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Nascar and Racing

Montoya's Indy Domination Melts Away

Posted Jul 26, 2009 7:32PM By Holly Cain (RSS feed)

Filed Under: Juan Pablo Montoya, Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Chase for the Sprint Cup

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Juan Pablo Montoya is penalizedINDIANAPOLIS -- It wasn't the one that got away. It was the one that was taken away.

That's how Juan Pablo Montoya felt after having one of the most dominating performances of the NASCAR season derailed by a speeding penalty on pit road late in Sunday's Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.

"I swear on my children and my wife, I wasn't speeding,'' Montoya radioed to his crew after being called back on pit road to serve a "drive through" penalty after having raced out to a nearly five-second advantage on the field and led 116 of the first 125 laps.

"Thanks NASCAR for screwing my day," he continued on the team radio.

"Frustrated? The word isn't frustrated. I've been robbed before and I've been screwed before and they outdid themselves this time.''

Montoya pleaded with his crew chief Brian Pattie to double-check with NASCAR officials, fully convinced that he didn't speed, even wondering if NASCAR might end up apologizing for an error.

A penalty is only assessed if a driver exceeds the 55 mph pit road speed by more than 5 mph on the electronic timing device. NASCAR officials said after the race that Montoya was caught fractions over 60 mph at two of the eight sensors on pit road.

With 35 laps remaining in the race after Montoya's penalty, Pattie calmed down the stunned 2000 Indianapolis 500 winner by telling him "it's really time for you to put on a show now, don't worry about it.''

Montoya ended up finishing 11th, and despite missing out on the historic win -- which would have made him the only driver in history to win the Indianapolis 500 and NASCAR's 400-miler -- he dropped only one point position in the Sprint Cup Series standings to 10th place.

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    INDIANAPOLIS - JULY 26: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's/KOBALT Tools Chevrolet, celebrates after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Allstate 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 26, 2009 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

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    INDIANAPOLIS - JULY 26: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's/KOBALT Tools Chevrolet, celebrates with his team after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Allstate 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 26, 2009 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    INDIANAPOLIS - JULY 26: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's/KOBALT Tools Chevrolet, celebrates with his team after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Allstate 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 26, 2009 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    INDIANAPOLIS - JULY 26: Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's/KOBALT Tools Chevrolet, celebrates with his team after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Allstate 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 26, 2009 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by Rusty Jarrett/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson

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    INDIANAPOLIS - JULY 26: (2nd L-R) Chandra Johnson, Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's/KOBALT Tools Chevrolet, celebrates with crew chief Chad Knaus and team owner Rick Hendrick after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Allstate 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 26, 2009 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Chandra Johnson;Jimmie Johnson;Chad Knaus;Rick Hendrick

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    INDIANAPOLIS - JULY 26: (L-R) Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's/KOBALT Tools Chevrolet, celebrates with wife Chandra Johnson after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Allstate 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 26, 2009 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson;Chandra Johnson

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    INDIANAPOLIS - JULY 26: (L-R) Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's/KOBALT Tools Chevrolet, celebrates with team owner Rick Hendrick after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Allstate 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 26, 2009 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson;Rick Hendrick

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    INDIANAPOLIS - JULY 26: (L-R) Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's/KOBALT Tools Chevrolet, celebrates with team owner Rick Hendrick after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Allstate 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 26, 2009 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson;Rick Hendrick

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    INDIANAPOLIS - JULY 26: (L-R) Chandra Johnson, Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's/KOBALT Tools Chevrolet, celebrates with crew chief Chad Knaus and team owner Rick Hendrick after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Allstate 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 26, 2009 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Chandra Johnson;Jimmie Johnson;Chad Knaus;Rick Hendrick

    Getty Images for NASCAR

    INDIANAPOLIS - JULY 26: (L-R) Jimmie Johnson, driver of the #48 Lowe's/KOBALT Tools Chevrolet, celebrates with crew chief Chad Knaus after winning the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Allstate 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway on July 26, 2009 in Indianapolis, Indiana. (Photo by John Harrelson/Getty Images for NASCAR) *** Local Caption *** Jimmie Johnson;Chad Knaus

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He holds a 100-point edge over 13th place David Reutimann with six races remaining to set the 12-driver Chase for the Championship playoff field.

Pattie said after the race he wasn't going to contest the situation.

"It's electronic, there's not much to discuss,'' Pattie said. "This isn't like the old days where everybody's using the hand-held devices. It's black and white. It is what it is.''

And certainly the effort from the Earnhardt-Ganassi team wasn't overlooked.

"He never really was challenged all day,'' third-place finisher Tony Stewart said of Montoya. "He did a great job today and I know what he's feeling. He's got to be sick.''

After the race Montoya pulled up to his team's semi-truck and stormed away from the waiting press to speak with his team members on the side. When he returned to speak to reporters, he was calm and collected and said he was glad to have had a good points day.

"It is what it is,'' Montoya said. "I thought I was right on speed. We had a deal like that before and once it happens you can't change it so it's pretty frustrating.''

Most of his competitors sympathized with the Colombian-born, former Formula One driver. At one point Montoya's retro-look No. 42 Target Chevy -- a replica of his winning Indy 500 car -- held a 17-second edge on 10th place.

Seventh-place finisher Kasey Kahne half-jokingly said Montoya was so far out in front, he never saw him.

"I really feel bad for him, if either of my teammates weren't going to win I was absolutely pulling for Juan,'' runner-up Mark Martin said.

"They sure had the car today, but you know what, they'll keep doing that and their day will come. That's happened to every one of us. Their day will come.''

However, the good sympathy only went so far. Race winner Jimmie Johnson was asked about Montoya's dominant day and the now three-time Brickyard winner had a slightly -- and understandably -- different take.

"I don't know about Montoya, but I do know I have the trophy and it's going home with me,'' Johnson said with a smile.

"We're all so selfish. I would have gone to Victory Lane and congratulated him, but I'm really glad we got the trophy.

"Not only is his team getting better, but Juan is really a great talent and if you look at the guys that came over from open-wheel he is by far the best of them. He's become a stock-car driver and I think we'll see a lot more of Juan. I see him being a threat.''

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