Montoya, a transition to NASCAR

 

In the world of motor sports there is nothing written, a driver can compete in different categories but it’s not so common to see a transition from Formula one to Nascar, which is the case of the 32 year old Colombian driver.

And it seems like he hasn’t regret it his decision as he won the 2007 Raysbestos Rookie of the year award in his first full season running for the Chip Ganassi Racing team.

It was in July 9, 2006 that Juan Pablo Montoya announced to the world his decision and had never looked back since then.

“I really do feel part of the community, I really like to embrace the entire experience because it's so cool. It's so different from any other series I've ever been in, but it's so cool and something I tell people you've got to come and see for yourself.” he said.

He debuted on October 6, 2006 at the Talladega Superspeedway finishing third, he had a couple of appearances at NASCAR’s second division, the Bush Series, but it was on November 19, 2006 that he debuted in NASCAR’s premier division, the NEXTEL cup series.

His first victory came just before the 06/07 season started, winning the 24 hours of Daytona sports car race along with teammates Scott Pruett and Salvador Duran.

The it came a victory on March 4, 2007 in Mexico City where Montoya won the NASCAR Busch Series Telcel-Motorola 200

Montoya became the first non-US born to win a NASCAR Nextel Cup race after Earl Ross (Canadian) did it in 1974. Montoya also joined Mario Andretti in a select group of only two drivers to win the Indianapolis 500, a Formula One race, and a NASCAR Cup (top-level) race.

Overall, Juan Pablo Montoya seems to have a bright future in NASCAR, he’s a driver that is going to give it all at any competition and against everybody, even though he thinks that the transition from open-wheel racing to stock cars has been more difficult than he never thought.

"Coming here, getting back to the ovals, getting into a big car, big horsepower, very little grip, I'll tell you it's a handful." Montoya said.

Now the seven-time Formula One winner is expecting to compete in the Rolex 24 at Daytona on January 2008 which is one of the hardest competitions in NASCAR racing.