| Ferg | 01-04-2007 10:25 PM |
Montoya's Grand Adventure
�
�
I was going to start this when the Daytona 500 neared and the NASCAR juggernaught got into swing but since JPM has decided to try some endurance racing, Monty's Grand Adventure in America begins now, or Friday rather.
Hell of a driver lineup.
[QUOTE][B]Montoya to test for Daytona 24 Hours[/B]
By Diego Mejia Thursday, January 4th 2007, 23:01 GMT
Juan Pablo Montoya is set to start his driving duties this year sooner than ever before, when he tests this friday Chip Ganassi's Daytona prototype in preparation for the Rolex 24 Hours.
Montoya will drive the car in the second day of testing at Daytona, alongside his fellow Ganassi teammates Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon, who are expected to team up with him in the No. 2 Target/TELMEX sponsored Lexus Riley.
It is expected that Ganassi will soon confirm Montoya's participation in the Rolex 24 at Daytona with the team that won the race last year.
Wheldon, Dixon and Casey Mears, who Montoya replaces at Ganassi, took overall victory in the No. 2 car in 2006.
"It'll be good to be in a road course again and drive one of these cars," Montoya told Colombia's RCN Radio. "It�s going to be fun to be in Daytona.
"To wake up at three in the morning to drive in the race may not be nice, but it's a challenge."
NASCAR Nextel Cup drivers Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon are also scheduled to test with their teams during the weekend, in preparation for the Rolex 24 at Daytona, which take place on January 27th.[/QUOTE]
Hell of a driver lineup.
[QUOTE][B]Montoya to test for Daytona 24 Hours[/B]
By Diego Mejia Thursday, January 4th 2007, 23:01 GMT
Juan Pablo Montoya is set to start his driving duties this year sooner than ever before, when he tests this friday Chip Ganassi's Daytona prototype in preparation for the Rolex 24 Hours.
Montoya will drive the car in the second day of testing at Daytona, alongside his fellow Ganassi teammates Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon, who are expected to team up with him in the No. 2 Target/TELMEX sponsored Lexus Riley.
It is expected that Ganassi will soon confirm Montoya's participation in the Rolex 24 at Daytona with the team that won the race last year.
Wheldon, Dixon and Casey Mears, who Montoya replaces at Ganassi, took overall victory in the No. 2 car in 2006.
"It'll be good to be in a road course again and drive one of these cars," Montoya told Colombia's RCN Radio. "It�s going to be fun to be in Daytona.
"To wake up at three in the morning to drive in the race may not be nice, but it's a challenge."
NASCAR Nextel Cup drivers Jimmie Johnson, Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon are also scheduled to test with their teams during the weekend, in preparation for the Rolex 24 at Daytona, which take place on January 27th.[/QUOTE]
| XenoWolf | 01-05-2007 12:44 AM |
I think I'm actually going to make an effort to watch it this year... I usually forget about it.
| hotrod | 01-05-2007 03:11 AM |
seat time is king, and many of the NASCAR drivers really enjoy the un-pressured environment of the Rolex 24 and it helps them get back into the swing of things after their short winter downtime.
It is also good marketing as it gets their names in front of a crowd that normally does not watch them and it brings NASCAR fans to endurance road racing so its good for both racing series.
Larry
It is also good marketing as it gets their names in front of a crowd that normally does not watch them and it brings NASCAR fans to endurance road racing so its good for both racing series.
Larry
| artkevin | 01-05-2007 10:09 AM |
Montoya, Wheldon and Dixon. That is an awesome line up! I watch every year but I have to this year.
| Ferg | 01-05-2007 03:54 PM |
JPM confirmed for the 24 Hours, but racing [i]against[/i] Wheldon and Dixon. :)
[QUOTE]Montoya confirmed for Daytona 24 Hours
By Diego Mejia Friday, January 5th 2007, 19:33 GMT
Juan Pablo Montoya will race in the Rolex 24 at Daytona with Chip Ganassi Racing, the team confirmed today.
The Colombian, who had his first run in the No. 01 TELMEX/Target Lexus Riley this morning, will race alongside two-time Rolex champion Scott Pruett, and A1GP race winner for Team Mexico Salvador Duran.
Although it was initially expected that Montoya would race in the No. 02 car with Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon, who won the race last year, the team changed their initial plan, hoping to improve their chances of taking victory again.
Another Mexican backed by TELMEX, Memo Rojas, will join Wheldon and Dixon in the No. 02 Lexus Riley.
Chip Ganassi Racing's impressive line-up embraces two Indianapolis 500 titles (Montoya in 2000 and Wheldon in 2005), three open wheel championships (Montoya 1999 Champ Car title, Dixon the 2003 IRL title, and Wheldon the 2005 IRL title), and two Daytona Prototype Championships (Pruett in 2004 and 2006).
"Last year's Daytona win was a big one for this team, and we think we have another great opportunity to duplicate that feat this year," team boss Chip Ganassi said.
"We have, in the past, utilized drivers from other series to expand our Rolex 24 program, and Juan Pablo, Scott [Dixon], Dan and Salvador will complement our roster and provide us with another excellent chance of winning this race."
The two Ganassi Daytona Prototypes led a total of 360 out of 734 laps in last year's event, and ran first and second for the majority of the event before the No. 01 car was relegated to the garage.
The No. 02 car, driven by Wheldon, Dixon and Casey Mears, picked up the lead, marking the first win for the team at the Rolex 24 in the team's third attempt.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]Montoya confirmed for Daytona 24 Hours
By Diego Mejia Friday, January 5th 2007, 19:33 GMT
Juan Pablo Montoya will race in the Rolex 24 at Daytona with Chip Ganassi Racing, the team confirmed today.
The Colombian, who had his first run in the No. 01 TELMEX/Target Lexus Riley this morning, will race alongside two-time Rolex champion Scott Pruett, and A1GP race winner for Team Mexico Salvador Duran.
Although it was initially expected that Montoya would race in the No. 02 car with Dan Wheldon and Scott Dixon, who won the race last year, the team changed their initial plan, hoping to improve their chances of taking victory again.
Another Mexican backed by TELMEX, Memo Rojas, will join Wheldon and Dixon in the No. 02 Lexus Riley.
Chip Ganassi Racing's impressive line-up embraces two Indianapolis 500 titles (Montoya in 2000 and Wheldon in 2005), three open wheel championships (Montoya 1999 Champ Car title, Dixon the 2003 IRL title, and Wheldon the 2005 IRL title), and two Daytona Prototype Championships (Pruett in 2004 and 2006).
"Last year's Daytona win was a big one for this team, and we think we have another great opportunity to duplicate that feat this year," team boss Chip Ganassi said.
"We have, in the past, utilized drivers from other series to expand our Rolex 24 program, and Juan Pablo, Scott [Dixon], Dan and Salvador will complement our roster and provide us with another excellent chance of winning this race."
The two Ganassi Daytona Prototypes led a total of 360 out of 734 laps in last year's event, and ran first and second for the majority of the event before the No. 01 car was relegated to the garage.
The No. 02 car, driven by Wheldon, Dixon and Casey Mears, picked up the lead, marking the first win for the team at the Rolex 24 in the team's third attempt.[/QUOTE]
| Ferg | 01-08-2007 03:28 PM |
Monty speaks...
[QUOTE][B]Montoya happy with his progress
[/B]
By Diego Mejia Monday, January 8th 2007, 19:04 GMT
Juan Pablo Montoya has declared himself happy with the progress made during testing in preparation for his first full season of NASCAR racing.
The Colombian completed three tests after he last raced at Homestead in November, including his first road course outing in a stock car.
"It's good. In December we did a road course test at Road Atlanta. That was a lot of fun. It was hard," he said.
"I think we were pretty competitive, but it's hard to be consistently quick. It's a lot of work. (The car) moves a lot more than anything that I've driven before. Then we went to Lakeland. I thought it went pretty well."
Montoya claims testing of the new Car of Tomorrow, which is set to be introduced during the season, will be key to his and his team's success this year.
"At the end of the day, once we get to the two-mile racetracks, where everybody is going to have the Car of Tomorrow, it's whoever did the best job in testing, is the team that is going to be ahead," he said.
"We need to focus on that, make sure when we get there, we've got the best package."
Montoya successfully tested last Friday Chip Ganassi's Lexus Riley prototype at Daytona's road course, in preparation for his first participation in the Rolex 24 Hours.
This year he could become one of only two drivers in history to win both the 24 Hours and the Daytona 500.
"Daytona, especially in America, is a big deal. It would probably be a very nice win if you could win it before the 500. To come here with the 24-hour win, would be pretty cool.
"You can't really say you're going to win it before you even start it, but so far everything looks pretty good."
Montoya will test again next week at Daytona in preparation for the Daytona 500.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE][B]Montoya happy with his progress
[/B]
By Diego Mejia Monday, January 8th 2007, 19:04 GMT
Juan Pablo Montoya has declared himself happy with the progress made during testing in preparation for his first full season of NASCAR racing.
The Colombian completed three tests after he last raced at Homestead in November, including his first road course outing in a stock car.
"It's good. In December we did a road course test at Road Atlanta. That was a lot of fun. It was hard," he said.
"I think we were pretty competitive, but it's hard to be consistently quick. It's a lot of work. (The car) moves a lot more than anything that I've driven before. Then we went to Lakeland. I thought it went pretty well."
Montoya claims testing of the new Car of Tomorrow, which is set to be introduced during the season, will be key to his and his team's success this year.
"At the end of the day, once we get to the two-mile racetracks, where everybody is going to have the Car of Tomorrow, it's whoever did the best job in testing, is the team that is going to be ahead," he said.
"We need to focus on that, make sure when we get there, we've got the best package."
Montoya successfully tested last Friday Chip Ganassi's Lexus Riley prototype at Daytona's road course, in preparation for his first participation in the Rolex 24 Hours.
This year he could become one of only two drivers in history to win both the 24 Hours and the Daytona 500.
"Daytona, especially in America, is a big deal. It would probably be a very nice win if you could win it before the 500. To come here with the 24-hour win, would be pretty cool.
"You can't really say you're going to win it before you even start it, but so far everything looks pretty good."
Montoya will test again next week at Daytona in preparation for the Daytona 500.[/QUOTE]
| StuBeck | 01-08-2007 03:50 PM |
I'm actually going to care about it this year. I was wearing my JPM McLaren hat in class today and my teacher asked me what a "Juan Pablo" was.
| digitalseance | 01-08-2007 04:44 PM |
[QUOTE=StuBeck;16584253]I'm actually going to care about it this year. I was wearing my JPM McLaren hat in class today and my teacher asked me what a "Juan Pablo" was.[/QUOTE]
LOL! Welcome to my world! It's me and a former South African that are the only F1 watchers up here in my new home.
I'm debating on going to the 24...I always go to Sebring but haven't made it to daytona yet.
I'll be at turn 6 at sebring this year if anyone else is going...I'm waiting to start a thread on that soon too! ;)
LOL! Welcome to my world! It's me and a former South African that are the only F1 watchers up here in my new home.
I'm debating on going to the 24...I always go to Sebring but haven't made it to daytona yet.
I'll be at turn 6 at sebring this year if anyone else is going...I'm waiting to start a thread on that soon too! ;)
| Ferg | 01-15-2007 10:09 PM |
Monty finally gets some track time at Daytona.
[QUOTE]Gilliland ahead as testing resumes
By Diego Mejia Tuesday, January 16th 2007, 02:26 GMT
Testing for the season opener Daytona 500 resumed today with the rest of the teams taking to the track for the second week of the NASCAR Jackson Hewitt Preseason Thunder testing.
Despite a rainy start, which allowed the cars to go on track just after mid-morning, all teams took part in today's seven-hour session in which only single-car runs were allowed.
Robert Yates Racing driver David Gilliland topped the speed charts with a lap of 185.090 mph in his No. 38 M&M's Ford.
Gilliland was the only driver to break into the 185 mph bracket, edging the Toyota of Jeremy Mayfield.
The driver of the No. 36 Bill Davis Camry, who returns to the Nextel Cup this year after leaving Ray Evernham's team last year in the middle of the season, was by far the fastest among the five Toyotas on track, setting his fastest lap in his last run.
AJ Allmendinger, who was quick testing the Toyota Tundra truck during the weekend, was by contrast the slowest Camry back in 25th, as his Red Bull team continued to struggle for speed at Daytona.
Four-time Nextel Cup champion Jeff Gordon was the fastest Chevy in third, while Chip Ganassi's David Stremme put his No. 40 Dodge in fourth.
[I]His teammate Juan Pablo Montoya had a good first day of testing at the 2.5-mile oval, setting the sixth fastest speed in his No. 42 Texaco Havoline Dodge, ahead of Clint Bowyer and 2006 Rookie of the Year Denny Hamlin.
"From what I hear we've stepped it up from where we were last year," Montoya said. "It's still very early. It's my first test this year, so we'll take it step by step."[/I]
James Hylton, who hopes to make the field for the Daytona 500 at 72 years of age, was slowest in his No. 58 JC Weaver Motorsports Chevrolet.
Testing at Daytona International Speedway continues tomorrow.
Monday testing speeds at Daytona:
Pos Driver Make Speed (mph)
1. David Gilliland Ford 185.090
2. Jeremy Mayfield Toyota 184.854
3. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 184.744
4. David Stremme Dodge 184.729
5. Regan Smith Chevrolet 184.581
[B]6. Juan Pablo Montoya Dodge 184.570[/B]
7. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 184.434
8. Denny Hamlin Chevrolet 184.385
9. J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 184.226
10. Elliott Sadler Dodge 184.134
11. Kyle Busch Chevrolet 184.075
12. David Ragan Ford 184.049
13. Johnny Sauter Chevrolet 184.030
14. Mark Martin Chevrolet 183.981
15. Mike Skinner Toyota 183.835
16. Matt Kenseth Ford 183.775
17. Kurt Busch Dodge 183.426
18. Ryan Newman Dodge 183.400
19. Michael Waltrip Toyota 183.307
20. David Reutimann Toyota 183.191
21. Kenny Wallace Chevrolet 183.132
22. Kyle Petty Dodge 183.061
23. Ken Schrader Ford 182.815
24. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 182.789
25. AJ Allmendinger Toyota 182.689
26. Paul Menard Chevrolet 182.630
27. Ward Burton Chevrolet 182.216
28. Carl Edwards Ford 181.958
29. Mike Wallace Chevrolet 181.635
30. Kevin Lepage Dodge 181.411
31. Mike Bliss Dodge 180.930
32. Stanton Barrett Chevrolet 180.411
33. Brandon Whitt Chevrolet 180.393
34. James Hylton Chevrolet 180.058[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]Gilliland ahead as testing resumes
By Diego Mejia Tuesday, January 16th 2007, 02:26 GMT
Testing for the season opener Daytona 500 resumed today with the rest of the teams taking to the track for the second week of the NASCAR Jackson Hewitt Preseason Thunder testing.
Despite a rainy start, which allowed the cars to go on track just after mid-morning, all teams took part in today's seven-hour session in which only single-car runs were allowed.
Robert Yates Racing driver David Gilliland topped the speed charts with a lap of 185.090 mph in his No. 38 M&M's Ford.
Gilliland was the only driver to break into the 185 mph bracket, edging the Toyota of Jeremy Mayfield.
The driver of the No. 36 Bill Davis Camry, who returns to the Nextel Cup this year after leaving Ray Evernham's team last year in the middle of the season, was by far the fastest among the five Toyotas on track, setting his fastest lap in his last run.
AJ Allmendinger, who was quick testing the Toyota Tundra truck during the weekend, was by contrast the slowest Camry back in 25th, as his Red Bull team continued to struggle for speed at Daytona.
Four-time Nextel Cup champion Jeff Gordon was the fastest Chevy in third, while Chip Ganassi's David Stremme put his No. 40 Dodge in fourth.
[I]His teammate Juan Pablo Montoya had a good first day of testing at the 2.5-mile oval, setting the sixth fastest speed in his No. 42 Texaco Havoline Dodge, ahead of Clint Bowyer and 2006 Rookie of the Year Denny Hamlin.
"From what I hear we've stepped it up from where we were last year," Montoya said. "It's still very early. It's my first test this year, so we'll take it step by step."[/I]
James Hylton, who hopes to make the field for the Daytona 500 at 72 years of age, was slowest in his No. 58 JC Weaver Motorsports Chevrolet.
Testing at Daytona International Speedway continues tomorrow.
