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Autumnpuma

Montoya Wins!

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Good for Montoya in his first Nextel Cup win. He displayed the same road-course prowess that we all remember from his Williams F1 days. He started off back in 32nd place and won the race. Fantastic! Here's a good article:

SONOMA, Calif. (AP) -- Juan Pablo Montoya showed off his road racing prowess again Sunday, stretching his fuel to the limit and grabbing his first NASCAR Nextel Cup win.

Montoya, who qualified a disappointing 32nd in the 43-car field, was the first driver to win on the Northern California road circuit starting further back than 13th. And he pulled it off with a combination of patience and skill at Infineon Raceway.

The Colombian driver, who jumped from Formula One to the stock car circuit late last season, got his first Cup win in his 17th start and gave team owner Chip Ganassi his first win in NASCAR's top series since Jamie McMurray won in October 2002.

``It's huge,'' Montoya said of his first victory in 17 Cup starts. ``I would say right now it's the biggest thing I've done. In open-wheel, that's what I was meant to be winning in. In stock cars, I wasn't.

``To get our first win in our first year is huge. We know we're a little bit behind on some of the ovals, but I think this is a big boost for everybody working in the shop.''

Series points leader Jeff Gordon overcame a 41st-place start to finish just behind Greg Biffle and Tony Stewart in seventh with a strategic effort in the first road race for NASCAR's new Car of Tomorrow.

Gordon, who became a father for the first time Wednesday when his daughter, Ella Sofia, was born, and Hendrick Motorsports teammate Jimmie Johnson, the reigning Cup champion, were both banned from practice and qualifying on Friday and had to start from the rear of the field after NASCAR inspectors found their cars had illegally modified front fenders.

Both drivers and their crew chiefs face more penalties from NASCAR in the next few days, but they ran hard to overcome their handicapped start Sunday. Johnson's fuel strategy didn't work as well as Gordon's and, after getting into the top 10 for a while, he finished 17th.

Montoya, whose only other NASCAR victory came earlier this year in a Busch Series race on the road course in Mexico City, passed McMurray, who now drives for Roush Fenway Racing, eight laps from the end. He easily stayed in front of runner-up Kevin Harvick in the 110-lap event on the 1.99-mile, 12-turn course.

``I was very surprised by the level of the drivers here on the road course,'' Montoya said. ``In Mexico, we had a really good car and the top five cars were really strong. But, behind that, it was really easy.''

Montoya was running third, trailing leader McMurray and Harvick and desperately conserving fuel with 18 laps to go. But he passed Harvick on lap 92 and began to track down McMurray.

``The top 20 was really like, phew. You had to work for your money,'' he said. ``What really paid off at the end was I was just running behind Kevin, saving the tires and trying to keep up with him. I did that for 10, 15 laps and I started pushing, I started making up ground on them and that's when everything fell into place.''

The winner got past McMurray for a moment on lap 102, driving his Dodge past McMurray's Ford in the slow hairpin near the end of the circuit. But Montoya got too wide and McMurray was able to squeeze by.

The pass that counted came in turn two on lap 104, with Montoya getting under McMurray's car and passing easily.

Juan Pablo Montoya, right, celebrates with his crew after winning the Toyota/Save Mart 350 NASCAR Nextel Cup auto race at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, ``I saw he was always hugging that corner and I thought, 'This is it.' I knew I could pass him there,'' Montoya said.

Donnie Wingo, his crew chief, said it was mostly Montoya's ability to conserve fuel that won the race. Wingo figured Montoya would run out about a lap short of the end.

``We had to play a little bit of catch-up, so we had to take a gamble there at the end,'' Wingo said. ``He did a great job on saving fuel, everybody did a good job on the stops and the motor shop did a great job. Without the fuel mileage we'd have never made it.''

McMurray ran out of gas at the start of lap 109 and finished 37th while Montoya saved enough fuel to run a cool-down lap and do a victory burnout before his fuel light came on.

Harvick inherited second place when McMurray slowed, followed by his Richard Childress Racing teammates Jeff Burton and Clint Bowyer, who all got great fuel mileage.

Harvick, who appeared to be getting the best mileage of them all, thought he might have the race won when McMurray slowed and Montoya was short-shifting to save gas late in the race.

``They came on the radio and told me you've got 20 laps to make up one lap of fuel and the two cars in front of you are both three laps short,'' Harvick said. ``That's how we played it and (Montoya) didn't run out of gas.''

