 4th place finish in 2002 was his best finish in the event. The 2006 U.S. Grand Prix would be the last F-1 race Juan Carlos would drive.
Halfway through the 2006 racing season Juan Carlos left McLaren and Formula 1 to join Chip Ganassi’s NASCAR racing team and compete in the Nextel Cup series. In 2007, his first full year in the Sprint Cup series, he was named Rookie of the Year. The highlight of that season was his first NASCAR victory in Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma, California. He raced in the Brickyard 400 and in doing so, became the only driver to compete in all three of the major racing events held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Again, there was the chance that he might become the first driver to win two of the different racing events held at the Speedway. He had a second place finish in the 2007 Brickyard 400, in his first appearance in the event.
He has been with the Ganassi team throughout the seven years he has raced in NASCAR. He has certainly had special moments in his NASCAR career. As with his F-1 career, he has been a fast qualifier. He has been the fastest race qualifier 9 times in 240 races. He only has two Sprint Cup wins, however. He added a win to his resume in 2007 in the NASCAR Nationwise series. He has not won a race since 2010. He is a skilled driver, but he is now considered a second tier level talent.
It was just announced that Ganassi Racing would not be renewing his contract for 2014 and it seems unlikely that any other NASCAR team will sign him at this time. Juan Pablo Montoya’s racing career certainly can’t be considered a bust. He has some truly remarkable achievements to his racing career. He is the only driver to win a CART title, the Indianapolis 500, and the 24 Hours of Daytona. He is one of two drivers to win two legs of the Triple Crown of Motorsport: the Indy 500, the Monaco Grand Prix, and the 24 Hours of LeMans. He and Mario Andretti are the only drivers to win races in Formula 1. CART, Indy Car, Grand Am, and NASCAR. He has 3 wins in the Dayton Rolex Grand Am racing series. He will most likely stay with Ganassi in the Rolex Grand Am GT series. Ganassi and Montoya are close friends but racing is a business and winning is what that business is about. Juan Carlos hasn’t consistently won in NASCAR, but he has achieved victories for Ganassi in the Rolex GT endurance racing.
It was announced that Juan Pablo Montoya has had conversations with Andretti Motorsport about returning to Indy Car racing in 2014. Apparently there are several other Indy Cars that want to talk to Montoya about a ride for the series. It’s not a certainty that he will be driving the series in 2014 but it seems to be a strong possibility. Montoya at age 37 is a far different driver than the 24 year old who won the race in 2000. If it happens that he returns to compete in the 2014 Indianapolis race he would break another record — a winning driver’s absence from 500 competition before returning to compete again. Mauri Rose won the 1941 Indianapolis 500 and had to wait 4 years to race again because of World War II. He defended his title in 1946 and won his second and third 500s in 1947 and 48. If Juan Carlos Montoya returns to compete in the 2014 Indianapolis 500, it will break Rose’s record of years with a 13 year gap to overcome! I hope he does return. What a wonderful story that would be!
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