Monday testing speeds at Daytona:
Pos Driver Make Speed (mph)
1. David Gilliland Ford 185.090
2. Jeremy Mayfield Toyota 184.854
3. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 184.744
4. David Stremme Dodge 184.729
5. Regan Smith Chevrolet 184.581
[B]6. Juan Pablo Montoya Dodge 184.570[/B]
7. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 184.434
8. Denny Hamlin Chevrolet 184.385
9. J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 184.226
10. Elliott Sadler Dodge 184.134
11. Kyle Busch Chevrolet 184.075
12. David Ragan Ford 184.049
13. Johnny Sauter Chevrolet 184.030
14. Mark Martin Chevrolet 183.981
15. Mike Skinner Toyota 183.835
16. Matt Kenseth Ford 183.775
17. Kurt Busch Dodge 183.426
18. Ryan Newman Dodge 183.400
19. Michael Waltrip Toyota 183.307
20. David Reutimann Toyota 183.191
21. Kenny Wallace Chevrolet 183.132
22. Kyle Petty Dodge 183.061
23. Ken Schrader Ford 182.815
24. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 182.789
25. AJ Allmendinger Toyota 182.689
26. Paul Menard Chevrolet 182.630
27. Ward Burton Chevrolet 182.216
28. Carl Edwards Ford 181.958
29. Mike Wallace Chevrolet 181.635
30. Kevin Lepage Dodge 181.411
31. Mike Bliss Dodge 180.930
32. Stanton Barrett Chevrolet 180.411
33. Brandon Whitt Chevrolet 180.393
34. James Hylton Chevrolet 180.058[/QUOTE]
| StuBeck | 01-15-2007 10:34 PM |
Well thats awesome.
| Chromer | 01-15-2007 11:19 PM |
Good job by Toyota, too.
| Ferg | 01-16-2007 07:16 PM |
Must be the burgers. :)
[QUOTE][B]Montoya tops morning session
[/B]
By Diego Mejia Tuesday, January 16th 2007, 23:18 GMT
Juan Pablo Montoya showed he is quickly getting to grips with the Daytona banking after topping the morning session on his second day at the NASCAR Jackson Hewitt Preseason Thunder testing.
After being sixth quickest yesterday, Montoya emerged quickest in Tuesday's morning session at Daytona, setting a speed of 184.754 miles per hour on the second of eleven laps he completed.
It's the first time Montoya tests at the famous 2.5 mile tri-oval, after trying out the road course version of the track earlier this month in the Daytona Prorotype he will race next week in the Rolex 24 Hours.
Showing signs of progress for Chip Ganassi Racing, David Stremme posted the second fastest speed in the session with his No. 40 Dodge at 184.479 mph, followed by Monday's pace-setter David Gilliland in his No. 38 Ford.
A drafting session is scheduled for the afternoon, so speeds are expected to increase relative to this morning's single-car runs.
Tuesday morning testing speeds at Daytona:
Pos Driver Make Speed (mph)
1. Juan Pablo Montoya Dodge 184.574
2. David Stremme Dodge 184.479
3. David Gilliland Ford 184.415
4. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 184.309
5. Matt Kenseth Ford 184.200
6. Elliott Sadler Dodge 184.196
7. Mike Skinner Toyota 184.090
8. Denny Hamlin Chevrolet 183.993
9. Kyle Busch Chevrolet 183.940
10. Mark Martin Chevrolet 183.857
11. Jeremy Mayfield Toyota 183.809
12. J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 183.801
13. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 183.625
14. Johnny Saute Chevrolet 183.445
15. David Ragan Ford 183.382
16. Kyle Petty Dodge 183.255
17. David Reutimann Toyota 183.102
18. Ryan Newman Dodge 183.046
19. Ward Burton Chevrolet 182.901
20. Kurt Busch Dodge 182.849
21. Michael Waltrip Toyota 182.808
22. Regan Smith Chevrolet 182.804
23. Kenny Wallace Chevrolet 182.741
24. AJ Allmendinger Toyota 182.460
25. Paul Menard Chevrolet 182.330
26. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 182.131
27. Ken Schrader Ford 181.859
28. Carl Edwards Ford 181.800
29. Mike Wallace Chevrolet 181.532
30. Kevin Lepage Dodge 181.459
31. Mike Bliss Dodge 181.167
32. Brandon Whitt Chevrolet 180.687
32. Stanton Barrett Chevrolet 180.458
34. James Hylton Chevrolet 180.086[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE][B]Newman heads drafting session
[/B]
By Diego Mejia Tuesday, January 16th 2007, 23:44 GMT
Ryan Newman emerged fastest during Tuesday's NASCAR Jackson Hewitt Preseason Thunder testing after topping the afternoon drafting session at Daytona International Speedway.
Newman drafted his No. 12A Penske Dodge to set a lap of 48.247 seconds, an average speed of 186.540 miles per hour, the fastest this week so far.
"I think we are more ahead this time then where we were last year," Newman said. "This is the same car that we finished third with in the Daytona 500 last year."
David Ragan, who replaces Mark Martin in the No. 6 Roush Racing Ford, was second quickest at 186.536 mph, splitting the two Penske cars as Kurt Busch was third in the No. 2 Dodge.
Juan Pablo Montoya, who topped the morning single-car runs, finished the day in twelfth place, driving Chip Ganassi's No. 42 Dodge.
Nevertheless his day was not without trouble as he had a small brush with the wall. There was no major damage to his car though and he was able to carry on with his testing duties.
Three-time Daytona 500 winner Jeff Gordon was again the fastest Chevrolet in fourth and continued to show consistency both in single-car runs and in the draft.
The fastest Toyota driver in the draft was David Reutimann, whose Camry was the only one to lap in the 186 mph bracket.
Mike Skinner, A.J. Allmendinger and Jeremy Mayfield lapped just above 184 mph, while Michael Waltrip's car was the slowest Toyota, setting his best lap at 183.016 mph, nearly a second off the pace.
Nextel Cup testing at Daytona concludes tomorrow.
Tuesday afternoon testing speeds at Daytona:
Pos Driver Make Speed (mph)
1. Ryan Newman Dodge 186.540
2. David Ragan Ford 186.536
3. Kurt Busch Dodge 186.501
4. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 186.463
5. Matt Kenseth Ford 186.455
6. Denny Hamlin Chevrolet 186.401
7. David Reutimann Toyota 186.397
8. Elliott Sadler Dodge 186.150
9. Regan Smith Chevrolet 186.016
10. Carl Edwards Ford 185.947
11. Mike Wallace Chevrolet 185.866
12. Juan Pablo Montoya Dodge 185.778
13. David Stremme Dodge 185.563
14. Mark Martin Chevrolet 185.311
15. J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 185.208
16. David Gilliland Ford 184.805
17. Kyle Busch Chevrolet 184.566
18. Mike Skinner Toyota 184.540
19. Stanton Barrett Chevrolet 184.449
20. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 184.313
21. AJ Allmendinger Toyota 184.241
22. Johnny Sauter Chevrolet 184.185
23. Jeremy Mayfield Toyota 184.011
24. Kyle Petty Dodge 183.775
25. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 183.340
26. Ken Schrader Ford 183.165
27. Kenny Wallace Chevrolet 183.113
28. Michael Waltrip Toyota 183.016
29. Ward Burton Chevrolet 182.908
30. Kevin Lepage Dodge 182.905
31. Paul Menard Chevrolet 182.801
32. Brandon Whitt Chevrolet 181.108
33. Mike Bliss Dodge 181.101
34. James Hylton Chevrolet 180.658[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE][B]Montoya tops morning session
[/B]
By Diego Mejia Tuesday, January 16th 2007, 23:18 GMT
Juan Pablo Montoya showed he is quickly getting to grips with the Daytona banking after topping the morning session on his second day at the NASCAR Jackson Hewitt Preseason Thunder testing.
After being sixth quickest yesterday, Montoya emerged quickest in Tuesday's morning session at Daytona, setting a speed of 184.754 miles per hour on the second of eleven laps he completed.
It's the first time Montoya tests at the famous 2.5 mile tri-oval, after trying out the road course version of the track earlier this month in the Daytona Prorotype he will race next week in the Rolex 24 Hours.
Showing signs of progress for Chip Ganassi Racing, David Stremme posted the second fastest speed in the session with his No. 40 Dodge at 184.479 mph, followed by Monday's pace-setter David Gilliland in his No. 38 Ford.
A drafting session is scheduled for the afternoon, so speeds are expected to increase relative to this morning's single-car runs.
Tuesday morning testing speeds at Daytona:
Pos Driver Make Speed (mph)
1. Juan Pablo Montoya Dodge 184.574
2. David Stremme Dodge 184.479
3. David Gilliland Ford 184.415
4. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 184.309
5. Matt Kenseth Ford 184.200
6. Elliott Sadler Dodge 184.196
7. Mike Skinner Toyota 184.090
8. Denny Hamlin Chevrolet 183.993
9. Kyle Busch Chevrolet 183.940
10. Mark Martin Chevrolet 183.857
11. Jeremy Mayfield Toyota 183.809
12. J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 183.801
13. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 183.625
14. Johnny Saute Chevrolet 183.445
15. David Ragan Ford 183.382
16. Kyle Petty Dodge 183.255
17. David Reutimann Toyota 183.102
18. Ryan Newman Dodge 183.046
19. Ward Burton Chevrolet 182.901
20. Kurt Busch Dodge 182.849
21. Michael Waltrip Toyota 182.808
22. Regan Smith Chevrolet 182.804
23. Kenny Wallace Chevrolet 182.741
24. AJ Allmendinger Toyota 182.460
25. Paul Menard Chevrolet 182.330
26. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 182.131
27. Ken Schrader Ford 181.859
28. Carl Edwards Ford 181.800
29. Mike Wallace Chevrolet 181.532
30. Kevin Lepage Dodge 181.459
31. Mike Bliss Dodge 181.167
32. Brandon Whitt Chevrolet 180.687
32. Stanton Barrett Chevrolet 180.458
34. James Hylton Chevrolet 180.086[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE][B]Newman heads drafting session
[/B]
By Diego Mejia Tuesday, January 16th 2007, 23:44 GMT
Ryan Newman emerged fastest during Tuesday's NASCAR Jackson Hewitt Preseason Thunder testing after topping the afternoon drafting session at Daytona International Speedway.
Newman drafted his No. 12A Penske Dodge to set a lap of 48.247 seconds, an average speed of 186.540 miles per hour, the fastest this week so far.
"I think we are more ahead this time then where we were last year," Newman said. "This is the same car that we finished third with in the Daytona 500 last year."
David Ragan, who replaces Mark Martin in the No. 6 Roush Racing Ford, was second quickest at 186.536 mph, splitting the two Penske cars as Kurt Busch was third in the No. 2 Dodge.
Juan Pablo Montoya, who topped the morning single-car runs, finished the day in twelfth place, driving Chip Ganassi's No. 42 Dodge.
Nevertheless his day was not without trouble as he had a small brush with the wall. There was no major damage to his car though and he was able to carry on with his testing duties.
Three-time Daytona 500 winner Jeff Gordon was again the fastest Chevrolet in fourth and continued to show consistency both in single-car runs and in the draft.
The fastest Toyota driver in the draft was David Reutimann, whose Camry was the only one to lap in the 186 mph bracket.
Mike Skinner, A.J. Allmendinger and Jeremy Mayfield lapped just above 184 mph, while Michael Waltrip's car was the slowest Toyota, setting his best lap at 183.016 mph, nearly a second off the pace.
Nextel Cup testing at Daytona concludes tomorrow.
Tuesday afternoon testing speeds at Daytona:
Pos Driver Make Speed (mph)
1. Ryan Newman Dodge 186.540
2. David Ragan Ford 186.536
3. Kurt Busch Dodge 186.501
4. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 186.463
5. Matt Kenseth Ford 186.455
6. Denny Hamlin Chevrolet 186.401
7. David Reutimann Toyota 186.397
8. Elliott Sadler Dodge 186.150
9. Regan Smith Chevrolet 186.016
10. Carl Edwards Ford 185.947
11. Mike Wallace Chevrolet 185.866
12. Juan Pablo Montoya Dodge 185.778
13. David Stremme Dodge 185.563
14. Mark Martin Chevrolet 185.311
15. J.J. Yeley Chevrolet 185.208
16. David Gilliland Ford 184.805
17. Kyle Busch Chevrolet 184.566
18. Mike Skinner Toyota 184.540
19. Stanton Barrett Chevrolet 184.449
20. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 184.313
21. AJ Allmendinger Toyota 184.241
22. Johnny Sauter Chevrolet 184.185
23. Jeremy Mayfield Toyota 184.011
24. Kyle Petty Dodge 183.775
25. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 183.340
26. Ken Schrader Ford 183.165
27. Kenny Wallace Chevrolet 183.113
28. Michael Waltrip Toyota 183.016
29. Ward Burton Chevrolet 182.908
30. Kevin Lepage Dodge 182.905
31. Paul Menard Chevrolet 182.801
32. Brandon Whitt Chevrolet 181.108
33. Mike Bliss Dodge 181.101
34. James Hylton Chevrolet 180.658[/QUOTE]
| REX8 | 01-16-2007 07:26 PM |
Thanks Ferg....
Keep it coming :banana:
I hope Montoya jumps into as many different seats as he can. Like more top drivers used to do.
Keep it coming :banana:
I hope Montoya jumps into as many different seats as he can. Like more top drivers used to do.
| BillT | 01-17-2007 08:46 AM |
Not a huge fan of Montoya in F1, but I wish him the best of luck in his new endeavors - I'll probably start watching his races just to chear him on.
| Ferg | 01-29-2007 12:11 PM |
JPM scores overall win at Daytona 24 Hours.
[QUOTE][B]Montoya, Pruett, Duran win Rolex 24[/B]
By Diego Mejia Sunday, January 28th 2007, 20:49 GMT
Juan Pablo Montoya, Scott Pruett and Salvador Duran took overall victory in the 45th anniversary of the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, driving the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus Riley and giving the team back-to-back victories in the endurance race.
Montoya also became the first driver to win the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, the Indy 500 and the Monaco Grand Prix, as the Colombian prepares for his first full season in the NASCAR Nextel Cup.
"It's an amazing feeling," Montoya said after the race. "It's incredible: after 20 hours, there were three cars on the same lap, but it was like qualifying speed every lap. Very exciting."
For Ganassi, the achievement was emotional. "This was just a total team win," the team owner said after becoming the first to win the Daytona 24 Hours consecutively team owner Al Holbert achieved this in 1986 and 1987.
"Al was somebody I wanted to be like when I was growing up, so I'm going to think about this one for a long time."
The race started with pole-sitter Alex Gurney leading the way until he clipped the rear of a GT-class car on lap four and was forced to pit for repairs, losing several laps. Max Angelelli, AJ Allmendinger and Bill Auberlen all led the race briefly afterwards.
Approaching hour two, Scott Pruett, driving the No. 01 car, took the lead just before handing the car over to Juan Pablo Montoya. The Colombian was then closely followed by the second Ganassi car driven by Scott Dixon, who ran a longer first stint.
Montoya then led the majority of his 2.5-hour stint, building a one-lap cushion to the No. 02 Ganassi car, then driven by Dan Wheldon. A1GP race winner Salvador Duran then took over from Montoya, driving for about an hour and keeping the car in the lead before giving it back to Pruett.
Pruett briefly handed the lead to the No. 11 machine, driven then by Darren Manning, who shone in his first stint in the car.
Behind them, the No. 58 Brumos Red Bull Porsche steadily became a contender for the lead until it was hit by a slower car, forcing both into the garage for lengthy repairs, which blighted Porsche's chances of victory.
Pruett and Duran drove further stints before handing the No. 01 car back to Montoya, who had to tackle the most eventful part of the race, once past the eleventh hour. The forecasted rain finally arrived in the form of a slight drizzle, which made conditions tricky for some.
That was the case with the No. 82 GT-class Porsche, driven by American Chris Pallis, who crashed into the guardrail separating the pit road exit from the track, causing extensive damage to it and forcing the race to be red flagged. Pallis wasn't injured in the incident.
All cars lined up at the end of the pits and stayed there for 78 minutes as officials worked on fixing almost 80 feet of guardrail. Close to the thirteenth hour mark, the cars took to the track again, but the race remained under caution for more than half an hour more.
More significant trouble came late last night when former F1 driver Gaston Mazzacane spun off and hit a guardrail in the infield section of the track. The Argentinean was unconscious and taken to a nearby hospital, where he is reported to be in good condition but will remain for observation.
As the racing resumed, Montoya set the pace in the rain, followed first by the sister No. 02 car driven by Memo Rojas, and then by the No. 11 Citgo Pontiac Riley car driven by Ryan Dalziel.
Behind them, Max Angelelli was already up to third in the No. 10 SunTrust car recovering from mechanical problems they had in the first part of the race. Their speed and the safety car rules allowed them to get to the lead lap in the last quarter of the race.
The Ganassi team held a comfortable lead heading into the early morning hours, but a conservative tyre choice as the track went from wet to dry saw them taking on an extra pitstop relative to the No. 11 car driven by Dalziel, which led the race into the last four hours.
