Montoya gets first Nextel Cup win at Sonoma
Quote selected text Published June 24th, 2007 in NASCAR News
Juan Pablo Montoya demonstrated his road racing prowess again by stretching his final fuel load to the limit and grabbing his first NASCAR Nextel Cup win at Infineon Raceway. Montoya qualified a disappointing 32nd in the 43-car field. He was the first driver to win on the Northern California road circuit starting farther back than 13th.
The Colombian driver, who jumped from Formula One to the American stock car circuit late last season, got his first Cup win in his 17th start. It gave team owner Chip Ganassi his first win in NASCAR’s top series since Jamie McMurray won in October 2002. Montoya’s only other NASCAR victory came earlier this year in a Busch Series race on the road course in Mexico City.
He passed McMurray eight laps from the end and stayed out front to the end of the 110-lap event on the 12-turn course. Kevin Harvick finished second for his third top-ten finish this year. Jeff Burton ran third. Nextel Cup leader Jeff Gordon, a 5-time winner at Infineon, finished seventh. Gordon has a 271-point lead over Denny Hamlin in the points standing.
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RESULTS:
Pos St # Driver Sponsor Car Pts Status Laps
1 32 42 Juan Pablo Montoya Texaco/Havoline Dodge 190 Running 110
2 22 29 Kevin Harvick Shell/Pennzoil Chevrolet 170 Running 110
3 6 31 Jeff Burton AT&T Chevrolet 165 Running 110
4 10 07 Clint Bowyer Jack Daniel’s Chevrolet 160 Running 110
5 17 16 Greg Biffle Dish Network Ford 155 Running 110
6 5 20 Tony Stewart The Home Depot Chevrolet 155 Running 110
7 41 24 Jeff Gordon Dupont Chevrolet 146 Running 110
8 24 5 Kyle Busch Kellogg’s Chevrolet 142 Running 110
9 4 60 Boris Said SoBe No Fear Ford 138 Running 110
10 36 11 Denny Hamlin FedEx Chevrolet 139 Running 110
11 28 88 Ricky Rudd Snickers Ford 130 Running 110
12 43 00 P.J. Jones Burger King Toyota 127 Running 110
13 3 8 Dale Earnhardt Jr. Budweiser Chevrolet 124 Running 110
14 12 19 Elliott Sadler Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge 121 Running 110
15 11 96 Ron Fellows DLP HDTV Chevrolet 123 Running 110
16 2 7 Robby Gordon Monster Energy Ford 125 Running 110
17 42 48 Jimmie Johnson Lowe’s Chevrolet 117 Running 110
18 15 99 Carl Edwards Office Depot Ford 114 Running 110
19 7 21 Bill Elliott Little Debbie Ford 106 Running 110
20 9 12 Ryan Newman Alltel Dodge 103 Running 110
21 33 18 J.J. Yeley Interstate Batteries Chevrolet 100 Running 110
22 14 2 Kurt Busch Miller Lite Dodge 97 Running 110
23 8 9 Kasey Kahne Dodge Dealers/UAW Dodge 94 Running 110
24 18 1 Martin Truex Jr. Bass Pro Shops Chevrolet 91 Running 110
25 35 38 David Gilliland M&M’s Ford 88 Running 110
26 16 44 Dale Jarrett UPS Toyota 85 Running 110
27 38 25 Casey Mears National Guard Chevrolet 82 Running 110
28 30 23 Butch Leitzinger Caterpillar Toyota 79 Running 110
29 37 6 David Ragan AAA Ford 76 Running 110
30 26 01 Regan Smith U.S. Army Chevrolet 73 Running 110
31 34 70 Johnny Sauter Yellow/HAAS CNC Chevrolet 70 Running 110
32 40 40 David Stremme Coors Light Dodge 67 Running 110
33 13 43 Bobby Labonte Cheerios Dodge 64 Running 109
34 27 17 Matt Kenseth DeWalt Ford 61 Running 109
35 25 55 Terry Labonte NAPA Toyota 58 Running 109
36 21 91 Marc Goossens Commonwealth Toyota 55 Running 109
37 1 26 Jamie McMurray Crown Royal Ford 57 Running 109
38 39 13 Joe Nemechek Haier Chevrolet 49 Running 109
39 23 45 Kyle Petty Wells Fargo Dodge 46 Running 108
40 29 41 Reed Sorenson Target Dodge 43 Running 105
41 19 22 Dave Blaney Caterpillar Toyota 40 Running 97
42 31 66 Jeff Green Best Buy Chevrolet 37 Out 68
43 20 14 Sterling Marlin WileyX Chevrolet 34 Engine 12
- P.J. Jones in for Reutimann at Sonoma
- Montoya to appear on ABC’s Good Morning America
- Lure of NASCAR big threat to open-wheel world
- Sonoma race last weekend’s highest-rated sporting event on television
- Riggs Injured in Boating Accident
CONGRATS JPM! He was my favorite driver in F1, and while I don’t see me liking him more than Smoke, I still like him a whole heck of a lot in NASCAR. I was glad to see him get a much deserved win in Nextel Cup. Now it’s time to conquer an oval!
