January 30, 2013 at 5:54 p.m.
Still looking for an oval win
The former open-wheel racing star is still looking for his first Sprint Cup victory on an oval, and his performance last year at this 2.66-mile track suggests this could be an opportunity.
Montoya finished second to Kyle Busch in April and then was leading when he got caught up in a wreck on Lap 173 in October. Those races came in a Dodge, and this year he's in a No. 42 Chevrolet powered by the same engines that nearly carried rookie Regan Smith to the victory in last fall's AMP Energy 500.
"Talladega has been a great race track for me," Montoya said. "Everything is in place to run strong."
What has Montoya more excited, however, is that he believes those same things are in place for him to run strong just about everywhere else, too.
"If you look at the future," Montoya said, "we're looking really good."
Montoya said he has had "five bad races" this season, including last week's 24th-place finish at Phoenix that stemmed from a late-race penalty for speeding on pit road.
"We had a good car, an easy top-10 car," Montoya said. "I just went a little too fast in the pits. Just my fault."
The encouraging thing about the Phoenix race was that Martin Truex Jr., Montoya's teammate at Earnhardt Ganassi Racing, finished seventh. In that race Montoya and Truex both drove the same style of chassis after the merger between their respective operations this offseason.
"I think Phoenix was the first step toward getting everybody on the same page," Montoya said. "It really helped. ... It's exciting."
Despite the challenges of marrying two teams that last year drove for different manufacturers, and despite three finishes of 24th or worse in the season's first eight races, Montoya is still only 36 points outside the top 12 in the Sprint Cup standings. He believes race wins and the kind of consistency it will take to battle for a Chase spot are both within his team's reach.
"Before we either waited for a restrictor-plate race or maybe a mile-and-a-half (to believe) we were going to run really well," Montoya said. "The way we're running, I think it can come anywhere. I think our pace is good enough to start winning anywhere.
"We're on the right path. We're very close. ... We're working hard to make sure the car to beat is going to be us, not anybody else."
But last fall's experience at Talladega reminded Montoya that Talladega can be a place where trouble finds you.
"Talladega is so much out of your hands," he said. "It's hard to say, yes, this is where we're going to go and win. You can hope it's going to happen. Look at last year; we were leading.
"The outside lane went past us on the backstretch and they wrecked and took us out. If you survive the wreck you might have a chance. But you have to survive the wreck first."
For that reason, Montoya said he'd rather be leading than anywhere else as Sunday's race goes into its final stages.
"If there's a wreck you have the win in your pocket," he said. "Worst-case scenario you're going to finish second or third. ... If you're third or fourth, you can be involved in the wreck."
[[In-content Ad]]
Comments:
You must login to comment.