At the same time, the No. 02 car, the defending race winner, went out of contention while running as Memo Rojas slid into the tyre barrier in turn one, damaging the car beyond repair.
The last three hours of the race became a sprint, with Dalziel closely followed by Angelelli and Montoya, with the Italian putting pressure on the Scot, while Montoya looked happy to follow them and save fuel.
That was until Dalziel pitted for tyre and fuel and Angelelli ran wide, handing the lead back to the No. 01 Ganassi car, with Montoya also running longer than his two rivals. After changing four tyres and refuelling, Montoya rejoined in the lead for his last stint.
Angelelli lost contact with the leading duo for a while as his car lost the clutch early into the race, making every pitstop a handicap. The Italian quickly started to gain on the leaders, though, putting his car in contention for victory again before finishing his last stint.
With less than two hours to go, Montoya pitted last among the top three runners, handing the driving of the leading No. 01 Ganassi car to Scott Pruett.
The American drove a trouble-free last stint, while Patrick Carpentier had to pit for repairs after slight contact with another car, while the No. 10 car driven by Jan Magnussen had to slow its pace after facing brake problems.
Pruett drove the No. 01 Ganassi car through the finish line on lap 668 to give the team their second consecutive victory, ahead of the No. 11 car of Ryan Dalziel, Patrick Carpentier, Darren Manning and Milka Duno. The Pontiac Riley was the only car on the same lap as the winners.
In the GT Class, the No. 74 Porsche GT3 of Lux, Henzler, Farnbacher and Tafel led the early part of the race until Lux spun into turn one, giving the lead to the No. 85 similar car which ran into mechanical trouble with less than two hours to go while driven by Dirk Werner.
From then on it was the No. 22 Porsche of Carlos De Quesada, Jean- Francois Dumoulin, Scooter Gabel and Marc Basseng, which led the GT Class taking a close victory over the No. 7 car of Paul Edwards, Kelly Collins and Andy Pilgrim. Both cars finished in the same lap.
Taking the chequered flag for the No. 01 car, Pruett paid tribute to his machine: "This is very cool. It's a huge thing for Ganassi and Lexus.
"The car never missed a beat. I was getting a little nervous there at the end, but the car was just rock solid the whole time. We never spent any time in the pits."[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE][B]Montoya, Pruett, Duran win Rolex 24[/B]
By Diego Mejia Sunday, January 28th 2007, 20:49 GMT
Juan Pablo Montoya, Scott Pruett and Salvador Duran took overall victory in the 45th anniversary of the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, driving the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Lexus Riley and giving the team back-to-back victories in the endurance race.
Montoya also became the first driver to win the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, the Indy 500 and the Monaco Grand Prix, as the Colombian prepares for his first full season in the NASCAR Nextel Cup.
"It's an amazing feeling," Montoya said after the race. "It's incredible: after 20 hours, there were three cars on the same lap, but it was like qualifying speed every lap. Very exciting."
For Ganassi, the achievement was emotional. "This was just a total team win," the team owner said after becoming the first to win the Daytona 24 Hours consecutively team owner Al Holbert achieved this in 1986 and 1987.
"Al was somebody I wanted to be like when I was growing up, so I'm going to think about this one for a long time."
The race started with pole-sitter Alex Gurney leading the way until he clipped the rear of a GT-class car on lap four and was forced to pit for repairs, losing several laps. Max Angelelli, AJ Allmendinger and Bill Auberlen all led the race briefly afterwards.
Approaching hour two, Scott Pruett, driving the No. 01 car, took the lead just before handing the car over to Juan Pablo Montoya. The Colombian was then closely followed by the second Ganassi car driven by Scott Dixon, who ran a longer first stint.
Montoya then led the majority of his 2.5-hour stint, building a one-lap cushion to the No. 02 Ganassi car, then driven by Dan Wheldon. A1GP race winner Salvador Duran then took over from Montoya, driving for about an hour and keeping the car in the lead before giving it back to Pruett.
Pruett briefly handed the lead to the No. 11 machine, driven then by Darren Manning, who shone in his first stint in the car.
Behind them, the No. 58 Brumos Red Bull Porsche steadily became a contender for the lead until it was hit by a slower car, forcing both into the garage for lengthy repairs, which blighted Porsche's chances of victory.
Pruett and Duran drove further stints before handing the No. 01 car back to Montoya, who had to tackle the most eventful part of the race, once past the eleventh hour. The forecasted rain finally arrived in the form of a slight drizzle, which made conditions tricky for some.
That was the case with the No. 82 GT-class Porsche, driven by American Chris Pallis, who crashed into the guardrail separating the pit road exit from the track, causing extensive damage to it and forcing the race to be red flagged. Pallis wasn't injured in the incident.
All cars lined up at the end of the pits and stayed there for 78 minutes as officials worked on fixing almost 80 feet of guardrail. Close to the thirteenth hour mark, the cars took to the track again, but the race remained under caution for more than half an hour more.
More significant trouble came late last night when former F1 driver Gaston Mazzacane spun off and hit a guardrail in the infield section of the track. The Argentinean was unconscious and taken to a nearby hospital, where he is reported to be in good condition but will remain for observation.
As the racing resumed, Montoya set the pace in the rain, followed first by the sister No. 02 car driven by Memo Rojas, and then by the No. 11 Citgo Pontiac Riley car driven by Ryan Dalziel.
Behind them, Max Angelelli was already up to third in the No. 10 SunTrust car recovering from mechanical problems they had in the first part of the race. Their speed and the safety car rules allowed them to get to the lead lap in the last quarter of the race.
The Ganassi team held a comfortable lead heading into the early morning hours, but a conservative tyre choice as the track went from wet to dry saw them taking on an extra pitstop relative to the No. 11 car driven by Dalziel, which led the race into the last four hours.
At the same time, the No. 02 car, the defending race winner, went out of contention while running as Memo Rojas slid into the tyre barrier in turn one, damaging the car beyond repair.
The last three hours of the race became a sprint, with Dalziel closely followed by Angelelli and Montoya, with the Italian putting pressure on the Scot, while Montoya looked happy to follow them and save fuel.
That was until Dalziel pitted for tyre and fuel and Angelelli ran wide, handing the lead back to the No. 01 Ganassi car, with Montoya also running longer than his two rivals. After changing four tyres and refuelling, Montoya rejoined in the lead for his last stint.
Angelelli lost contact with the leading duo for a while as his car lost the clutch early into the race, making every pitstop a handicap. The Italian quickly started to gain on the leaders, though, putting his car in contention for victory again before finishing his last stint.
With less than two hours to go, Montoya pitted last among the top three runners, handing the driving of the leading No. 01 Ganassi car to Scott Pruett.
The American drove a trouble-free last stint, while Patrick Carpentier had to pit for repairs after slight contact with another car, while the No. 10 car driven by Jan Magnussen had to slow its pace after facing brake problems.
Pruett drove the No. 01 Ganassi car through the finish line on lap 668 to give the team their second consecutive victory, ahead of the No. 11 car of Ryan Dalziel, Patrick Carpentier, Darren Manning and Milka Duno. The Pontiac Riley was the only car on the same lap as the winners.
In the GT Class, the No. 74 Porsche GT3 of Lux, Henzler, Farnbacher and Tafel led the early part of the race until Lux spun into turn one, giving the lead to the No. 85 similar car which ran into mechanical trouble with less than two hours to go while driven by Dirk Werner.
From then on it was the No. 22 Porsche of Carlos De Quesada, Jean- Francois Dumoulin, Scooter Gabel and Marc Basseng, which led the GT Class taking a close victory over the No. 7 car of Paul Edwards, Kelly Collins and Andy Pilgrim. Both cars finished in the same lap.
Taking the chequered flag for the No. 01 car, Pruett paid tribute to his machine: "This is very cool. It's a huge thing for Ganassi and Lexus.
"The car never missed a beat. I was getting a little nervous there at the end, but the car was just rock solid the whole time. We never spent any time in the pits."[/QUOTE]
| REX8 | 01-29-2007 01:37 PM |
I think Chily Dog needed that one. Some good racing at times there.
| hotrod | 01-31-2007 02:01 AM |
Very cool to watch three premier drivers running in train at qualifying speeds there when they all were dicing for the lead.
Glad JPM's team did well Ganassi is a class act and earned that victory with a top of the line team and good effort from everyone.
Salvador Duran was pretty impressive too!
Larry
Glad JPM's team did well Ganassi is a class act and earned that victory with a top of the line team and good effort from everyone.
Salvador Duran was pretty impressive too!
Larry
| scoobyRx | 01-31-2007 02:29 AM |
never been a big jpm fan, but I'd love to see him come in to cup and kick some butt. I think he's motivated to show F1 boys he's still got it.
| STFU STi | 01-31-2007 10:01 AM |
^ +1 I just really wished he were in a toyota...
| Ferg | 01-31-2007 10:02 AM |
JPM on testing...
[QUOTE][B]Montoya predicts steep learning curve[/B]
By Diego Mejia Wednesday, January 31st 2007, 09:42 GMT
Juan Pablo Montoya has admitted he still has a lot to learn about the 1.5-mile ovals after struggling during a two-day test at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this week.
Montoya flew in from Daytona on Sunday after winning the Rolex 24 Hours and claimed the hectic schedule was getting the better of him. However, he was happy to be back in his Cup car.
"Yesterday afternoon I was really tired," Montoya said. "At 5:00 PM, every time we stopped in the car, I was nearly falling asleep. It was okay. It was a great experience actually to get back in the car."
The Colombian, who had set some impressive speeds during testing at Daytona International Speedway earlier this month, was unable to replicate his performance at the ultra-quick Las Vegas 1.5-mile oval.
"It's a pretty fast racetrack. I'm amazed how fast it is. I thought Homestead was fast, but this place, you know, you got to get back on the gas so fast, you are not even completely off the gas ever.
"I'm not even touching the brakes all the way around. I'm 4/10 tenths off or something, maybe 2 or 3/10 tenths off a top car in race trim. We're getting there, but still a long way to go."
A.J. Allmendinger, another NASCAR Nextel Cup rookie with open wheel background, showed how difficult the switch to this kind of ovals can be, after crashing twice in as many days of testing at the same track this week.
With only a few days to go before the season-opener, Montoya claims he will be happy with a top-fifteen finish in the Daytona 500.
"Is it going to be really hard? Yes, it's going to be really hard. Am I aiming to win? I'm more aiming to get the car to the end of the race to be realistic," he said.
"Do we have a shot at it? Am I going to try to win it? Yes. I would be really happy if we can get a top 20, top 15 out of that race."
Montoya will take part in one of the Gatorade Duels before taking on the season opener. He is also scheduled to race in the 300-mile Busch race on February 17, a day before the Daytona 500.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE][B]Montoya predicts steep learning curve[/B]
By Diego Mejia Wednesday, January 31st 2007, 09:42 GMT
Juan Pablo Montoya has admitted he still has a lot to learn about the 1.5-mile ovals after struggling during a two-day test at Las Vegas Motor Speedway this week.
Montoya flew in from Daytona on Sunday after winning the Rolex 24 Hours and claimed the hectic schedule was getting the better of him. However, he was happy to be back in his Cup car.
"Yesterday afternoon I was really tired," Montoya said. "At 5:00 PM, every time we stopped in the car, I was nearly falling asleep. It was okay. It was a great experience actually to get back in the car."
The Colombian, who had set some impressive speeds during testing at Daytona International Speedway earlier this month, was unable to replicate his performance at the ultra-quick Las Vegas 1.5-mile oval.
"It's a pretty fast racetrack. I'm amazed how fast it is. I thought Homestead was fast, but this place, you know, you got to get back on the gas so fast, you are not even completely off the gas ever.
"I'm not even touching the brakes all the way around. I'm 4/10 tenths off or something, maybe 2 or 3/10 tenths off a top car in race trim. We're getting there, but still a long way to go."
A.J. Allmendinger, another NASCAR Nextel Cup rookie with open wheel background, showed how difficult the switch to this kind of ovals can be, after crashing twice in as many days of testing at the same track this week.
With only a few days to go before the season-opener, Montoya claims he will be happy with a top-fifteen finish in the Daytona 500.
"Is it going to be really hard? Yes, it's going to be really hard. Am I aiming to win? I'm more aiming to get the car to the end of the race to be realistic," he said.
"Do we have a shot at it? Am I going to try to win it? Yes. I would be really happy if we can get a top 20, top 15 out of that race."
Montoya will take part in one of the Gatorade Duels before taking on the season opener. He is also scheduled to race in the 300-mile Busch race on February 17, a day before the Daytona 500.[/QUOTE]
| zoomfactor | 01-31-2007 08:03 PM |
Can't wait for JPM to hit the road courses in the Nextel Cup - forget this long drawn out Daytona 500 stuff ;)
| REX8 | 01-31-2007 09:34 PM |
Anyone read Honda's comments that JOM would have had a "different" F1 career if he had driven for them. Claiming they work just as hard on a drivers metal health as well as his physical aspects.
Meh....maybe. If it would have kept him in a little longer, I'd have liked to see it!
Good luck Chilly Dog!
Meh....maybe. If it would have kept him in a little longer, I'd have liked to see it!
Good luck Chilly Dog!
| Ferg | 02-08-2007 02:35 PM |
JPM speaks a bit...
[QUOTE][B][U]Montoya 'realistic' for Daytona[/U][/B]
Thursday, February 8th 2007, 17:14 GMT
Juan Pablo Montoya is trying to remain realistic as he prepares to make his Daytona 500 debut later this month.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Autosport magazine this week, the Colombian said that the competitive nature of the series means he must not aim too high.
"I'm going into the race trying to win it," he said, "but I've got to be realistic. There are some great drivers out there.
"I think I would be happy if I can bring the car home in the top 15, that's how competitive the series is."
Montoya agreed with the majority of his new rivals that there is little skill involved in driving a car on its own around the superspeedway, but he added that racing in a pack will be difficult.
"In testing I was flat everywhere on my first flying lap, so it's not hard," he said. "The skill at Daytona is in the racing - how you draft and use the other cars. That's really difficult."[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE][B][U]Montoya 'realistic' for Daytona[/U][/B]
Thursday, February 8th 2007, 17:14 GMT
Juan Pablo Montoya is trying to remain realistic as he prepares to make his Daytona 500 debut later this month.
Speaking in an exclusive interview with Autosport magazine this week, the Colombian said that the competitive nature of the series means he must not aim too high.
"I'm going into the race trying to win it," he said, "but I've got to be realistic. There are some great drivers out there.
"I think I would be happy if I can bring the car home in the top 15, that's how competitive the series is."
Montoya agreed with the majority of his new rivals that there is little skill involved in driving a car on its own around the superspeedway, but he added that racing in a pack will be difficult.
"In testing I was flat everywhere on my first flying lap, so it's not hard," he said. "The skill at Daytona is in the racing - how you draft and use the other cars. That's really difficult."[/QUOTE]
| Ferg | 02-12-2007 01:26 PM |
So I know there's a NASCAR thread going for 2007, but I thought I'd keep this one rolling specifically for the JPM fans who want to follow the progress of his Grand Adventure and don't want to put up with all teh NASCAR hater crap...which means if you want to bash NASCAR do it somewhere else...
[QUOTE][B][U]Yates duo on front row at Daytona[/U][/B]
By Diego Mejia Sunday, February 11th 2007, 22:52 GMT
Ricky Rudd and David Gilliland secure the front row for the Daytona 500Robert Yates Racing drivers David Gilliland and Ricky Rudd have secured the front row of the grid for the Daytona 500 after being fastest among the 61 drivers who qualified on Sunday for the Nextel Cup season opener.
After being quickest on Saturday practice in preparation for qualifying, all eyes were on returning veteran Ricky Rudd to take pole. However, he could not beat the speed set by his teammate David Gilliland.
Gilliland, who will start his first Daytona 500 from pole position, set a speed of 186.320 mph driving his No. 38 Snickers Ford, while Rudd was more than a tenth of a second slower in second, with a speed of 185.609 mph.
[I]Just as impressive as the Robert Yates Racing duo were Ganassi drivers David Stremme and Juan Pablo Montoya.
The Colombian, entering his first Daytona 500, was the 30th driver on the track and set the second fastest speed behind Gilliland.
However, he was later bumped by Stremme with a speed of 185.487 mph, relative to the 185.338, previously set by Montoya. The former Formula One star was still fastest among the rookies.
[/I]
Among the previous Daytona 500 champions, Jeff Gordon was the fastest in qualifying, finishing the session in seventh. Teammate and current Nextel Cup champion Jimmie Johnson qualified tenth.
Fastest among the Toyotas were Michael Waltrip Racing driver David Reutimann and Bill Davis racer Jeremy Mayfield. However, both will have to secure their place on the grid on the Gatorade Duels on Thursday.