Harvick wasn't surprised that he was chasing Montoya at the end.

``I've been a big fan of Montoya's since he came over,'' Harvick said. ``He's a great road racer, but he wasn't the fastest. The strategy won it for him.''

Robby Gordon, who started alongside pole-winner McMurray, also was a victim of failed strategy after leading a race-high 48 laps. He finished 16th.

Reed Sorenson spun out on lap 67, bringing out the last of full-course caution flags. While Robby Gordon and several of the other leaders gambled and stayed on track, opting to pit later under green, Montoya and several other contenders made their final stops under the yellow flag on lap 68.

Montoya came out of that stop 12th but moved steadily forward as the drivers ahead of him began to make their gas stops. He was third by lap 78, setting up the dramatic finish.

My only comment is regarding the part in bold, a quote by McMurray. That quote is so full of bullsh!t I could fertilize my garden for about 72 years. Even if Montoya would have run out of gas near the end, it's lunacy to say that strategy won it for him. You don't go from 32nd to 1st on a road course on strategy alone; you go by being a superior road-racer.

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Its great to see him succeceding in Nascar, the only thing left now is a win on an oval.

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Great news! Maybe I should start watching NASCAR, just for fun you understand... Anyway, it's always good to see an F1 alumnus doing so well.

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Good for Montoya in his first Nextel Cup win. He displayed the same road-course prowess that we all remember from his Williams F1 days. He started off back in 32nd place and won the race. Fantastic! Here's a good article:

My only comment is regarding the part in bold, a quote by McMurray. That quote is so full of bullsh!t I could fertilize my garden for about 72 years. Even if Montoya would have run out of gas near the end, it's lunacy to say that strategy won it for him. You don't go from 32nd to 1st on a road course on strategy alone; you go by being a superior road-racer.

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get ur arse back to F1 Monty! We miss you!

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Great win for Monty :clap3: ! He still has those fast F1 skills he got from BMW Williams but I hope he does make a return to F1!

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Great win for Monty :clap3: ! He still has those fast F1 skills he got from BMW Williams but I hope he does make a return to F1!

I was never a fan neither of JPM's personality, nor his driving...until he left F1, that is :lol:

Yes he was a good contrast for the more cold and calculated drivings of the likes of Alonso and Schumi and less accident prone than Ralf.

Never agreed with the way Ron kicked him off F1. I am glad he is showing his skills. And I agree that you cannot go from the back of the grid to first place on strategy alone, even less so in NASCAR. Besides, his car always starts on a heavy load...that has nothing to do with fuel, though :naughty:

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Good for Montoya in his first Nextel Cup win. He displayed the same road-course prowess that we all remember from his Williams F1 days. He started off back in 32nd place and won the race. Fantastic! Here's a good article:

My only comment is regarding the part in bold, a quote by McMurray. That quote is so full of bullsh!t I could fertilize my garden for about 72 years. Even if Montoya would have run out of gas near the end, it's lunacy to say that strategy won it for him. You don't go from 32nd to 1st on a road course on strategy alone; you go by being a superior road-racer.

McMurry's quote is accurate and applies to every NASCAR race...the fastest car rarely does win....due to a wreck, faulty pitstop, etc....or in this case, JPM worked his way to the front and gambled/conserved fuel to maintain field position.

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God help me ive actually been watching nascar since i got foxtel as i want to see Marcos Ambrose do really well as he was one of my favourite drivers in Australia. He seems to have adapted to ovals reasonably well though i wish those commenators would stop refering to him as "kangaroo meat" and instead call him by his proper nickname "Devil Racer." I could also do without that stupid US Army advert saying "There is strong and then there is ARMY STRONG." Ambrose was suppose to race in the Nextel Cup (i think thats what its called) but for some reason he decided against it which was a shame as i think they were on a road course and Ambrose would have a HUGE advanatge over most of the other drivers as he has actually raced in a series which is all road courses.

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McMurry's quote is accurate and applies to every NASCAR race...the fastest car rarely does win....due to a wreck, faulty pitstop, etc....or in this case, JPM worked his way to the front and gambled/conserved fuel to maintain field position.

Spot on, while Monty worked his way to the front this win was down to pure luck, he didn't have the best car, just good fuel managment.

