Montoya was 5 mph past the pit lane speed limit
11 Comments Published July 27th, 2009 in NASCAR News
Juan Pablo Montoya was well on his way to winning the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. He had the field covered, including winner #48-Jimmie Johnson and runner-up #5-Mark Martin. But Montoya was caught speeding on pit road with 26 laps to go. On his final stop, Montoya came in a little too hot, not once, but twice. NASCAR officials made the call, meaning Montoya would have to go down pit road again for a pass-through penalty. After the race, Sprint Cup director John Darby had the specifics about Montoya’s double no-no.
Pit road has eight zones where the speed is measured. The speed limit in the pits at Indy is 55 mph. NASCAR gives the drivers a 5 mph cushion. Darby said Montoya was caught over the cushion in Zones 2 and 4. Officially, the speed was recorded at 60.06 mph in Zone 2 and 60.11 mph in Zone 4. “And he was already pushing it,” Darby said. “He was over 59 miles per hour in most of the other zones.” Montoya’s big boo-boo caused him to fall back to 12th. He finished 11th.
That’s what he gets for setting his little tach-light system at 5mph over.
after that one nationwide race where pretty much everyone got “caught” speeding on pit road, I’m not comfortable with NASCAR’s timing system. Its inconsistent and imo unreliable. They need a better way for everyone to see pit road speeds. Stop hiding it!
[quote comment="55177"]after that one nationwide race where pretty much everyone got “caught” speeding on pit road, I’m not comfortable with NASCAR’s timing system. Its inconsistent and imo unreliable. They need a better way for everyone to see pit road speeds. Stop hiding it![/quote]
Pit road speeds are easy to figure out.
mph = (rpm * cir) / (gear * final * 88)
where rpm = engine rpm
cir = tire cicumference, in feet
gear = gear ratio of your car
final = final drive ratio of your car
88 = combines several conversion factors
Juan (and other drivers that have gotten caught over the past few years) are getting caught for two reasons
1. They are setting their speeds too close to the 5mph built-in overrun (hint if pitroad speed is 55mph, you set your limit to 57mph not 59mph)
2. Because they are lazy. A few years ago these light-up tachs started to show-up in NASCAR, basically you can program it to light up to a different color at different RPM’s. So instead of looking to see what RPM they are running they just glance down and look to see if it’s the right color. The only problem is these lights are not fool proof. Their accuracy has the chance to change during the race, their timing can change during the race, heck like all electronics they can malfunction.
What a shame, I think they went too far this time. He never got to 61 MPH.
Jaun really deserved the win. It seems like his last pitstop slowed his car. I figured he would just run to the front. The single file racing killed his chances. They need to allow more aero grip for this race, get the passing going again.
He lost it himself. I feel bad for his team, but not him. Fisha said it exactly right about the 57, not 59 mph strategy. I’m surprised he would risk it at all with the lead he had coming onto pit road. And Mike, think about it this way. It’s a sport. They can’t be bending the rules (60.0001 is higher than 60.0) for a driver for ANY reason. It’s a fair call.
Okay lets talk today. For one he did wrong. He did an great job. He could have won. I would like to have seen Mark Martian win. I think that after all this time he deserves it. Anyway, If anyone of us normal people would have shouted something like, ” If they do this to me, I’m going to kill them.” They would have drug us off to jail and charged. Even if we were just mad. So why is NASCAR taking this so lightly?
Montoya got jipped! We all say things when we are angry! It’s his Latin temper. He didn’t mean it but NASCAR went too far! And the fans standing and cheering when it happened should have been removed from the track. These guys are out there entertaining us going 200 mph. None of them deserved jeered or booed not even Kyle Busch! And certainly not his brother who is made guilty by association.
Shrub is right after Kentucky we know their scoring system is not infallable. Carl Edwards was as mad as Juan but no one is jumping his case. Get over the prejudices all you rednecks. Juan Montoya is a good guy. He does as much for charity as the rest of the drivers.He’s one heck of a driver. Get over booing the Busch brothers. They are both very talented and they really are nice young men. Kurt is a champion he deserves respect of the fans.
[quote comment="55207"]Montoya got jipped! We all say things when we are angry! It’s his Latin temper. He didn’t mean it but NASCAR went too far! And the fans standing and cheering when it happened should have been removed from the track. These guys are out there entertaining us going 200 mph. None of them deserved jeered or booed not even Kyle Busch! And certainly not his brother who is made guilty by association.
Shrub is right after Kentucky we know their scoring system is not infallable. Carl Edwards was as mad as Juan but no one is jumping his case. Get over the prejudices all you rednecks. Juan Montoya is a good guy. He does as much for charity as the rest of the drivers.He’s one heck of a driver. Get over booing the Busch brothers. They are both very talented and they really are nice young men. Kurt is a champion he deserves respect of the fans.[/quote]
It’s a sport, buddy. If everyone cheered for every driver or team in any sport, what the h*ll would be the purpose? No one is denying their talent. Doesn’t mean we have to cheer for them. Loosen up. Not sure why you think anyone is being “prejudice” against Montoya. No one here said anything. You actually said the most ‘prejudice’ comment here. Lol
[quote comment="55207"]Montoya got jipped! We all say things when we are angry! It’s his Latin temper. He didn’t mean it but NASCAR went too far! And the fans standing and cheering when it happened should have been removed from the track. These guys are out there entertaining us going 200 mph. None of them deserved jeered or booed not even Kyle Busch! And certainly not his brother who is made guilty by association.
Shrub is right after Kentucky we know their scoring system is not infallable. Carl Edwards was as mad as Juan but no one is jumping his case. Get over the prejudices all you rednecks. Juan Montoya is a good guy. He does as much for charity as the rest of the drivers.He’s one heck of a driver. Get over booing the Busch brothers. They are both very talented and they really are nice young men. Kurt is a champion he deserves respect of the fans.[/quote]
Did some buddy just say prejudices and rednecks in the same sentence???? Hmmmmm, sound like thats the pot calling the kettle black!!!! Yeah chico, you need to get over it. And people boo Kurt for there reasons as well. Michigan in 03 when he tried to wreck Spenser then called over the radio and said he tried to cheat but wasnt good enough then Spence punched him after the race. He was nicknamed Rubberhead by Harvick back when his Sponsor was Rubbermaid but you probably didnt know that cause back then they didnt have any latin drivers!!! So there is a free history lesson for ya!!!
Personally I cant stand Montoya, but the dude can drive after all he is one of the only people ever to run Schumacher as hard as he had ever been run in F1, which hasnt been done by many. Montoya is obviously a talented driver but he did screw up here, which sucks cause he did have a good run going.
As for the Kentucky situation there was an obvious situation there, there were several drivers getting screwed. Look at Edwards he got hit for speeding 5 times i think, but here this past weekend where Montoya was one of few to get caught, I would say it was his fault and not Nascars.