With only the front row of the grid for the Daytona 500 set so far, positions 3 to 39 will be determined by the finishing orders of the Duels. The drivers who qualified on Sunday will be split into two groups for the two 150-mile races.
The final four spots of the grid are determined based on the qualifying speeds from the cars that did not earn a starting position based on owner points status or finishing position in the Duels.
However, the last spot on the starting field could go to a former champion who is eligible to use the champions provisional rule.
Daytona 500 Qualifying results:
Pos Driver Make Speed Time
1. David Gilliland Ford 186.320 48.304
2. Ricky Rudd Ford 185.609 48.489 + 0.185
3. David Stremme Dodge 185.487 48.521 + 0.217
[B]4. Juan Montoya Dodge 185.338 48.560 + 0.256[/B]
5. David Ragan Ford 185.300 48.570 + 0.266
6. Boris Said Ford 185.212 48.593 + 0.289
7. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 185.079 48.628 + 0.324
8. Sterling Marlin Chevrolet 184.945 48.663 + 0.359
9. Johnny Sauter Chevrolet 184.850 48.688 + 0.384
10. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 184.767 48.710 + 0.406
11. Matt Kenseth Ford 184.638 48.744 + 0.440
12. Casey Mears Chevrolet 184.634 48.745 + 0.441
13. Kyle Busch Chevrolet 184.509 48.778 + 0.474
14. Denny Hamlin Chevrolet 184.449 48.794 + 0.490
15. David Reutimann Toyota 184.419 48.802 + 0.498
16. Jeremy Mayfield Toyota 184.351 48.820 + 0.516
17. JJ Yeley Chevrolet 184.336 48.824 + 0.520
18. Mike Skinner Toyota 184.324 48.827 + 0.523
19. Tony Stewart Chevrolet 184.260 48.844 + 0.540
20. Elliott Sadler Dodge 184.256 48.845 + 0.541
21. Jamie McMurray Ford 184.211 48.857 + 0.553
22. Martin Truex Jr Chevrolet 184.139 48.876 + 0.572
23. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet 184.008 48.911 + 0.607
24. Bobby Labonte Dodge 184.000 48.913 + 0.609
25. Michael Waltrip Toyota 183.899 48.940 + 0.636
26. Regan Smith Chevrolet 183.865 48.949 + 0.645
27. Jeff Green Chevrolet 183.662 49.003 + 0.699
28. Kasey Kahne Dodge 183.610 49.017 + 0.713
29. Ryan Newman Dodge 183.602 49.019 + 0.715
30. Greg Biffle Ford 183.535 49.037 + 0.733
31. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 183.494 49.048 + 0.744
32. Ward Burton Chevrolet 183.464 49.056 + 0.752
33. Paul Menard Chevrolet 183.426 49.066 + 0.762
34. Kyle Petty Dodge 183.329 49.092 + 0.788
35. Mark Martin Chevrolet 183.266 49.109 + 0.805
36. Tony Raines Chevrolet 183.094 49.155 + 0.851
37. Kurt Busch Dodge 183.068 49.162 + 0.858
38. Robby Gordon Ford 183.050 49.167 + 0.863
39. Dave Blaney Toyota 183.035 49.171 + 0.867
40. AJ Allmendinger Toyota 182.856 49.219 + 0.915
41. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 182.771 49.242 + 0.938
42. Kevin Lepage Dodge 182.711 49.258 + 0.954
43. Bill Elliott Dodge 182.708 49.259 + 0.955
44. Reed Sorenson Dodge 182.559 49.299 + 0.995
45. Brian Vickers Toyota 182.508 49.313 + 1.009
46. Kenny Wallace Chevrolet 182.500 49.315 + 1.011
47. Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 182.474 49.322 + 1.018
48. Ken Schrader Ford 182.452 49.328 + 1.024
49. Scott Riggs Dodge 182.437 49.332 + 1.028
50. Dale Jarrett Toyota 182.061 49.434 + 1.130
51. Carl Edwards Ford 182.020 49.445 + 1.141
52. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 181.976 49.457 + 1.153
53. Frank Kimmel Ford 181.693 49.534 + 1.230
54. Mike Bliss Dodge 181.540 49.576 + 1.272
55. Eric McClure Chevrolet 181.269 49.650 + 1.346
56. Stanton Barrett Chevrolet 181.163 49.679 + 1.375
57. Kirk Shelmerdine Chevrolet 181.127 49.689 + 1.385
58. Brandon Whitt Chevrolet 180.473 49.869 + 1.565
59. Derrike Cope Dodge 180.354 49.902 + 1.598
60. James Hylton Chevrolet 179.637 50.101 + 1.797
61. Mike Wallace Chevrolet 171.305 52.538 + 4.234
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE][B][U]Yates duo on front row at Daytona[/U][/B]
By Diego Mejia Sunday, February 11th 2007, 22:52 GMT
Ricky Rudd and David Gilliland secure the front row for the Daytona 500Robert Yates Racing drivers David Gilliland and Ricky Rudd have secured the front row of the grid for the Daytona 500 after being fastest among the 61 drivers who qualified on Sunday for the Nextel Cup season opener.
After being quickest on Saturday practice in preparation for qualifying, all eyes were on returning veteran Ricky Rudd to take pole. However, he could not beat the speed set by his teammate David Gilliland.
Gilliland, who will start his first Daytona 500 from pole position, set a speed of 186.320 mph driving his No. 38 Snickers Ford, while Rudd was more than a tenth of a second slower in second, with a speed of 185.609 mph.
[I]Just as impressive as the Robert Yates Racing duo were Ganassi drivers David Stremme and Juan Pablo Montoya.
The Colombian, entering his first Daytona 500, was the 30th driver on the track and set the second fastest speed behind Gilliland.
However, he was later bumped by Stremme with a speed of 185.487 mph, relative to the 185.338, previously set by Montoya. The former Formula One star was still fastest among the rookies.
[/I]
Among the previous Daytona 500 champions, Jeff Gordon was the fastest in qualifying, finishing the session in seventh. Teammate and current Nextel Cup champion Jimmie Johnson qualified tenth.
Fastest among the Toyotas were Michael Waltrip Racing driver David Reutimann and Bill Davis racer Jeremy Mayfield. However, both will have to secure their place on the grid on the Gatorade Duels on Thursday.
With only the front row of the grid for the Daytona 500 set so far, positions 3 to 39 will be determined by the finishing orders of the Duels. The drivers who qualified on Sunday will be split into two groups for the two 150-mile races.
The final four spots of the grid are determined based on the qualifying speeds from the cars that did not earn a starting position based on owner points status or finishing position in the Duels.
However, the last spot on the starting field could go to a former champion who is eligible to use the champions provisional rule.
Daytona 500 Qualifying results:
Pos Driver Make Speed Time
1. David Gilliland Ford 186.320 48.304
2. Ricky Rudd Ford 185.609 48.489 + 0.185
3. David Stremme Dodge 185.487 48.521 + 0.217
[B]4. Juan Montoya Dodge 185.338 48.560 + 0.256[/B]
5. David Ragan Ford 185.300 48.570 + 0.266
6. Boris Said Ford 185.212 48.593 + 0.289
7. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 185.079 48.628 + 0.324
8. Sterling Marlin Chevrolet 184.945 48.663 + 0.359
9. Johnny Sauter Chevrolet 184.850 48.688 + 0.384
10. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 184.767 48.710 + 0.406
11. Matt Kenseth Ford 184.638 48.744 + 0.440
12. Casey Mears Chevrolet 184.634 48.745 + 0.441
13. Kyle Busch Chevrolet 184.509 48.778 + 0.474
14. Denny Hamlin Chevrolet 184.449 48.794 + 0.490
15. David Reutimann Toyota 184.419 48.802 + 0.498
16. Jeremy Mayfield Toyota 184.351 48.820 + 0.516
17. JJ Yeley Chevrolet 184.336 48.824 + 0.520
18. Mike Skinner Toyota 184.324 48.827 + 0.523
19. Tony Stewart Chevrolet 184.260 48.844 + 0.540
20. Elliott Sadler Dodge 184.256 48.845 + 0.541
21. Jamie McMurray Ford 184.211 48.857 + 0.553
22. Martin Truex Jr Chevrolet 184.139 48.876 + 0.572
23. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet 184.008 48.911 + 0.607
24. Bobby Labonte Dodge 184.000 48.913 + 0.609
25. Michael Waltrip Toyota 183.899 48.940 + 0.636
26. Regan Smith Chevrolet 183.865 48.949 + 0.645
27. Jeff Green Chevrolet 183.662 49.003 + 0.699
28. Kasey Kahne Dodge 183.610 49.017 + 0.713
29. Ryan Newman Dodge 183.602 49.019 + 0.715
30. Greg Biffle Ford 183.535 49.037 + 0.733
31. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 183.494 49.048 + 0.744
32. Ward Burton Chevrolet 183.464 49.056 + 0.752
33. Paul Menard Chevrolet 183.426 49.066 + 0.762
34. Kyle Petty Dodge 183.329 49.092 + 0.788
35. Mark Martin Chevrolet 183.266 49.109 + 0.805
36. Tony Raines Chevrolet 183.094 49.155 + 0.851
37. Kurt Busch Dodge 183.068 49.162 + 0.858
38. Robby Gordon Ford 183.050 49.167 + 0.863
39. Dave Blaney Toyota 183.035 49.171 + 0.867
40. AJ Allmendinger Toyota 182.856 49.219 + 0.915
41. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 182.771 49.242 + 0.938
42. Kevin Lepage Dodge 182.711 49.258 + 0.954
43. Bill Elliott Dodge 182.708 49.259 + 0.955
44. Reed Sorenson Dodge 182.559 49.299 + 0.995
45. Brian Vickers Toyota 182.508 49.313 + 1.009
46. Kenny Wallace Chevrolet 182.500 49.315 + 1.011
47. Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 182.474 49.322 + 1.018
48. Ken Schrader Ford 182.452 49.328 + 1.024
49. Scott Riggs Dodge 182.437 49.332 + 1.028
50. Dale Jarrett Toyota 182.061 49.434 + 1.130
51. Carl Edwards Ford 182.020 49.445 + 1.141
52. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 181.976 49.457 + 1.153
53. Frank Kimmel Ford 181.693 49.534 + 1.230
54. Mike Bliss Dodge 181.540 49.576 + 1.272
55. Eric McClure Chevrolet 181.269 49.650 + 1.346
56. Stanton Barrett Chevrolet 181.163 49.679 + 1.375
57. Kirk Shelmerdine Chevrolet 181.127 49.689 + 1.385
58. Brandon Whitt Chevrolet 180.473 49.869 + 1.565
59. Derrike Cope Dodge 180.354 49.902 + 1.598
60. James Hylton Chevrolet 179.637 50.101 + 1.797
61. Mike Wallace Chevrolet 171.305 52.538 + 4.234
[/QUOTE]
| REX8 | 02-12-2007 01:35 PM |
Thanks for keeping it going. JPM will hopefully branch out a bit and do some one-off's. This thread should hopefully see some of that action.
| Ferg | 02-12-2007 01:38 PM |
If he's driving it I'll be posting it here. :D
Ganassi said there are "no plans" for him to do the Indy 500 but I wouldn't be surprised to see JPM jump back into an IRL machine and remind everyone of just how dominating he was in 2000.
Ganassi said there are "no plans" for him to do the Indy 500 but I wouldn't be surprised to see JPM jump back into an IRL machine and remind everyone of just how dominating he was in 2000.
| Ferg | 02-15-2007 12:48 PM |
Nigel Roebuck on Montoya, always a great read.
[QUOTE][B]Dear Nigel,
Following his latest win as part of the No. 01 Lexus Riley Chip Ganassi entry in the Daytona 24 Hours, what do you make of Juan Pablo Montoya's all-round ability in motorsport? With his list of accomplishments, I find it staggering that some still doubt his ability. With perhaps some success in the Nextel Cup, like a Daytona 500 victory or overall championship success, surely JPM could be classed as one of the sports greats?
David Knowles
[/B]
Dear David,
I never made any secret of the fact that I was a great fan of Montoya. When he was doing F3000, it was clear he was one of those 'special' talents, and I really liked the fact that he was never one to sit endlessly behind another car, but always looking for a way by - a real racer.
Any 24-hour race is a lottery, to some degree, for how often does a racing car run virtually faultlessly for a full day and night? On this occasion, it seems, the Ganassi car did run problem-free, which reflects well indeed on the crew, and thus in his first major sports car race - JPM was a winner.
That, in itself, didn't surprise me, for he must have been quantifiably the best driver - in road racing terms - in the event. That said, the point you made is a good one: Juan is a mighty impressive all-rounder. He won the CART Championship at his first attempt, in 1999, and the following year did the same at the Indianapolis 500 - the only time he ever raced an IRL car.
Coming into F1, with Williams-BMW, having passed Michael Schumacher, no less, he led the majority of what was only his third Grand Prix, in Brazil, and would probably have won it, had he not been punted off by a backmarker. At Monza, he did win.
The following year, Michelin's then notorious 'graining' problems made it virtually impossible to compete with the Bridgestone-shod Ferraris in the races, but I loved the fact that Montoya went for the pole everywhere, and at one stage of the season took five on the trot.
A Williams really suited his style, and I always felt that he 'belonged' there in a way he never really did at McLaren. His win at Monaco in '03, under severe pressure from Kimi Raikkonen, was a classic. And it was pleasing, too, that he won his last Grand Prix for Williams, at Interlagos in '04, again fighting off Raikkonen.
At McLaren, though, he found things very different. Just like Keke Rosberg, 20 years earlier, Montoya moved from Frank's team to Ron's team, and found that a very different sort of car awaited. Both Keke and Juan favoured 'pointy' cars, and found the fundamentally understeering McLaren characteristics not to their taste. Ultimately, Montoya found a set-up more to his liking, and then won three races, in the last of them - Interlagos - beating team mate Raikkonen fair and square.
Over the second half of the season, JPM came on ever stronger, relative to Kimi, but overall his team mate had the better of it - and to no small degree this was because of Juan's 'accident' early in the year, which caused him to miss two races. Who knows how he incurred that shoulder injury - no one seriously believed that tennis was responsible - but Ron Dennis says that Montoya's relationship with the team was seriously damaged by it, and perhaps never recovered.
For all I was - and am - a Montoya fan, I don't think there's any getting away from the fact that his 'Latin' temperament cost him dear in his F1 career. It was a verbal punch-up with Williams management, during and following the French Grand Prix in '03, that caused him to sign for McLaren, a year ahead of the expiry of his Williams contract.
However he hurt himself, in early '05, it really wasn't very smart to be doing anything risky at such a crucial moment in his career. And the team was further angered - quite justifiably - by his 'brake testing' former team mate Ralf Schumacher in practice at Monaco, for which misdemeanour he was put to the back of the grid - just what you need at Monaco.
Last season JPM was there or thereabouts in most races, but he found the latest McLaren even more of an understeerer, and was not on Raikkonen's pace. Increasingly, he felt unwanted by the team, and after Indianapolis, where he tangled with Kimi on the opening lap, decided he'd had enough, and put a call through to Chip Ganassi, thereby changing his life for ever. It was typical Juan Pablo, acting in 'hot blood', and doing it without even notifying his manager.
In recent interviews he has said that he became disenchanted with F1, frustrated by the actual racing, the difficulty in overtaking, the overwhelming importance of the car in the car:driver equation, and so on. In a way that was understandable, but I can't believe he was speaking from the heart when he said he felt he had left no unfinished business in F1.
Yes, he won seven Grands Prix, but for a driver of his fundamental ability that was scratching the surface. Perhaps his temperament would have militated against his ever becoming World Champion (although he looked a serious threat to Schumacher in '03), but I will always think of Montoya's F1 career as a case of 'what might have been'.
Now comes a new life in NASCAR, where he well knows the extent of the very different challenge before him. Last Sunday he was fourth quickest in qualifying for the Daytona 500, which must have got the attention of the establishment. Juan know it may be a long time before he wins a Nextel Cup race, but there seems no doubt that he is much happier in his new environment, and I wish him well. That said, I still think he is a great loss to F1. [/QUOTE]
[QUOTE][B]Dear Nigel,
Following his latest win as part of the No. 01 Lexus Riley Chip Ganassi entry in the Daytona 24 Hours, what do you make of Juan Pablo Montoya's all-round ability in motorsport? With his list of accomplishments, I find it staggering that some still doubt his ability. With perhaps some success in the Nextel Cup, like a Daytona 500 victory or overall championship success, surely JPM could be classed as one of the sports greats?
David Knowles
[/B]
Dear David,
I never made any secret of the fact that I was a great fan of Montoya. When he was doing F3000, it was clear he was one of those 'special' talents, and I really liked the fact that he was never one to sit endlessly behind another car, but always looking for a way by - a real racer.