............and he has been hitting the pies :snack::hungary::icecream:

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God help me ive actually been watching nascar since i got foxtel as i want to see Marcos Ambrose do really well as he was one of my favourite drivers in Australia. He seems to have adapted to ovals reasonably well though i wish those commenators would stop refering to him as "kangaroo meat" and instead call him by his proper nickname "Devil Racer." I could also do without that stupid US Army advert saying "There is strong and then there is ARMY STRONG." Ambrose was suppose to race in the Nextel Cup (i think thats what its called) but for some reason he decided against it which was a shame as i think they were on a road course and Ambrose would have a HUGE advanatge over most of the other drivers as he has actually raced in a series which is all road courses.

Is there any topic which you cannot connect somehow to Australia? :P

J/k but it really makes me smile when I see that no matter what we are talking about you can always bring Australia or some Australian guy to the topic. I thought only Americans, French and Argentinians did that :lol:

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Is there any topic which you cannot connect somehow to Australia? :P

J/k but it really makes me smile when I see that no matter what we are talking about you can always bring Australia or some Australian guy to the topic. I thought only Americans, French and Argentinians did that :lol:

This topic was about a nascar driver i was simply talking about another nascar driver who just happens to be Australian. It is true that i love my country but as faults go i dont think its a particularly bad one.

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This topic was about a nascar driver i was simply talking about another nascar driver who just happens to be Australian. It is true that i love my country but as faults go i dont think its a particularly bad one.

Like I said, it was no criticism, just a trait of you that is very noticeable. Nothing wrong with that! :D

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McMurry's quote is accurate and applies to every NASCAR race...the fastest car rarely does win....due to a wreck, faulty pitstop, etc....or in this case, JPM worked his way to the front and gambled/conserved fuel to maintain field position.

McMurray's quote is wrong. On a road course you need to be faster than the other cars to overtake...clearly Montoya did that. Fuel management helped a great deal, but it was Montoya's beautifully skilled road course driving, combined with Ganassi's good pit strategy that got him the win. On itv-f1.com there's an article about this. There's a quote by Ganassi relating that Montoya chose to play it calm and easy during the race saying 'The time isn't right to race these guys'. That's driver skill right there. That's racecraft and that's all Montoya.

Spot on, while Monty worked his way to the front this win was down to pure luck, he didn't have the best car, just good fuel managment.

............and he has been hitting the pies :snack::hungary::icecream:

Bruce, you know I respect your racing opinions, but saying it was luck is, in my view, BS. He worked his way up and out-drove everybody. Part of it was down to him and Ganassi knowing how to arrange a road-course pit strategy (a splash and dash at the end of a road course race is foolish to say the least). Give the guy the credit he deserves.

EDIT: I'll concede that Montoya didn't have the fastest car, but he was certainly the best driver. Results are all that matters. McMurray's quote was aimed at diminishing Montoya's contribution to his win, and laying it all on fuel strategy. Wake up, McMurray! The part of the fuel strategy that won the race has ALOT to do with Montoya's right foot.

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Like I said, it was no criticism, just a trait of you that is very noticeable. Nothing wrong with that! :D

I do like other nationalities though. Like this is a photo of my favourite Irishman :D

__Tadhg_Kennelly_002.jpg

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The part of the fuel strategy that won the race has ALOT to do with Montoya's right foot.

And his right hand.

Agreed 100% here. Shame than NASCAR doesn't have road courses as the rule and ovals as the exceptions. I'm sure Montoya would have showed those guys how it's done.

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McMurray's quote is wrong. On a road course you need to be faster than the other cars to overtake...clearly Montoya did that. Fuel management helped a great deal, but it was Montoya's beautifully skilled road course driving, combined with Ganassi's good pit strategy that got him the win. On itv-f1.com there's an article about this. There's a quote by Ganassi relating that Montoya chose to play it calm and easy during the race saying 'The time isn't right to race these guys'. That's driver skill right there. That's racecraft and that's all Montoya.

Bruce, you know I respect your racing opinions, but saying it was luck is, in my view, BS. He worked his way up and out-drove everybody. Part of it was down to him and Ganassi knowing how to arrange a road-course pit strategy (a splash and dash at the end of a road course race is foolish to say the least). Give the guy the credit he deserves.

EDIT: I'll concede that Montoya didn't have the fastest car, but he was certainly the best driver. Results are all that matters. McMurray's quote was aimed at diminishing Montoya's contribution to his win, and laying it all on fuel strategy. Wake up, McMurray! The part of the fuel strategy that won the race has ALOT to do with Montoya's right foot.

Jeff Gordon drove a better race, made up more postions than pie-man.