Congradulations Montoya!
He did a great job.
Loved JPM at Williams BMW and he gets a win after 17 races in NASCAR is wonderful. First driver to win from beyond starting 13th too!!! He started 32nd
great job learning how to short shift on the fly …lol
I’ve been following Juan Pablo Montoya’s career since his win at the Indy 500 and been supporting him since his Formula 1 days. AND NOW HE’S WON IN NASCAR!!!!!! Give ‘em hell JPM and Can’t wait to see your next win!!!!!
Tough break for Bobby Labonte, he was running 5th on the final lap. Then he ran out of fuel entering the final turn and finished 33rd. Damn that sucks.
I feel bad for Robby Gordon. Fastest car all weekend and loses to strategy…guy cant catch a break.
That was a nice first win. I’m bummed about Junior’s 13th finish but what a run for the 8 team.
Juan Banana Boat Montoya… what can I say? Is a pompus jerk. He needs to go back to F1 or columbia.
Oh by the way, I am hispanic, so I am not beiing racist. hahahaha
haha, maybe you’re right, but he’s a good racer…
i found this vid… I’m not sure if i’m allowed to do this or if it will let me but I wanted to share.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-2WvQTeGAEU
Yeahhhhhhhhhh, JR is gonna show the world what A GREAT road racer he is . YEEEEEEEE HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!
13th place…..how f_cking average!
He did if you watched the race. Strategy is not the driver’s fault, genius.
Damn foreigners! Make that fence taller, Mr President! Only kidding. He’s now won in every freaking series he’s competed in. Like him or not, he’s got talent.
List of JR Fan’s excuses:
1. Bad motors
2. It’s Theresa’s fault
3. the other drivers cheat
4. it was the strategy
5. has his Daday’s death on his mind
6. DEI is against him
Isn’t Anonymity great?
I may be a jr fan but i dont run the other drivers down like Anonymous, he must be so jelous.
Maybe Anonymous should stay at a Holiday Inn Express?
Finally JPM won a race. Heres to him winning on an Oval. He is going to be good
Im glad to see him get a win.
I think he’s still not 100% happy with the win, when he won the Busch race he said he wanted to win on an Oval track.
-Chris
I think he did an overall good job in winning his first race, but getting that win on an oval won’t be as easy. The fuel strategy played out for him, but that happens on a road course. But he did hit a lot of drivers (Johnson, Jr, spun out Kurt Busch) that he can’t run with on an oval. If he finds himself ahead of some of those guys on an oval they will remember and could end his day early. I think the Gordon’s summed it up best. Robby said it was a lucky win and he didn’t have anywhere near the best car, and Jeff said you have to win these races any way you can.
I have followed Montoya racing career for years, and if you watched the race Sunday you saw roadracing at its best
other great road racers there included another of the BEST EVER and that is Robby Gordon. then there was Boris
Said, who I love to watch.
Montoyas win might be just luck, but most wins are when you come right down to it. Carl Edwards did a fantastic job
and might have been the winner if he hadn;t runout of gas. All things considered, it was a great
race and I enjoyed it immensely.
Congratulations to Montoyo and Chip and team for a great race
I wonder why Wally Dollenback dislieks JPM so much? He was talking about him shoving drivers aroudn, and then liek on que he hits Jimmie Johnson, then Jimmie Slams him back in the next turn and passes him back, I enjoyed that moment too.
why is everyone maken a big deal? HE IS A ROAD RACER….. AND A DAMM LUCKY ONE. he ant sh*t on an oval!!! he doesent know how to race clean, and the good ol boys will remember that later down the road.
Seeing how only 3 drivers ever have won a open wheel race, an F1 race and a Nascar race and none of them are Nascar drivers. Maybe Nascar drivers sren’tthe most talented drivers in the world afterall.
Hahaha i personally love Montoya hitting everyone all over the field. He charged through and it was awesome. And that comment of anonymous should stay at a Holiday Inn Express.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHA great one
Friday afternoon Ricky Rudd was telling the world that Montoya would shine on Sunday. Now if Ricky could only tell us where John Menards sponsorship will go.
I think he’s a jerk.He does nothing more then plays demolition derby with the other drivers.He
is a reckless driver and puts everyone’s life in danger.Besides this track is what he’s used to
driving on.Big deal he won a road course.he needs to win an oval race before i’m impressed.
send him back to f-1 he sucks and will never win a real track.(Oval)
HES GOTTA BE GOOD TO BEAT JIMMY JOHNSON!!!
“I think he’s a jerk.He does nothing more then plays demolition derby with the other drivers.He
is a reckless driver and puts everyone’s life in danger.”
For a minute I thought you were talking about Dale Sr.
Let’s be honest here…on a road course, does he even have any competition?
I mean come on…it’s Nascar!
How come other drivers can come to Nascar and win and Nascar drivers can’t go to other series and win?
“send him back to f-1 he sucks and will never win a real track.(Oval) “
He won the INDY 500!!!! I would call that a real track(oval)!