Any 24-hour race is a lottery, to some degree, for how often does a racing car run virtually faultlessly for a full day and night? On this occasion, it seems, the Ganassi car did run problem-free, which reflects well indeed on the crew, and thus in his first major sports car race - JPM was a winner.
That, in itself, didn't surprise me, for he must have been quantifiably the best driver - in road racing terms - in the event. That said, the point you made is a good one: Juan is a mighty impressive all-rounder. He won the CART Championship at his first attempt, in 1999, and the following year did the same at the Indianapolis 500 - the only time he ever raced an IRL car.
Coming into F1, with Williams-BMW, having passed Michael Schumacher, no less, he led the majority of what was only his third Grand Prix, in Brazil, and would probably have won it, had he not been punted off by a backmarker. At Monza, he did win.
The following year, Michelin's then notorious 'graining' problems made it virtually impossible to compete with the Bridgestone-shod Ferraris in the races, but I loved the fact that Montoya went for the pole everywhere, and at one stage of the season took five on the trot.
A Williams really suited his style, and I always felt that he 'belonged' there in a way he never really did at McLaren. His win at Monaco in '03, under severe pressure from Kimi Raikkonen, was a classic. And it was pleasing, too, that he won his last Grand Prix for Williams, at Interlagos in '04, again fighting off Raikkonen.
At McLaren, though, he found things very different. Just like Keke Rosberg, 20 years earlier, Montoya moved from Frank's team to Ron's team, and found that a very different sort of car awaited. Both Keke and Juan favoured 'pointy' cars, and found the fundamentally understeering McLaren characteristics not to their taste. Ultimately, Montoya found a set-up more to his liking, and then won three races, in the last of them - Interlagos - beating team mate Raikkonen fair and square.
Over the second half of the season, JPM came on ever stronger, relative to Kimi, but overall his team mate had the better of it - and to no small degree this was because of Juan's 'accident' early in the year, which caused him to miss two races. Who knows how he incurred that shoulder injury - no one seriously believed that tennis was responsible - but Ron Dennis says that Montoya's relationship with the team was seriously damaged by it, and perhaps never recovered.
For all I was - and am - a Montoya fan, I don't think there's any getting away from the fact that his 'Latin' temperament cost him dear in his F1 career. It was a verbal punch-up with Williams management, during and following the French Grand Prix in '03, that caused him to sign for McLaren, a year ahead of the expiry of his Williams contract.
However he hurt himself, in early '05, it really wasn't very smart to be doing anything risky at such a crucial moment in his career. And the team was further angered - quite justifiably - by his 'brake testing' former team mate Ralf Schumacher in practice at Monaco, for which misdemeanour he was put to the back of the grid - just what you need at Monaco.
Last season JPM was there or thereabouts in most races, but he found the latest McLaren even more of an understeerer, and was not on Raikkonen's pace. Increasingly, he felt unwanted by the team, and after Indianapolis, where he tangled with Kimi on the opening lap, decided he'd had enough, and put a call through to Chip Ganassi, thereby changing his life for ever. It was typical Juan Pablo, acting in 'hot blood', and doing it without even notifying his manager.
In recent interviews he has said that he became disenchanted with F1, frustrated by the actual racing, the difficulty in overtaking, the overwhelming importance of the car in the car:driver equation, and so on. In a way that was understandable, but I can't believe he was speaking from the heart when he said he felt he had left no unfinished business in F1.
Yes, he won seven Grands Prix, but for a driver of his fundamental ability that was scratching the surface. Perhaps his temperament would have militated against his ever becoming World Champion (although he looked a serious threat to Schumacher in '03), but I will always think of Montoya's F1 career as a case of 'what might have been'.
Now comes a new life in NASCAR, where he well knows the extent of the very different challenge before him. Last Sunday he was fourth quickest in qualifying for the Daytona 500, which must have got the attention of the establishment. Juan know it may be a long time before he wins a Nextel Cup race, but there seems no doubt that he is much happier in his new environment, and I wish him well. That said, I still think he is a great loss to F1. [/QUOTE]
| digitalseance | 02-15-2007 01:42 PM |
It think its awesome to see David Ragan (DriverX) and Boris Said up in the top 10 too.
I've been following Boris for a long time, ever since my first Petite back in 2000.
I may have my facts mixed up (:)) but I belive if JP could win the Daytona 500 his first time out, he would be in the company of other great drivers (such as Mario Andretti) who have won the D500, I500, and 24hrs...how wild would that be!?!?
I've been following Boris for a long time, ever since my first Petite back in 2000.
I may have my facts mixed up (:)) but I belive if JP could win the Daytona 500 his first time out, he would be in the company of other great drivers (such as Mario Andretti) who have won the D500, I500, and 24hrs...how wild would that be!?!?
| Ferg | 02-15-2007 07:34 PM |
JPM shows well but runs into trouble...
[QUOTE]Gordon wins Duel 2 on last lap
By Diego Mejia Friday, February 16th 2007, 00:21 GMT
Jeff Gordon claimed his first win of the season on Thursday by repeating his victory from last year in the second Gatorade Duel qualifying race for the Daytona 500.
Gordon won after putting a last-lap move on Kurt Busch, having stayed in the lead group for most of the race and pitting for tyres in the last caution period while most of his rivals chose to stay out.
[I]The race started with David Stremme leading the first lap from Ricky Rudd as Juan Pablo Montoya slipped down to sixth. It looked like nobody wanted to work with the Colombian driver as two lines of cars overtook him on each side of his Dodge.
However Montoya quickly found his place in the draft and on lap six he got a run on his Ganassi teammate Stremme, passing him on the inside into Turn 1 to claim the lead for the first time as a Nextel Cup driver, in only his second race in the series.
Montoya's speed allowed a group of seven cars to steadily break away from the pack with one lining up behind the other in a single line while lapping within the 186 mph bracket.
The race looked pretty straightforward for a while as Montoya comfortably led for 18 laps. But before getting to the first pitstops, the Colombian lost speed and was easily overtaken by Kyle Busch.
As he continued to lose momentum, smoke started coming out of the right rear of Montoya's car. He then brushed the wall, causing further damage to the right-hand side of his Dodge, which forced him to pit and then retire from the race.
[/I]
Kyle Busch remained on the lead as the race restarted, followed by brother Kurt, Matt Kenseth and Gordon.
The race carried on without major action until eleven laps to go, when the Red Bull car of Brian Vickers crashed into the wall with an apparent mechanical failure on the right rear of his Toyota.
This left the new Red Bull team out of the 43-car field that will race the Daytona 500 on Sunday.
As the race went under caution, twelve cars pitted, including Gordon. On the restart, Kurt Busch led from Kenseth and and Ryan Newman, while Gordon made his way from the back of the pack on new tyres.
The three-time Daytona 500 champion quickly made it into the lead group and got a big push from Stremme to overtake Kenseth on the final lap of the race.
Gordon carried on with the momentum while switching from the outside to run low and take the lead from Kurt Busch to claim his third ever win in a Gatorade Duel.
Three drivers who needed a good result to make the field and finally did it were Mike Wallace, Joe Nemechek and former Daytona 500 champion Sterling Marlin.
David Reutimann had already secured his place in the field even before the race started due to the results from the first race.
The Daytona 500 takes place on Sunday at 3:15 pm US Eastern time (8:15 pm GMT).
Gatorade Duel 2
Pos Driver Make Laps
1. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 60
2. Kurt Busch Dodge 60
3. David Stremme Dodge 60
4. Kyle Busch Chevrolet 60
5. Matt Kenseth Ford 60
6. JJ Yeley Chevrolet 60
7. Carl Edwards Ford 60
8. Ryan Newman Dodge 60
9. Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 60
10. Tony Raines Chevrolet 60
11. Mike Wallace Chevrolet 60
12. Sterling Marlin Chevrolet 60
13. Jamie McMurray Ford 60
14. Mark Martin Chevrolet 60
15. Paul Menard Chevrolet 60
16. Kasey Kahne Dodge 60
17. Kevin Lepage Dodge 60
18. Derrike Cope Dodge 60
19. Regan Smith Chevrolet 60
20. Frank Kimmel Ford 60
21. Elliott Sadler Dodge 60
22. Ricky Rudd Ford 60
23. Eric McClure Chevrolet 60
24. Kirk Shelmerdine Chevrolet 60
25. Scott Riggs Dodge 59
26. Brian Vickers Toyota 49
27. Mike Skinner Toyota 35
28. David Reutimann Toyota 33
29. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 26
[B]30. Juan Montoya Dodge 24[/B]
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE]Gordon wins Duel 2 on last lap
By Diego Mejia Friday, February 16th 2007, 00:21 GMT
Jeff Gordon claimed his first win of the season on Thursday by repeating his victory from last year in the second Gatorade Duel qualifying race for the Daytona 500.
Gordon won after putting a last-lap move on Kurt Busch, having stayed in the lead group for most of the race and pitting for tyres in the last caution period while most of his rivals chose to stay out.
[I]The race started with David Stremme leading the first lap from Ricky Rudd as Juan Pablo Montoya slipped down to sixth. It looked like nobody wanted to work with the Colombian driver as two lines of cars overtook him on each side of his Dodge.
However Montoya quickly found his place in the draft and on lap six he got a run on his Ganassi teammate Stremme, passing him on the inside into Turn 1 to claim the lead for the first time as a Nextel Cup driver, in only his second race in the series.
Montoya's speed allowed a group of seven cars to steadily break away from the pack with one lining up behind the other in a single line while lapping within the 186 mph bracket.
The race looked pretty straightforward for a while as Montoya comfortably led for 18 laps. But before getting to the first pitstops, the Colombian lost speed and was easily overtaken by Kyle Busch.
As he continued to lose momentum, smoke started coming out of the right rear of Montoya's car. He then brushed the wall, causing further damage to the right-hand side of his Dodge, which forced him to pit and then retire from the race.
[/I]
Kyle Busch remained on the lead as the race restarted, followed by brother Kurt, Matt Kenseth and Gordon.
The race carried on without major action until eleven laps to go, when the Red Bull car of Brian Vickers crashed into the wall with an apparent mechanical failure on the right rear of his Toyota.
This left the new Red Bull team out of the 43-car field that will race the Daytona 500 on Sunday.
As the race went under caution, twelve cars pitted, including Gordon. On the restart, Kurt Busch led from Kenseth and and Ryan Newman, while Gordon made his way from the back of the pack on new tyres.
The three-time Daytona 500 champion quickly made it into the lead group and got a big push from Stremme to overtake Kenseth on the final lap of the race.
Gordon carried on with the momentum while switching from the outside to run low and take the lead from Kurt Busch to claim his third ever win in a Gatorade Duel.
Three drivers who needed a good result to make the field and finally did it were Mike Wallace, Joe Nemechek and former Daytona 500 champion Sterling Marlin.
David Reutimann had already secured his place in the field even before the race started due to the results from the first race.
The Daytona 500 takes place on Sunday at 3:15 pm US Eastern time (8:15 pm GMT).
Gatorade Duel 2
Pos Driver Make Laps
1. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 60
2. Kurt Busch Dodge 60
3. David Stremme Dodge 60
4. Kyle Busch Chevrolet 60
5. Matt Kenseth Ford 60
6. JJ Yeley Chevrolet 60
7. Carl Edwards Ford 60
8. Ryan Newman Dodge 60
9. Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 60
10. Tony Raines Chevrolet 60
11. Mike Wallace Chevrolet 60
12. Sterling Marlin Chevrolet 60
13. Jamie McMurray Ford 60
14. Mark Martin Chevrolet 60
15. Paul Menard Chevrolet 60
16. Kasey Kahne Dodge 60
17. Kevin Lepage Dodge 60
18. Derrike Cope Dodge 60
19. Regan Smith Chevrolet 60
20. Frank Kimmel Ford 60
21. Elliott Sadler Dodge 60
22. Ricky Rudd Ford 60
23. Eric McClure Chevrolet 60
24. Kirk Shelmerdine Chevrolet 60
25. Scott Riggs Dodge 59
26. Brian Vickers Toyota 49
27. Mike Skinner Toyota 35
28. David Reutimann Toyota 33
29. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 26
[B]30. Juan Montoya Dodge 24[/B]
[/QUOTE]
| bitterWRX | 02-15-2007 07:47 PM |
I saw that move that Jeff Gordon pulled on the last lap. It was a pretty good move around everyone.
It's a shame for Montoya but it wasn't completely his fault and he looks to have the makings of a NASCAR winner in him.
It's a shame for Montoya but it wasn't completely his fault and he looks to have the makings of a NASCAR winner in him.
| f1vlad | 02-15-2007 10:21 PM |
Back in a day:
[url]http://www.metacafe.com/watch/171976/playing_with_a_bmw/[/url]
[url]http://www.metacafe.com/watch/171976/playing_with_a_bmw/[/url]
| Ferg | 02-16-2007 10:04 AM |
JPM feeling good about Sunday.
[QUOTE][B][U]Montoya upbeat after leading Duel
[/U][/B]
By Diego Mejia Friday, February 16th 2007, 01:47 GMT
Juan Pablo Montoya said he was happy with his race performance, despite retiring from the lead of the second Gatorade Duel qualifying race at Daytona because of mechanical problems.
The Ganassi driver led 18 out of the first 25 laps of the race, having started from third and taken the lead on lap six. A right front hub failure lost him the lead and caused him to retire later after brushing the wall.
"Two laps before that, the car started getting really tight (understeer) and coming out of the corners slower," said Montoya, who will provisionally start the Daytona 500 from 38th on the grid.
"I think the bearing was just going until it finally went. I simply turned in on [Turn] 3 and went into the wall. It's just one of those things.
"The car was fast, but now we have to start from the back. They'll probably work on it, and it will be fine. It's a fast race car."
Making only his second Nextel Cup series start, Montoya was impressed by how comfortable he felt running in the draft and also at the front of the leading group of seven cars, which broke away from the field by lap 20.
"I was really comfortable, the car was handling really good," the Colombian said. "I've been twice here (at Daytona) and the last time I led the 24 Hours and now we led the 150 (Gatorade Duel)."
"It's early days still, but it's nice to see the car is competitive. [Ganassi teammate David] Stremme was also out there running up front, so it's good. Let's see what happens on Sunday when it counts."[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE][B][U]Montoya upbeat after leading Duel
[/U][/B]
By Diego Mejia Friday, February 16th 2007, 01:47 GMT
Juan Pablo Montoya said he was happy with his race performance, despite retiring from the lead of the second Gatorade Duel qualifying race at Daytona because of mechanical problems.
The Ganassi driver led 18 out of the first 25 laps of the race, having started from third and taken the lead on lap six. A right front hub failure lost him the lead and caused him to retire later after brushing the wall.
"Two laps before that, the car started getting really tight (understeer) and coming out of the corners slower," said Montoya, who will provisionally start the Daytona 500 from 38th on the grid.
"I think the bearing was just going until it finally went. I simply turned in on [Turn] 3 and went into the wall. It's just one of those things.
"The car was fast, but now we have to start from the back. They'll probably work on it, and it will be fine. It's a fast race car."
Making only his second Nextel Cup series start, Montoya was impressed by how comfortable he felt running in the draft and also at the front of the leading group of seven cars, which broke away from the field by lap 20.
"I was really comfortable, the car was handling really good," the Colombian said. "I've been twice here (at Daytona) and the last time I led the 24 Hours and now we led the 150 (Gatorade Duel)."
"It's early days still, but it's nice to see the car is competitive. [Ganassi teammate David] Stremme was also out there running up front, so it's good. Let's see what happens on Sunday when it counts."[/QUOTE]
| Sideshowbob | 02-16-2007 11:46 AM |
I hope he hands some of them good ol' boys their asses.
| Ferg | 02-19-2007 11:11 AM |
Busy weekend for JPM, his thoughts and results.
[QUOTE][B][U]Montoya relieved to just finish
[/U][/B]
By Diego Mejia Monday, February 19th 2007, 04:43 GMT
Juan Pablo Montoya said he was pleased to make it to the chequered flag in his first Daytona 500 after mechanical problems put him out of both races he started before the Nextel Cup season-opener.
Montoya finished 19th after surviving a major incident in the last yards of the race, having recovered from handling problems that had him running at the back of the pack in the early part of the event.
"The funny thing is I crossed [the line] in one piece and after I slowed down, the 24 (Jeff Gordon) came across and wrecked my whole car," Montoya said.
"But is was better it happened after the race than during the race. It was a pretty crazy finish, but it's exciting!
"Our car started a lot tighter (with understeer) than we expected, and then we had to work a lot during the race to make it better. But I'm still happy with everything that happened today."