I give props to the pie-man for winning, don't get me wrong, but if you watched the race.........................

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I've heard this was some kind of a record - 47 of the 110 laps were not run under a safety car. And we F1 fans complained about Canada :wacko:

From JPM's remarks, even if he won fair and square (I read he punted someone out and didn't get penalised?), it just goes to show the dearth of driving talent in NACAR when an out of shape F1 discard finds it easy to win on a road course.

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I always liked JPM and I'm glad to see him win!If he could come back to F1 and add more spice to the races :P

Besides, his car always starts on a heavy load...that has nothing to do with fuel, though :naughty:

:clap3:

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Good to hear. He's maybe the second best stock car racer out there. Besides me. (Unfortunately, my temper is a bit worse than his, and I'm suspended from racing indefinitely...)

-Eric

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I've heard this was some kind of a record - 47 of the 110 laps were not run under a safety car. And we F1 fans complained about Canada :wacko:

From JPM's remarks, even if he won fair and square (I read he punted someone out and didn't get penalised?), it just goes to show the dearth of driving talent in NACAR when an out of shape F1 discard finds it easy to win on a road course.

You mean like:

- Bruce McLaren in Can Am

- Dereck Bell in Le Mans

- Jean Louis Schlesser in Dakar

?! :naughty:

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From JPM's remarks, even if he won fair and square (I read he punted someone out and didn't get penalised?), it just goes to show the dearth of driving talent in NACAR when an out of shape F1 discard finds it easy to win on a road course.

I have a different take on it (not surprising, eh?). You're starting from the premise that Montoya is a discard, much like Montiero or Diniz. That is not correct. In the strictest sense, to be a discard he would have needed to be discarded from F1, i.e: Fired. He wasn't. He quit. That gets rid of the 'discard' comment, I think.

Now for Montoya's implied 'lack of talent'.

Montoya is a multiple Grand Prix winner who frequently battled Michael Schumacher on-track. He was so impressive that many articles were written about him and he was generally considered to be in the upper echelon of F1 drivers...until he went to McLaren and had a difficult time with the team and the car. Both were so bad that Kimi also jumped the McLaren ship.

Lack of talent in NASCAR? Perhaps on road courses you can say that, but you can't compare racecraft required on the ovals to that required on a road course. Montoya proves that one set of skills (road course) is very little help when racing on an oval. Now lets talk a bit about the talent pool of NASCAR. We know Montoya's quality (even if some choose to ignore his great racing skills) and we also know he isn't doing well on the ovals. Now take drivers like Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart who regularly do well on BOTH ovals and road courses. You could then say those drivers are better than Monty....and more rounded* drivers than Montoya and most of his F1 opponents.

*I suppose Montoya and Stewart are already pretty 'rounded' in other ways....

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Every touring car series has at least 1 ex F1 driver and nascar is no different. Some are successful and some arnt. Remember that Hakkinen was a 2 times world champion and yet he has only won a handful of DTM races.

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I have a different take on it (not surprising, eh?). You're starting from the premise that Montoya is a discard, much like Montiero or Diniz. That is not correct. In the strictest sense, to be a discard he would have needed to be discarded from F1, i.e: Fired. He wasn't. He quit. That gets rid of the 'discard' comment, I think.

Now for Montoya's implied 'lack of talent'.

Montoya is a multiple Grand Prix winner who frequently battled Michael Schumacher on-track. He was so impressive that many articles were written about him and he was generally considered to be in the upper echelon of F1 drivers...until he went to McLaren and had a difficult time with the team and the car. Both were so bad that Kimi also jumped the McLaren ship.

Lack of talent in NASCAR? Perhaps on road courses you can say that, but you can't compare racecraft required on the ovals to that required on a road course. Montoya proves that one set of skills (road course) is very little help when racing on an oval. Now lets talk a bit about the talent pool of NASCAR. We know Montoya's quality (even if some choose to ignore his great racing skills) and we also know he isn't doing well on the ovals. Now take drivers like Jeff Gordon, Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart who regularly do well on BOTH ovals and road courses. You could then say those drivers are better than Monty....and more rounded* drivers than Montoya and most of his F1 opponents.

*I suppose Montoya and Stewart are already pretty 'rounded' in other ways....

The big change in NASCAR road racing came when drivers(Jeff Gordon, Robby Gordon (not related)) showed the old timers that if you built dedicated road- course cars they could win, before they just modified and oval car to turn right.

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