Montoya Talking Big Picture at Infineon

Juan Pablo Montoya made a scary analysis about the condition of his Earnhardt-Ganassi Racing's team cars Friday at Infineon Raceway.

It was scary for the rest of the field, of course, because the Colombian is returning to the twisty road course in Northern California where he saw his first career Sprint Cup Series win two years ago with a race car that he thinks is better prepared.

"I think our cars have come a long way -- even when we won here, our cars are a little more competitive now," said Montoya on Friday afternoon prior to qualifying.

Montoya would later put the No. 42 Chevrolet in the field in a mediocre 17th starting spot, but that shouldn't matter come Sunday's race. In fact, when Montoya won at the the road course in 2007 he took the green flag from the 32nd starting spot, and in 2008 finished 5th after starting 21st.

Brian Vickers in the No. 83 Toyota scored the top starting spot for the second week in a row, but it not might take too long for Montoya to work up towards the front -- especially if an early caution or two waves. For the first time ever at a road course and just the third points race in its history, NASCAR will start the race and restart the race after a caution flag with the field going two-by-two under the flagstand.

The restart style will dramatically shorten the usual 43-car long snake and help those in the back of the pack have a shot at gaining more positions. That will ultimately lead to quite a bit more "chaos" -- as Vickers put it Friday after qualifying -- and scrambling for position, but it'll also help faster cars gain track position.

For Montoya, though, instead of looking at those restarts as an opportunity, he sees them as a big chance to have a solid day ruined in one missed corner.

"They're going to suck," said Montoya of the restarts. "There is always somebody that wants to prove a point. Hopefully that guy is not around you."

Montoya, though, isn't as much worried about that driver proving a point taking away his chance at sipping Northern California wine in victory lane, but rather because he's built a solid start to the 2009 campaign and doesn't want to see bad luck at one of his best tracks.

"Honestly its all about finishing better than where we are in points," said Montoya. "That's our goal every week and this week because it's a road course, it's not going to change. If we can have a great points day then we'll take a great points day. If we play a different strategy and it doesn't pan out and we finish 10th -- 10th is better than 14th."

And while he might not be quite as aggressive on Sunday as he was two years ago in the Nationwide Series race in Mexico City when he wrecked his teammate Scott Pruett for the win, don't doubt that Montoya won't be racing hard. Instead, he'll be racing smarter.

"I'm going to run hard. It's just avoiding stupid mistakes, avoiding stupid wrecks," said Montoya. "A lot of people try to out-brake in the last corner here, but there is always people taken out and I was a victim of that."

"It doesn't mean that you are not going to try to win, but the same goal is that we have to try to make the Chase and by trying to take the lead and spinning out and finishing 25th, at the end of the day we didn't win and we lost points," said Montoya. "If we stay in second and finish second, then we didn't win, but we had a good points day."

"I will 'Chase' race," said Montoya. "Surprising, isn't it?"

Oh, just slightly -- except for the fact that the No. 42 is currently registered 14th in the Sprint Cup standings, 43 points from the 12th-place Chase for the Sprint Cup qualifying spot. The past four races -- with the exception of a blown tire at Dover -- have seen Montoya hang around in and then finish in the top 10.

So is it surprising to hear Montoya talk about competing for the long-range prize in NASCAR instead of the quick victory? A little, but refreshing might be more of the word -- especially for an organization that could stand to be proud of some success.