The Colombian was looking set for a strong finish until his second-last stop, when he slid out of his pit-box and had to put his car in reverse to be serviced. When he tried to select first gear, the gearbox on his Dodge got stuck, delaying his stop and putting him a lap down.
"It's a shame, we had a really fast car and when we got blocked they told me to put the car on reverse, and as I tried to put it on first gear, I went in between two gears and it just broke all the gearbox."
Montoya then had to run the remainder of the race with only third and fourth gear - and after the last caution he was left with fourth only. That wouldn't have been a problem had the race not been red flagged with three laps to go.
Kurt Busch, who had rejoined the race after a crash with Tony Stewart while running up front, gave Montoya a push to allow him to take the final restart in fourth gear. However, the problem still caused him to be slow on the final green flag.
After all the problems he faced in the first points race of his maiden Nextel Cup season, Montoya was happy to avoid many incidents that took place just inches away from him.
"We were lucky, we were right in the middle of every wreck. We were lucky that we didn't hit anything, so it was good. You start seeing sparks and then smoke and it's like you know what is coming. I'll tell you the truth: If you asked me who got wrecked and where, I couldn't even tell you."
The former Formula One star claimed he felt comfortable in his first restrictor-plate race but said coping with a car that was not handling well made his afternoon more a case of surviving than racing.
"Running tight is fine, I'm comfortable," he said. "The hard thing is when your car is not handling good. Getting runs is really important and getting friends is really important. But the problem is our car didn't handle well and it was really hard to get forward."[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE][B][U]Harvick snatches Daytona 500 win[/U][/B]
By Diego Mejia Monday, February 19th 2007, 00:25 GMT
Kevin Harvick made it a double at Daytona, winning the season opening 500-mile race with a last-lap pass on veteran Mark Martin to take victory in one of the closest finishes ever in the history of NASCAR.
"Just the Daytona 500, it's hard to believe," Harvick said after sweeping the weekend at Daytona, becoming the fourth driver in history to do so.
"I knew I was going to be the bad guy there at the end with Mark leading. But we just held the pedal down and hoped for the best.
"It's just hard to put into words. I mean, we got ourselves in a little bit of trouble there with a hole in the nose and got really hot and had to drop out of the draft there with about 20 to go. Luckily we got a caution and were able to come back in and fix the front of the car."
In front of a sell-out grandstand crowd of 168,000, the race started with pole-sitter David Gilliland heading the pack for the first 18 laps before Boris Said spun in the back stretch, bringing out the first caution.
As the pits opened for the first time, everybody went for fuel and tyres and it was Kurt Busch who emerged ahead after the first round of stops.
The 2004 Nextel Cup champion showed how strong his car was by leading the next 39 laps until Tony Stewart came out of his draft to take the lead for the next 32.
The pair looked from then on like the men to beat in the afternoon, only giving up the lead during the second round of pitstops, which took place under green between laps 60 and 65.
After the third round of stops, which came under caution on lap 80 when Kyle Petty hit the wall at Turn 2, Harvick found himself briefly in the lead, having made his way from 34th on the grid.
At the same time, Ray Evernham's Scott Riggs was also forced to take his car to the garage for lenghty repairs after hitting transmission problems.
During the pitstop, Gilliland had a coming together with Robby Gordon who got spun by the Yates driver when he was coming in for his pitstop. He had to spin his car around in the pitlane to get serviced and rejoin the race at the back of the field.
Gillliland had to pit again for repairs to the right front of his No. 38 Ford.
Stewart had to pit a second time to check his car, after he ran over debris from Petty's contact with the wall. He had to restart the race from the back of the field and apparently had trouble with the handling of his car in the traffic, almost coming together with Juan Pablo Montoya who was having a difficult race with an understeering car.
Until then, at the front everybody looked comfortable, with Kurt Busch setting the pace as the field drafted in single line, with Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman, Jeff Burton and Denny Hamlin part of that front group, which for a while looked capable of breaking away from the pack.
But as Stewart was finally able to get his car dialed out after his fourth pitstop, he quickly moved up the pack catching up again with Kurt Busch as the race approached its last quarter.
Stewart didn't hesitate to overtake the Busch brothers as he approached them, taking second from Kyle and then claiming the lead from Kurt with 50 laps to go.
However, with 46 laps to the end, Stewart got loose coming out of Turn 4, and as he regained control, Kurt Busch just tapped the back of his Chevrolet, making him lose control of the Home Depot machine, which then hit the wall, taking Busch's Dodge with him.
Both men were uninjured, and Busch was even able to take his car to the pits, where his team tried to repair it.
With the most dominating cars of the afternoon out of contention, the race changed completely as most drivers took chances to try to get up front. Four further cautions came out in the last 50 laps of the race, with four multi-car incidents taking place in the middle of the pack.
The first major incident was ignited when defending Nextel Cup and Daytona 500 champion Jimmie Johnson got loose coming out of Turn 2. David Reutimann, Jeff Green, Tony Raines and Hamlin were all involved in the crash.
Both the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet of Johnson and the No. 00 Dominos Pizza Toyota of Reutimann were damaged beyond repair.
Shortly after, it was Newman who had to take his car behind the wall with an engine problem, which effectively ruined Penske's hopes of figthing for victory after his cars led a race-high 96 laps.
With 13 laps to go, another five cars were part of an incident on the front stretch. Dave Blaney and Ken Schrader made heavy contact with the wall, while Mike Wallace, Clint Bowyer and Carl Edwards were also involved, although the three were able to rejoin the race without major damage to their cars.
As the race approached its end, a further incident took place on the back stretch with only ten laps remaining.
Jamie McMurray and Dale Earnhardt Jr made contact and saw the end of their races just three laps from the chequered flag.
The sixth caution then came out to set the final sprint of the afternoon. The race was briefly red-flagged before being restarted for the final two laps.
Mark Martin, in his first race for Ginn Racing and driving a Chevrolet after nearly two decades of driving Jack Roush's Fords, found himself in the lead of the Daytona 500 and clearly with one of the best shots he ever had at winning the race.
However, as the white flag waved, Harvick got a great run at Martin on the outside, being pushed by Matt Kenseth. The winner from Saturday's Busch Series race was able to keep the momentum in the last mile of the race to just edge Martin for victory in the race's closest finish since 1993.
Behind them, chaos was caused when Kyle Busch spun, causing a major wreck which involved Kenseth and Bowyer, among several drivers.
The crash provided a dramatic finish to what started as a very calm race and developed into a very eventful one, as more drivers saw a chance to win the most important race in the NASCAR calendar.
None of the drivers were injured in the last-lap incident, which also involved Juan Pablo Montoya.
[B]The Colombian had a quiet afternoon in the middle of the pack after having transmission problems in his penultimate pitstop. He went a lap down but despite that was able to finish the race on the lead lap.
[/B]
Daytona 500 Result:
Pos Driver Make Laps
1. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 202
2. Mark Martin Chevrolet 202
3. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 202
4. Mike Wallace Chevrolet 202
5. David Ragan Ford 202
6. Elliott Sadler Dodge 202
7. Kasey Kahne Dodge 202
8. David Gilliland Ford 202
9. Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 202
10. David Stremme Dodge 202
11. JJ Yeley Chevrolet 202
12. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 202
13. Reed Sorenson Dodge 202
14. Robby Gordon Ford 202
15. Johnny Sauter Chevrolet 202
16. Sterling Marlin Chevrolet 202
17. Boris Said Ford 202
18. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 202
[B][U]19. Juan Montoya Dodge 202[/U][/B]
20. Bobby Labonte Dodge 202
21. Casey Mears Chevrolet 202
22. Carl Edwards Ford 202
23. Dale Jarrett Toyota 202
24. Kyle Busch Chevrolet 202
25. Greg Biffle Ford 202
26. Ricky Rudd Ford 202
27. Matt Kenseth Ford 202
28. Denny Hamlin Chevrolet 201
29. Martin Truex Jr Chevrolet 201
30. Michael Waltrip Toyota 200
31. Jamie McMurray Ford 196
32. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet 196
33. Tony Raines Chevrolet 195
34. Dave Blaney Toyota 187
35. Ken Schrader Ford 186
36. Jeff Green Chevrolet 181
37. Scott Riggs Dodge 179
38. Ryan Newman Dodge 176
39. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 174
40. David Reutimann Toyota 174
41. Kurt Busch Dodge 166
42. Kyle Petty Dodge 160
43. Tony Stewart Chevrolet 153
[/QUOTE]
[B]Next up on 02/25/07, the Auto Club 500 at the California Speedway :D[/B]
[QUOTE][B][U]Montoya relieved to just finish
[/U][/B]
By Diego Mejia Monday, February 19th 2007, 04:43 GMT
Juan Pablo Montoya said he was pleased to make it to the chequered flag in his first Daytona 500 after mechanical problems put him out of both races he started before the Nextel Cup season-opener.
Montoya finished 19th after surviving a major incident in the last yards of the race, having recovered from handling problems that had him running at the back of the pack in the early part of the event.
"The funny thing is I crossed [the line] in one piece and after I slowed down, the 24 (Jeff Gordon) came across and wrecked my whole car," Montoya said.
"But is was better it happened after the race than during the race. It was a pretty crazy finish, but it's exciting!
"Our car started a lot tighter (with understeer) than we expected, and then we had to work a lot during the race to make it better. But I'm still happy with everything that happened today."
The Colombian was looking set for a strong finish until his second-last stop, when he slid out of his pit-box and had to put his car in reverse to be serviced. When he tried to select first gear, the gearbox on his Dodge got stuck, delaying his stop and putting him a lap down.
"It's a shame, we had a really fast car and when we got blocked they told me to put the car on reverse, and as I tried to put it on first gear, I went in between two gears and it just broke all the gearbox."
Montoya then had to run the remainder of the race with only third and fourth gear - and after the last caution he was left with fourth only. That wouldn't have been a problem had the race not been red flagged with three laps to go.
Kurt Busch, who had rejoined the race after a crash with Tony Stewart while running up front, gave Montoya a push to allow him to take the final restart in fourth gear. However, the problem still caused him to be slow on the final green flag.
After all the problems he faced in the first points race of his maiden Nextel Cup season, Montoya was happy to avoid many incidents that took place just inches away from him.
"We were lucky, we were right in the middle of every wreck. We were lucky that we didn't hit anything, so it was good. You start seeing sparks and then smoke and it's like you know what is coming. I'll tell you the truth: If you asked me who got wrecked and where, I couldn't even tell you."
The former Formula One star claimed he felt comfortable in his first restrictor-plate race but said coping with a car that was not handling well made his afternoon more a case of surviving than racing.
"Running tight is fine, I'm comfortable," he said. "The hard thing is when your car is not handling good. Getting runs is really important and getting friends is really important. But the problem is our car didn't handle well and it was really hard to get forward."[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE][B][U]Harvick snatches Daytona 500 win[/U][/B]
By Diego Mejia Monday, February 19th 2007, 00:25 GMT
Kevin Harvick made it a double at Daytona, winning the season opening 500-mile race with a last-lap pass on veteran Mark Martin to take victory in one of the closest finishes ever in the history of NASCAR.
"Just the Daytona 500, it's hard to believe," Harvick said after sweeping the weekend at Daytona, becoming the fourth driver in history to do so.
"I knew I was going to be the bad guy there at the end with Mark leading. But we just held the pedal down and hoped for the best.
"It's just hard to put into words. I mean, we got ourselves in a little bit of trouble there with a hole in the nose and got really hot and had to drop out of the draft there with about 20 to go. Luckily we got a caution and were able to come back in and fix the front of the car."
In front of a sell-out grandstand crowd of 168,000, the race started with pole-sitter David Gilliland heading the pack for the first 18 laps before Boris Said spun in the back stretch, bringing out the first caution.
As the pits opened for the first time, everybody went for fuel and tyres and it was Kurt Busch who emerged ahead after the first round of stops.
The 2004 Nextel Cup champion showed how strong his car was by leading the next 39 laps until Tony Stewart came out of his draft to take the lead for the next 32.
The pair looked from then on like the men to beat in the afternoon, only giving up the lead during the second round of pitstops, which took place under green between laps 60 and 65.
After the third round of stops, which came under caution on lap 80 when Kyle Petty hit the wall at Turn 2, Harvick found himself briefly in the lead, having made his way from 34th on the grid.
At the same time, Ray Evernham's Scott Riggs was also forced to take his car to the garage for lenghty repairs after hitting transmission problems.
During the pitstop, Gilliland had a coming together with Robby Gordon who got spun by the Yates driver when he was coming in for his pitstop. He had to spin his car around in the pitlane to get serviced and rejoin the race at the back of the field.
Gillliland had to pit again for repairs to the right front of his No. 38 Ford.
Stewart had to pit a second time to check his car, after he ran over debris from Petty's contact with the wall. He had to restart the race from the back of the field and apparently had trouble with the handling of his car in the traffic, almost coming together with Juan Pablo Montoya who was having a difficult race with an understeering car.
Until then, at the front everybody looked comfortable, with Kurt Busch setting the pace as the field drafted in single line, with Kyle Busch, Ryan Newman, Jeff Burton and Denny Hamlin part of that front group, which for a while looked capable of breaking away from the pack.
But as Stewart was finally able to get his car dialed out after his fourth pitstop, he quickly moved up the pack catching up again with Kurt Busch as the race approached its last quarter.
Stewart didn't hesitate to overtake the Busch brothers as he approached them, taking second from Kyle and then claiming the lead from Kurt with 50 laps to go.
However, with 46 laps to the end, Stewart got loose coming out of Turn 4, and as he regained control, Kurt Busch just tapped the back of his Chevrolet, making him lose control of the Home Depot machine, which then hit the wall, taking Busch's Dodge with him.
Both men were uninjured, and Busch was even able to take his car to the pits, where his team tried to repair it.
With the most dominating cars of the afternoon out of contention, the race changed completely as most drivers took chances to try to get up front. Four further cautions came out in the last 50 laps of the race, with four multi-car incidents taking place in the middle of the pack.
The first major incident was ignited when defending Nextel Cup and Daytona 500 champion Jimmie Johnson got loose coming out of Turn 2. David Reutimann, Jeff Green, Tony Raines and Hamlin were all involved in the crash.
Both the No. 48 Lowes Chevrolet of Johnson and the No. 00 Dominos Pizza Toyota of Reutimann were damaged beyond repair.
Shortly after, it was Newman who had to take his car behind the wall with an engine problem, which effectively ruined Penske's hopes of figthing for victory after his cars led a race-high 96 laps.
With 13 laps to go, another five cars were part of an incident on the front stretch. Dave Blaney and Ken Schrader made heavy contact with the wall, while Mike Wallace, Clint Bowyer and Carl Edwards were also involved, although the three were able to rejoin the race without major damage to their cars.
As the race approached its end, a further incident took place on the back stretch with only ten laps remaining.
Jamie McMurray and Dale Earnhardt Jr made contact and saw the end of their races just three laps from the chequered flag.
The sixth caution then came out to set the final sprint of the afternoon. The race was briefly red-flagged before being restarted for the final two laps.
Mark Martin, in his first race for Ginn Racing and driving a Chevrolet after nearly two decades of driving Jack Roush's Fords, found himself in the lead of the Daytona 500 and clearly with one of the best shots he ever had at winning the race.
However, as the white flag waved, Harvick got a great run at Martin on the outside, being pushed by Matt Kenseth. The winner from Saturday's Busch Series race was able to keep the momentum in the last mile of the race to just edge Martin for victory in the race's closest finish since 1993.
Behind them, chaos was caused when Kyle Busch spun, causing a major wreck which involved Kenseth and Bowyer, among several drivers.
The crash provided a dramatic finish to what started as a very calm race and developed into a very eventful one, as more drivers saw a chance to win the most important race in the NASCAR calendar.
None of the drivers were injured in the last-lap incident, which also involved Juan Pablo Montoya.
[B]The Colombian had a quiet afternoon in the middle of the pack after having transmission problems in his penultimate pitstop. He went a lap down but despite that was able to finish the race on the lead lap.
