Chase the New Focus for Montoya

Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Kyle Busch, Scott Pruett and plenty of others in the NASCAR world have got to be wondering: Is the driver of No. 42 really Juan Pablo Montoya?

It's a good question thanks to the new tune that crew chief Brian Pattie has managed to get Montoya to sing during his 2009 run to earn a spot in his first Chase for the Sprint Cup. That tune, of course, showed its face on Friday at Michigan International Speedway ahead of Sunday's 400-miler at the 2-mile venue.

"We know what average we have to run to be in the Chase. It doesn't matter who beats you that one day or another," said Montoya. "Play it smart, don't take any big risks and hopefully it pays off."

For background, this is the same Montoya who jumped into NASCAR in 2007 with a few on-track incidents that centered a lot around patience (or a lack thereof). He got loose and took out Stewart at Texas, got into a chest-thumping match with Kevin Harvick following a wreck at Watkins Glen and famously wrecked his own teammate for the Nationwide win in Mexico.

The 2008 incidents of note included a bumping match with Stewart in the Coca-Cola 600 and a you-spin-me-I-spin-you go around with Kyle Busch at New Hampshire.

Now, though, Montoya seems to have discovered the big picture in NASCAR Sprint Cup racing doesn't involve victory lane, but rather hoisting that championship trophy.

"At the end of the day, it matters who wins the championship, it is not who wins the races," said Montoya.

It's a principle Montoya felt he learned very well back in 2000 during his days with CART.

"I nearly threw it (the CART championship) away in Australia," said Montoya. "I was running second, I would have finished second, I had a 25-point lead going in, I needed to finish like 20th in the last race and trying to beat Dario (Franchitti), I stuffed it in the wall."

That left the last race of the season a nail biter for Montoya as he only won the championship thanks to having more wins that Franchitti after they finished in a dead tie for first.

Certainly Montoya and Co. weren't a pick on anyone's radar to win the title at the start of the season, nor was it in the mind of the team. Making the Chase field consisting of the series' 12 best drivers, however, was the main goal. A goal, even, that they had calculated how to reach.

"You can't start being start being focused on one [driver]," said Montoya. "This week, you might be ahead of them or behind them, you just have to keep doing what you are doing. I think overall, we have been doing that."

The average Montoya talks about is a 14th-place finish. In 2009, the team has averaged a finish of 13.3 -- putting them 7th currently in standings, some 154 points ahead of 13th-place.

Just four races remain before the Chase field is set after Richmond in September, but the second-to-last event comes at Atlanta, a track where Montoya has been successful. Will that change his approach?

"If I can secure a place in the Chase in Atlanta, I am definitely not going to take any risks. For me, if finishing 10th in Atlanta would mean I make the Chase, we'll do everything in our power to finish 10th or eighth," said Montoya. "We have to be smart about what we are doing."

Which, for the new Montoya, isn't too big of a surprise.