Autoblog

Juan Pablo Montoya has been a busy boy since leaving F1. After working his way up the American stock-car racing ladder – and winning the NEXTEL Cup Rookie of the Year award for his troubles – the Colombian driver is still planning on making a return to Daytona to defend his title in the Rolex 24.

Montoya made his Grand Am debut behind the wheel of a Daytona Prototype at the event last year, taking the checkered flag to become the first driver in the history of motorsport to win the Monaco Grand Prix, the Indy 500 and the 24 Hours of Daytona. At the next race in January, Montoya will be sharing driving duties in the #1 Chip Ganassi Racing car along with his NASCAR team-mate Dario Francitti, as well as Scott Pruett (with whom he shared victory last year) and Memo Rojas.

This year at Daytona, Ganassi will be fielding two cars. The second Daytona Prototype will be driven by Salvador Duran (who shared victory with Montoya and Pruett last year), IRL IndyCar champions Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon, and Indy Pro Series champ Alex Lloyd.

Altogether Ganassi is heading to Daytona in January with a star-studded line-up of drivers in pursuit of their third consecutive win at the famous race.

[Source: Autosport]

Poor JPM. He can't seem to catch a break. After several frustrating seasons to conclude his standout F1 career, the driver decided to give NASCAR a try. It has been a bit annoying, but the former CART Champion has shown some promise, and even registered his first win recently, albeit after spinning out his teammate in the process. But during a practice session at Phoenix International Raceway, Montoya apparently let his emotions get the best of him and displayed an inappropriate gesture. It caught the attention of the NASCAR stewards and has resulted in a $10,000 fine. It has also landed JPM on probation until the end of the year. He'll still be able to race the No. 42 Dodge in the Busch Series, but he'll really have to mind his p's and q's until Dec. 31.

But here's the kicker, Todd Brewer, the crew chief for the No. 25 Ford driven by David Gilliland was busted on the same day. His infraction was using unapproved, hollow jacking bolts. Brewer was cited for being in violation of several regulations, including the same one that Montoya's rude gesture falls under , Section 12-4-A (actions detrimental to stock car racing). And what was Brewer's fine? Just $2,000. Subjective rule enforcement will always be a subject of controversy, but here it seems particularly egregious.

Top tip Drew!

[Source: NASCAR]

It's easy to scoff at NASCAR as a sports car enthusiast and fan of other types of motorsports. Heck, even to a British TV presenter, NASCAR offers a lot to ridicule. But as a recently retired seven-time Formula 1 champion, Michael Schumacher seems uniquely qualified to critique this type of automotive entertainment. So he stepped up and said he didn't understand how former competitor Juan Pablo Montoya could be drawn to stock car racing. Perhaps Schumacher's view of NASCAR is a bit naïve, as he was quoted as saying, "What do you do in NASCAR? What is exciting there? I can't see that, running around on ovals."

Obviously Schumacher is unaware that only 90% of NASCAR actually involves running around on ovals. The other ten percent is split between drinking beer, pitching beer, and judging wet t-shirt contests. So there is at least SOME obvious reason to like it. But in answer to Michael's criticism, NASCAR team owner Ray Evernham has extended an open invitation to MS to try a stock car and see what it's like. Evernham apparently thinks some seat time would help change the champ's mind and show off the huge technical strides NASCAR has made in recent years. He wasn't referring to SPEED in HD, and believe it or not, he was serious.

Thanks for the tip, Judd!

[Source: itv]

McLaren bad boy Juan Pablo Montoya will leave Formula 1 at the end of the 2006 season to drive in NASCAR for his old boss, Chip Ganassi. Somebody get this guy a beer.

Despite his impressive open-wheel resume - CART (Champ Car) champion, Indy 500 winner, seven-time F1 winner - Montoya never really settled into the Formula 1 team environment, either with Williams or McLaren, and it looked as though McLaren was set to let him go at the end of the year in any event. With championship-contending seats looking pretty scarce for 2007, Montoya evidently decided to follow the money and return to the U.S.

For his part, F1Racing.net reports a happy Juan Pablo said after the announcement Sunday, "I am so happy to be entering the fastest growing racing league in the world... I know the transition will not be easy but I can't wait to get behind the wheel."

The Colombian will drive the #42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge in the full Nextel Cup schedule, along with a number of Busch series races. Montoya's seat at McLaren will likely be taken by long-time McLaren protege Lewis Hamilton, currently competing in GP2, although the dominos aren't likely to start falling until Kimi Raikkonen makes his intentions clear.

[Source: F1Racing.net] Thanks to Judd for the tip!