[/B]
Daytona 500 Result:
Pos Driver Make Laps
1. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 202
2. Mark Martin Chevrolet 202
3. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 202
4. Mike Wallace Chevrolet 202
5. David Ragan Ford 202
6. Elliott Sadler Dodge 202
7. Kasey Kahne Dodge 202
8. David Gilliland Ford 202
9. Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 202
10. David Stremme Dodge 202
11. JJ Yeley Chevrolet 202
12. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 202
13. Reed Sorenson Dodge 202
14. Robby Gordon Ford 202
15. Johnny Sauter Chevrolet 202
16. Sterling Marlin Chevrolet 202
17. Boris Said Ford 202
18. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 202
[B][U]19. Juan Montoya Dodge 202[/U][/B]
20. Bobby Labonte Dodge 202
21. Casey Mears Chevrolet 202
22. Carl Edwards Ford 202
23. Dale Jarrett Toyota 202
24. Kyle Busch Chevrolet 202
25. Greg Biffle Ford 202
26. Ricky Rudd Ford 202
27. Matt Kenseth Ford 202
28. Denny Hamlin Chevrolet 201
29. Martin Truex Jr Chevrolet 201
30. Michael Waltrip Toyota 200
31. Jamie McMurray Ford 196
32. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet 196
33. Tony Raines Chevrolet 195
34. Dave Blaney Toyota 187
35. Ken Schrader Ford 186
36. Jeff Green Chevrolet 181
37. Scott Riggs Dodge 179
38. Ryan Newman Dodge 176
39. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 174
40. David Reutimann Toyota 174
41. Kurt Busch Dodge 166
42. Kyle Petty Dodge 160
43. Tony Stewart Chevrolet 153
[/QUOTE]
[B]Next up on 02/25/07, the Auto Club 500 at the California Speedway :D[/B]
| Ferg | 02-26-2007 10:07 AM |
Another tough weekend (I have the feeling there's going to be rather a lot of them...) for JPM.
[QUOTE][B][U]Kenseth sweeps Fontana[/U][/B]
By Diego Mejia Monday, February 26th 2007, 02:51 GMT
Matt Kenseth got his second win of the weekend at California Speedway, dominating the Auto Club 500, round two of the Nextel Cup season.
Kenseth led a race-high 129 laps, more than half the distance, showing again incredible pace throughout the race, just as he did during Saturday night when he won in the Busch Series.
"The car was really good all day," The 2003 Nextel Cup champion said. "Where we started, I was kind of pleasantly surprised, it was a little too tight but we were able to make a way forward those first couple of runs. So, I was really pretty pleased with it.
"We didn't have to make a lot of changes. When we were down to quarter-pound adjustments I knew we were pretty close - it seemed like we were always able to maintain the top three or four.
"I was looking forward to coming here. I didn't really know what to expect. Obviously, I'm very happy today."
Kenseth, who was racing without crew chief Robbie Reiser for the second weekend in a row after being suspended for four races in Daytona, claimed on Sunday his second consecutive win in the Auto Club 500, his fifteenth career win in the Nextel Cup.
Pole-sitter Jeff Gordon had a slow start to his race, falling backwards as the green flag waved. Front row starter Kasey Kahne took the lead, with Kevin Harvick following him in second, while Tony Stewart had a good start from 11th and quickly put himself up to third.
As early as lap seven, the first caution came out after Scott Riggs crashed in Turn 2. Jamie McMurray and Reed Sorenson were also involved in the crash and all three cars were heavily damaged.
As the third caution came out due to rookie David Ragan spinning on lap 20, leader Kahne pitted for the first time and Harvick and Stewart followed him through the pit road, handing the lead of the race to Kyle Busch.
Kenseth jumped to the front on lap 30, having a long duel with Dale Earnhardt Jr. Twenty laps later, he pitted under green while champion Jimmie Johnson stayed on track taking the chance to pit a few laps later under caution.
On lap 67, Stewart took the lead of the race while Earnhardt Jr had to go to his garage with an engine problem, the third for his team during the weekend. A lap later it was early race leader Kahne who had to go to the garage. He later rejoined 26 laps down.
Another driver facing engine issues was Toyota's Dave Blaney who had run in the top five in the early part of the race. On lap 112 he went to his garage without any oil pressure on his engine and a flaming exhaust.
Just eight laps later Dale Earnhardt Jr, who had returned to the track after lengthy repairs, finally had to give up any hope of finishing the race when his engine failed, almost putting him into the wall and forcing yet another caution.
"We blew it up for good this time," he said. "We tried to go out and get a few laps because Kasey Kahne blew up but fixed it and went back out. Luckily we kept it out of the wall when it blew."
Ahead, Kenseth battled with Jeff Gordon while Stewart quickly closed in, taking the lead for the second time in the afternoon on lap 144. After lap 150, most drivers started to pit under green including the leaders.
Stewart however was forced to pit twice as he exceeded the pitlane speed limit, allowing Kenseth to lead the race once again. The Home Depot car fell down to 18th.
Just before lap 200, the penultimate round of pitstops came under green. As everybody completed their stops, Johnson emerged ahead of Kenseth and teammate Gordon.
With 24 laps to go, a further caution came out for debris on track.
As the front runners pitted, the crew of the No. 17 car performed a very quick stop putting Kenseth on the lead for the last 20 laps, ahead of Jeff Burton, Harvick, Gordon and Johnson.
As the green flag waved, Kenseth led and started opening a gap until Harvick put himself in second, closing in on the Roush Racing driver.
His chase however was interrupted by the last caution, which came out with seven laps to go when David Reutimann crashed hard into the wall between Turns 3 and 4.
The wreck forced the race to be red flagged for nearly 20 minutes to allow officials to clean the track for the final laps of racing. When it was finally clear, the field circulated again under caution and just before the green came out, Harvick was forced to pit with a puncture.
As the green flag waved for the final time, Kenseth was untouchable, cruising to make it a double win for Roush Racing. Behind him Jeff Gordon finished second ahead of teammate Jimmie Johnson.
The best placed Toyota was Red Bull's Brian Vickers, who finished tenth after comfortably running in the top ten for most of the afternoon.
[B]Juan Pablo Montoya had a difficult race, finishing down in 26th, facing handling problems and being unlucky with the yellow flags, falling two laps down on the leader. Ragan was again the top-place rookie, finishing sixteenth.[/B]
Mark Martin, who crossed the line fifth, is now leading the driver standings with 335 points, five more than Jeff Burton and 26 ahead of Jeff Gordon. Daytona 500 winner Kevin Harvick is now fourth.
Auto Club 500 results:
Pos Driver Make Laps
1. Matt Kenseth Ford 250
2. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 250
3. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 250
4. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 250
5. Mark Martin Chevrolet 250
6. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 250
7. Kurt Busch Dodge 250
8. Tony Stewart Chevrolet 250
9. Kyle Busch Chevrolet 250
10. Brian Vickers Toyota 250
11. Denny Hamlin Chevrolet 250
12. Ryan Newman Dodge 250
13. JJ Yeley Chevrolet 250
14. Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 250
15. Greg Biffle Ford 250
16. David Ragan Ford 250
17. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 250
18. Johnny Sauter Chevrolet 249
19. David Stremme Dodge 249
20. Paul Menard Chevrolet 249
21. Robby Gordon Ford 249
22. Kyle Petty Dodge 249
23. Tony Raines Chevrolet 249
24. Elliott Sadler Dodge 248
25. David Gilliland Ford 248
[B]26. Juan Montoya Dodge 248[/B]
27. Ricky Rudd Ford 248
28. Bobby Labonte Dodge 248
29. Carl Edwards Ford 247
30. Jeff Green Chevrolet 247
31. Casey Mears Chevrolet 246
32. Dale Jarrett Toyota 246
33. David Reutimann Toyota 239
34. John Andretti Dodge 220
35. Sterling Marlin Chevrolet 198
36. Ken Schrader Ford 160
37. Jamie McMurray Ford 134
38. Kasey Kahne Dodge 129
39. Dave Blaney Toyota 112
40. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet 74
41. Scott Riggs Dodge 16
42. Martin Truex Jr Chevrolet 14
43. Reed Sorenson Dodge 7
[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE][B][U]Kenseth sweeps Fontana[/U][/B]
By Diego Mejia Monday, February 26th 2007, 02:51 GMT
Matt Kenseth got his second win of the weekend at California Speedway, dominating the Auto Club 500, round two of the Nextel Cup season.
Kenseth led a race-high 129 laps, more than half the distance, showing again incredible pace throughout the race, just as he did during Saturday night when he won in the Busch Series.
"The car was really good all day," The 2003 Nextel Cup champion said. "Where we started, I was kind of pleasantly surprised, it was a little too tight but we were able to make a way forward those first couple of runs. So, I was really pretty pleased with it.
"We didn't have to make a lot of changes. When we were down to quarter-pound adjustments I knew we were pretty close - it seemed like we were always able to maintain the top three or four.
"I was looking forward to coming here. I didn't really know what to expect. Obviously, I'm very happy today."
Kenseth, who was racing without crew chief Robbie Reiser for the second weekend in a row after being suspended for four races in Daytona, claimed on Sunday his second consecutive win in the Auto Club 500, his fifteenth career win in the Nextel Cup.
Pole-sitter Jeff Gordon had a slow start to his race, falling backwards as the green flag waved. Front row starter Kasey Kahne took the lead, with Kevin Harvick following him in second, while Tony Stewart had a good start from 11th and quickly put himself up to third.
As early as lap seven, the first caution came out after Scott Riggs crashed in Turn 2. Jamie McMurray and Reed Sorenson were also involved in the crash and all three cars were heavily damaged.
As the third caution came out due to rookie David Ragan spinning on lap 20, leader Kahne pitted for the first time and Harvick and Stewart followed him through the pit road, handing the lead of the race to Kyle Busch.
Kenseth jumped to the front on lap 30, having a long duel with Dale Earnhardt Jr. Twenty laps later, he pitted under green while champion Jimmie Johnson stayed on track taking the chance to pit a few laps later under caution.
On lap 67, Stewart took the lead of the race while Earnhardt Jr had to go to his garage with an engine problem, the third for his team during the weekend. A lap later it was early race leader Kahne who had to go to the garage. He later rejoined 26 laps down.
Another driver facing engine issues was Toyota's Dave Blaney who had run in the top five in the early part of the race. On lap 112 he went to his garage without any oil pressure on his engine and a flaming exhaust.
Just eight laps later Dale Earnhardt Jr, who had returned to the track after lengthy repairs, finally had to give up any hope of finishing the race when his engine failed, almost putting him into the wall and forcing yet another caution.
"We blew it up for good this time," he said. "We tried to go out and get a few laps because Kasey Kahne blew up but fixed it and went back out. Luckily we kept it out of the wall when it blew."
Ahead, Kenseth battled with Jeff Gordon while Stewart quickly closed in, taking the lead for the second time in the afternoon on lap 144. After lap 150, most drivers started to pit under green including the leaders.
Stewart however was forced to pit twice as he exceeded the pitlane speed limit, allowing Kenseth to lead the race once again. The Home Depot car fell down to 18th.
Just before lap 200, the penultimate round of pitstops came under green. As everybody completed their stops, Johnson emerged ahead of Kenseth and teammate Gordon.
With 24 laps to go, a further caution came out for debris on track.
As the front runners pitted, the crew of the No. 17 car performed a very quick stop putting Kenseth on the lead for the last 20 laps, ahead of Jeff Burton, Harvick, Gordon and Johnson.
As the green flag waved, Kenseth led and started opening a gap until Harvick put himself in second, closing in on the Roush Racing driver.
His chase however was interrupted by the last caution, which came out with seven laps to go when David Reutimann crashed hard into the wall between Turns 3 and 4.
The wreck forced the race to be red flagged for nearly 20 minutes to allow officials to clean the track for the final laps of racing. When it was finally clear, the field circulated again under caution and just before the green came out, Harvick was forced to pit with a puncture.
As the green flag waved for the final time, Kenseth was untouchable, cruising to make it a double win for Roush Racing. Behind him Jeff Gordon finished second ahead of teammate Jimmie Johnson.
The best placed Toyota was Red Bull's Brian Vickers, who finished tenth after comfortably running in the top ten for most of the afternoon.
[B]Juan Pablo Montoya had a difficult race, finishing down in 26th, facing handling problems and being unlucky with the yellow flags, falling two laps down on the leader. Ragan was again the top-place rookie, finishing sixteenth.[/B]
Mark Martin, who crossed the line fifth, is now leading the driver standings with 335 points, five more than Jeff Burton and 26 ahead of Jeff Gordon. Daytona 500 winner Kevin Harvick is now fourth.
Auto Club 500 results:
Pos Driver Make Laps
1. Matt Kenseth Ford 250
2. Jeff Gordon Chevrolet 250
3. Jimmie Johnson Chevrolet 250
4. Jeff Burton Chevrolet 250
5. Mark Martin Chevrolet 250
6. Clint Bowyer Chevrolet 250
7. Kurt Busch Dodge 250
8. Tony Stewart Chevrolet 250
9. Kyle Busch Chevrolet 250
10. Brian Vickers Toyota 250
11. Denny Hamlin Chevrolet 250
12. Ryan Newman Dodge 250
13. JJ Yeley Chevrolet 250
14. Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 250
15. Greg Biffle Ford 250
16. David Ragan Ford 250
17. Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 250
18. Johnny Sauter Chevrolet 249
19. David Stremme Dodge 249
20. Paul Menard Chevrolet 249
21. Robby Gordon Ford 249
22. Kyle Petty Dodge 249
23. Tony Raines Chevrolet 249
24. Elliott Sadler Dodge 248
25. David Gilliland Ford 248
[B]26. Juan Montoya Dodge 248[/B]
27. Ricky Rudd Ford 248
28. Bobby Labonte Dodge 248
29. Carl Edwards Ford 247
30. Jeff Green Chevrolet 247
31. Casey Mears Chevrolet 246
32. Dale Jarrett Toyota 246
33. David Reutimann Toyota 239
34. John Andretti Dodge 220
35. Sterling Marlin Chevrolet 198
36. Ken Schrader Ford 160
37. Jamie McMurray Ford 134
38. Kasey Kahne Dodge 129
39. Dave Blaney Toyota 112
40. Dale Earnhardt Jr Chevrolet 74
41. Scott Riggs Dodge 16
42. Martin Truex Jr Chevrolet 14
43. Reed Sorenson Dodge 7
[/QUOTE]
| Ferg | 02-28-2007 10:17 AM |
JPM heading south of the border :D
[QUOTE][B][U]Nine Cup drivers to race in Mexico[/U][/B]
By Diego Mejia Tuesday, February 27th 2007, 19:56 GMT
Nine Nextel Cup drivers, including Juan Pablo Montoya, will race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez next weekend in the third round of the NASCAR Busch Series in Mexico.
The 43-car field entered for the race includes defending race winner and last year's Nextel Cup Rookie of the Year Denny Hamlin, who will drive the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing entry.
Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Dave Blaney David Gilliland, JJ Yeley and rookies David Reutimann and David Ragan are the other seven drivers who will take on their first road-course event of the season, giving up the weekend off from their Nextel Cup schedule.
Montoya, who will drive the No. 42 Texaco-Havoline/Telcel Dodge, arrives to Mexico as one of the favorites to win the event.
However, he will face tough competition from NASCAR road-course specialists such as Boris Said, Ron Fellows, PJ Jones, Brian Simo, and his teammate Scott Pruett, who will drive Ganassi's second entry.
Six Mexican drivers are also on the entry list for Sunday's race, led by Adrian Fernandez, who will drive the No. 5 Lowe's Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.
Former Champ Car racer Michel Jourdain will drive the No. 17 Roush Fenwey Ford, and 2005 pole winner Jorge Goeters will drive the No. 27 Ford.
The event marks the third time NASCAR races at Mexico, as the series looks to expand beyond the United States.[/QUOTE]
[QUOTE][B][U]Nine Cup drivers to race in Mexico[/U][/B]
By Diego Mejia Tuesday, February 27th 2007, 19:56 GMT
Nine Nextel Cup drivers, including Juan Pablo Montoya, will race at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez next weekend in the third round of the NASCAR Busch Series in Mexico.
The 43-car field entered for the race includes defending race winner and last year's Nextel Cup Rookie of the Year Denny Hamlin, who will drive the No. 20 Joe Gibbs Racing entry.
Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Dave Blaney David Gilliland, JJ Yeley and rookies David Reutimann and David Ragan are the other seven drivers who will take on their first road-course event of the season, giving up the weekend off from their Nextel Cup schedule.
Montoya, who will drive the No. 42 Texaco-Havoline/Telcel Dodge, arrives to Mexico as one of the favorites to win the event.
However, he will face tough competition from NASCAR road-course specialists such as Boris Said, Ron Fellows, PJ Jones, Brian Simo, and his teammate Scott Pruett, who will drive Ganassi's second entry.
Six Mexican drivers are also on the entry list for Sunday's race, led by Adrian Fernandez, who will drive the No. 5 Lowe's Chevrolet for Hendrick Motorsports.
Former Champ Car racer Michel Jourdain will drive the No. 17 Roush Fenwey Ford, and 2005 pole winner Jorge Goeters will drive the No. 27 Ford.
The event marks the third time NASCAR races at Mexico, as the series looks to expand beyond the United States.[/QUOTE]
| REX8 | 03-04-2007 05:32 PM |
Wow...total domination...but what a stupid thing to do.
I'm a huge fan but come on...there was no way he wasn't winning that race with 8 laps to go....WTF was he thinking???
All the talent in the world...and a flickering brain when it counts...
Oh well...
He was embarrassing the rest of those guys though...
I'm a huge fan but come on...there was no way he wasn't winning that race with 8 laps to go....WTF was he thinking???
All the talent in the world...and a flickering brain when it counts...
Oh well...
He was embarrassing the rest of those guys though...
| REX8 | 03-04-2007 05:36 PM |
CN on Mexico. JPM gets the lead easily, pulls away from teammate SP at about a second a lap. Dominating drive.
Mistake/failure in the pits on last stop, doesn't get enough fuel to finish the race. Pits again, goes to the back, within oh, 10 green flag laps and scattered cautions, he goes from 20th to 3rd...:eek:
Grabs second, 8 laps left, teammate in front, probably will let him around...JPM can't wait, bombs into corner, spins teammate (who finishes 5th) and goes onto win.
AMAZING drive, but the finish spoiled it.
BTW: What the hell is up with the frequency and LENGTH of the cautions??? Thats got to change. A driver spins, gets RIGHT back on track, never stopping, and they have a mandatory 3 laps under yellow. Why oh why to they insist on doing that?
Mistake/failure in the pits on last stop, doesn't get enough fuel to finish the race. Pits again, goes to the back, within oh, 10 green flag laps and scattered cautions, he goes from 20th to 3rd...:eek:
Grabs second, 8 laps left, teammate in front, probably will let him around...JPM can't wait, bombs into corner, spins teammate (who finishes 5th) and goes onto win.
AMAZING drive, but the finish spoiled it.
BTW: What the hell is up with the frequency and LENGTH of the cautions??? Thats got to change. A driver spins, gets RIGHT back on track, never stopping, and they have a mandatory 3 laps under yellow. Why oh why to they insist on doing that?
| Ferg | 03-04-2007 05:43 PM |
Yeah that was a pretty optimistic move on Pruett, although it does look like Scott was giving room until the last second. Really just a matter of inches.
Other than that it was an absolutely amazing drive from JPM.
Other than that it was an absolutely amazing drive from JPM.
| cooleyjb | 03-04-2007 05:50 PM |
The move on Pruett was horrible, low class move. He wasn't even close to him and went hard into the corner. Pruett was right to be as pissed as he was to be clipped by his own teammate from that far back going into the conrer
[QUOTE=REX8;17253846]
BTW: What the hell is up with the frequemcy and LENGTH of the cautions??? Thats got to change. A driver spins, gets RIGHT back on track, never stopping, and they have a mandatory 3 laps under yellow. Why oh why to they insist on doing that?[/QUOTE]
It was a bit annoying especially towards the end when there was no need for any safety car whatsoever
It does do a good job of getting the field all bunched up together. It helped people like Montoya and Pruett after the incident to get back up as high as they did.
At least they don't finish the race on yellows either.
[QUOTE=REX8;17253846]
BTW: What the hell is up with the frequemcy and LENGTH of the cautions??? Thats got to change. A driver spins, gets RIGHT back on track, never stopping, and they have a mandatory 3 laps under yellow. Why oh why to they insist on doing that?[/QUOTE]
It was a bit annoying especially towards the end when there was no need for any safety car whatsoever
It does do a good job of getting the field all bunched up together. It helped people like Montoya and Pruett after the incident to get back up as high as they did.
At least they don't finish the race on yellows either.
| Ferg | 03-04-2007 06:56 PM |
I don't know if I'd call it "low class" or "dirty", that implies it was intentional. As bone-headed and clumsy a move as it was it didn't look intentional to me. I'm not defending it, but to me it looked like nothing more than an unfortunate "racing incident". Of course that's a term we've certainly used a lot when talking about Montoya...:lol:
Did anyone else get sort of mini-Monza vibe from the second part (after the esses) of the Mexico city track?
Did anyone else get sort of mini-Monza vibe from the second part (after the esses) of the Mexico city track?
| cooleyjb | 03-04-2007 07:04 PM |
8 laps to go you have the better car, you're 2 car lengths back on your teammate going into turn 1 and you dive bomb. I don't think it was intentional but it was a low-class move to be pushing that hard on a teammates car. Had it not been a teammate, I'd look at it differently.
| Scoob5555 | 03-04-2007 07:20 PM |
Methinks the mandatory cautions w/safety car at the drop of a hat is a NASCAR thing. Or so I've read. Ironically it's supposed to keep it interesting for the fans by bunching everyone up as mentioned above. But I find it wholly annoying and turn the channel every time. Guess I'm not their targeted audience.
And after Montoya's stupid move, I turned it off anyway. So I guess they were right - I'm not their targeted audience. And I probably won't waste any more of my time watching any of the crashcar stuff (except Rolex).
And after Montoya's stupid move, I turned it off anyway. So I guess they were right - I'm not their targeted audience. And I probably won't waste any more of my time watching any of the crashcar stuff (except Rolex).
| REX8 | 03-04-2007 07:25 PM |
[QUOTE=cooleyjb;17254485]8 laps to go you have the better car, you're 2 car lengths back on your teammate going into turn 1 and you dive bomb. I don't think it was intentional but it was a low-class move to be pushing that hard on a teammates car. Had it not been a teammate, I'd look at it differently.[/QUOTE]
:confused:
In the braking zone, he CERTAINLY wasn't 2 cars back. He was entering the straight, but at the end, he was there.
Here's my take on it...
Montoya had been HANDS AND FEET above the field in braking/speed carried into turn one. It looked very much when they started braking that he was going to hang behind. He was tucked up behind as opposed to having himself to the inside early liek he had ALL race long when passing doen there.
I think as they started braking, he made a last minute (bad) call that because he was so much better through there, he dind't have to wait...he then came out from behind him too quickly for SP to notice...who would hav enot had a problem heeding to him had he saw him.
I really think the problem wasn't that montoya was too far back..he wasn't...
Just that he seemed to be tucked behind like he wasn't passing, and not hangin insde as he did all afternoon. Dumb move when he knew he had the win...but certainly not an intentional thing...and he wasn't 2 cars back.
:confused:
In the braking zone, he CERTAINLY wasn't 2 cars back. He was entering the straight, but at the end, he was there.
Here's my take on it...
Montoya had been HANDS AND FEET above the field in braking/speed carried into turn one. It looked very much when they started braking that he was going to hang behind. He was tucked up behind as opposed to having himself to the inside early liek he had ALL race long when passing doen there.
I think as they started braking, he made a last minute (bad) call that because he was so much better through there, he dind't have to wait...he then came out from behind him too quickly for SP to notice...who would hav enot had a problem heeding to him had he saw him.
I really think the problem wasn't that montoya was too far back..he wasn't...
Just that he seemed to be tucked behind like he wasn't passing, and not hangin insde as he did all afternoon. Dumb move when he knew he had the win...but certainly not an intentional thing...and he wasn't 2 cars back.
| cooleyjb | 03-04-2007 07:39 PM |
He was 1.5 to 2 back when they started braking. Pruett just held his brakes longer and that brought Montoya even with his rear bumper. Montoya even mentioned that Pruett was starting his braking at the same time but holding it longer than he was.
Montoya was too far back to be making the pass. If he hadn't been he would have been up alongside Pruetts door going into turn one, not up under his rear bumper.
It was a reasonable move to do in Nascar, just not to do to a teammate is what I'm saying.
Montoya was too far back to be making the pass. If he hadn't been he would have been up alongside Pruetts door going into turn one, not up under his rear bumper.
It was a reasonable move to do in Nascar, just not to do to a teammate is what I'm saying.
| Ferg | 03-04-2007 09:04 PM |
To be fair when JPM passed Pruett on lap three for the lead in the same spot Pruett shut the door pretty hard and almost caused a wreck.
Anyway moving on..here's the recap from Autosport.
[QUOTE][B][U]Montoya wins maiden Busch race
[/U][/B]
By Diego Mejia Sunday, March 4th 2007, 22:25 GMT
Juan Pablo Montoya won his first NASCAR race on Sunday at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico, taking victory in the Telcel Motorola Mexico 200 after a controversial overtaking manoeuvre on Ganassi teammate Scott Pruett.
The Colombian led the first part of the race but had fallen down to 21st after a refuelling problem forced him to make an extra pitstop. He quickly recovered in the last 20 laps to put himself in contention for victory.
Montoya's victory marks the first win for a Hispanic driver in the Busch Series. Furthermore, Sunday's race in Mexico was also the most international event NASCAR has ever staged, given the number of non-US drivers in the field.
"I'm really happy," Montoya told autosport.com. "When they told me we didn't have enough fuel to make it to the end I thought I wasn't going to win this one. The team did a great job and despite all the problems were able to make it.
"I'm very sorry about what happened with Scott. We're both teammates here, we raced together in the 24-hours, you know.
"I braked a little bit later than him, went for the inside, I was there and I thought he saw me because he was coming quite wide, and when he came across I thought 'Oh my god'. I had just no room to go. I tried to back off, but it was too late."
The race went underway with the field making it clean through Turn 1. The two Ganassi cars of Pruett and Montoya started to pull away from the pack and on lap 3, Montoya made a late dive on the inside of Pruett in Turn 1, the two cars nearly rubbing fenders, but the Colombian emerging in the lead.
The first round of pitstops for the leader came under green on lap 10 with Montoya going for four tyres, fuel and adjustments to the left rear suspension. Pruett followed Montoya through the pit road while Mexican Carlos Contreras stayed out to take the lead.
By the end of the lap and going into Peraltada, the final right hander heading into the front-stretch, Denny Hamlin went on the outside of Contreras, performing a spectacular overtaking manoeuvre to take the lead.
As the Joe Gibbs driver pitted at the end of lap 12, Mexicans Jorge Goeters and German Quiroga Jr took the lead of the race, the latter building a ten-second lead as he stayed out longer than anybody else.
On lap 25 the first caution came out when Venezuelan Alex Garcia spun after making contact with Scott Pruett. This evaporated Quiroga's lead as he went into the pits, while Montoya, Pruett and most of the top runners stayed out.
The second round of pitstops for the top three came on lap 45 with Montoya emerging on the lead again from Pruett and Hamlin. However, his crew ran in trouble with the refuelling and did not fill the tank as planned.
"We have to build a big lead, we're going to have to pit again," crew chief Brad Parrott told Montoya on the radio. The Colombian set a blistering pace thereafter, setting the fastest lap of the race while building a 15-second lead by lap 50.
On lap 54 the second caution came out when Jorge Goeters and Todd Souza came together in Turn 4. When the pit road opened, Montoya pitted for fuel and tyres, falling down to 21st as Pruett, Hamlin and the rest of the top runners stayed out.
As the racing restarted on lap 55 Pruett stayed ahead with Hamlin putting him under pressure. Only seven laps later, a third caution came out when Brad Coleman spun at Turn 4. Montoya had already made his way up to ninth by then, behind local Adrian Fernandez.
With fresher tyres than his rivals, Montoya was the man to watch when the green flag waved with 16 laps to go. By lap 70, with only 10 to go, Montoya overtook Boris Said into Turn 1 to take second at the restart. Behind him, Hamlin took third, overtaking Said into Turn 2.
With Montoya and Pruett looking for their first NASCAR victory, it was going to be a tough fight between the two Ganassi drivers - and so it was.
With seven laps to go, Montoya repeated his late surprise dive on the inside of Pruett under braking for Turn 1, although this time things ended in a different way.
Pruett spun as Montoya hit his right rear, the Colombian successful at staying in the lead after being forced to go through the grass between Turns 1 and 2. It was classic Montoya.
"That was the dirtiest, nastiest move I've ever seen done by a teammate," Pruett said afterwards. "He was faster than me, if he had waited he would've passed me. We talked about it in meetings and he did it anyway."
With five laps to go, the green waved again. Montoya had a damaged left front fender and Hamlin tried to put the former Formula One star under pressure. He even hit the back of his car a couple of times.
With two laps to go, the last caution came out for debris on track forcing a green-white-chequer end to the race.
Montoya had no problems this time opening a comfortable gap to Hamlin, taking his first NASCAR victory - also the first for a non-US driver since Ron Fellows won a Busch Series race at Watkins Glen in 2001.
Telcel Motorola Mexico 200 results:
Pos Driver Make Laps
1. Juan Pablo Montoya Dodge 82
2. Denny Hamlin Chevrolet 82
3. Boris Said Dodge 82
4. Carl Edwards Ford 82
5. Scott Pruett Dodge 82
6. Jason Leffler Toyota 82
7. Jorge Goeters Ford 82
8. Marcos Ambrose Ford 82
9. Adrian Fernandez Chevrolet 82
10. Jon Wood Ford 82
11. Todd Kluever Ford 82
12. David Reutimann Toyota 82
13. Dave Blaney Toyota 82
14. David Ragan Ford 82
15. Brent Sherman Chevrolet 82
16. Kyle Krisiloff Ford 82
17. Bobby Hamilton Jr Ford 82
18. Steve Wallace Dodge 82
19. Mike Wallace Chevrolet 82
20. Greg Biffle Ford 82
21. Shane Huffman Chevrolet 82
22. Brian Simo Chevrolet 82
23. Todd Souza Chevrolet 82
24. PJ Jones Chevrolet 82
25. Michel Jourdain Jr Ford 82
26. Regan Smith Chevrolet 82
27. Stephen Leicht Ford 82
28. German Quiroga Jr Chevrolet 81
29. Rogelio Lopez Dodge 81
30. Scott Wimmer Chevrolet 81
31. Kertus Davis Chevrolet 81
32. Ron Fellows Chevrolet 81
33. Alex Garcia Chevrolet 80
34. Carlos Contreras Dodge 72
35. David Gilliland Chevrolet 68
36. JJ Yeley Chevrolet 68
37. Brad Coleman Chevrolet 61
38. John Young Ford 33
39. Stanton Barrett Chevrolet 30
40. Ruben Pardo Dodge 8
41. Antonio Perez Dodge 3
42. Brad Keselowski Chevrolet 2
[/QUOTE]
Anyway moving on..here's the recap from Autosport.
[QUOTE][B][U]Montoya wins maiden Busch race
[/U][/B]
By Diego Mejia Sunday, March 4th 2007, 22:25 GMT
Juan Pablo Montoya won his first NASCAR race on Sunday at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico, taking victory in the Telcel Motorola Mexico 200 after a controversial overtaking manoeuvre on Ganassi teammate Scott Pruett.
The Colombian led the first part of the race but had fallen down to 21st after a refuelling problem forced him to make an extra pitstop. He quickly recovered in the last 20 laps to put himself in contention for victory.
Montoya's victory marks the first win for a Hispanic driver in the Busch Series. Furthermore, Sunday's race in Mexico was also the most international event NASCAR has ever staged, given the number of non-US drivers in the field.
"I'm really happy," Montoya told autosport.com. "When they told me we didn't have enough fuel to make it to the end I thought I wasn't going to win this one. The team did a great job and despite all the problems were able to make it.
"I'm very sorry about what happened with Scott. We're both teammates here, we raced together in the 24-hours, you know.
"I braked a little bit later than him, went for the inside, I was there and I thought he saw me because he was coming quite wide, and when he came across I thought 'Oh my god'. I had just no room to go. I tried to back off, but it was too late."
The race went underway with the field making it clean through Turn 1. The two Ganassi cars of Pruett and Montoya started to pull away from the pack and on lap 3, Montoya made a late dive on the inside of Pruett in Turn 1, the two cars nearly rubbing fenders, but the Colombian emerging in the lead.
The first round of pitstops for the leader came under green on lap 10 with Montoya going for four tyres, fuel and adjustments to the left rear suspension. Pruett followed Montoya through the pit road while Mexican Carlos Contreras stayed out to take the lead.
By the end of the lap and going into Peraltada, the final right hander heading into the front-stretch, Denny Hamlin went on the outside of Contreras, performing a spectacular overtaking manoeuvre to take the lead.
As the Joe Gibbs driver pitted at the end of lap 12, Mexicans Jorge Goeters and German Quiroga Jr took the lead of the race, the latter building a ten-second lead as he stayed out longer than anybody else.
On lap 25 the first caution came out when Venezuelan Alex Garcia spun after making contact with Scott Pruett. This evaporated Quiroga's lead as he went into the pits, while Montoya, Pruett and most of the top runners stayed out.
The second round of pitstops for the top three came on lap 45 with Montoya emerging on the lead again from Pruett and Hamlin. However, his crew ran in trouble with the refuelling and did not fill the tank as planned.
"We have to build a big lead, we're going to have to pit again," crew chief Brad Parrott told Montoya on the radio. The Colombian set a blistering pace thereafter, setting the fastest lap of the race while building a 15-second lead by lap 50.
On lap 54 the second caution came out when Jorge Goeters and Todd Souza came together in Turn 4. When the pit road opened, Montoya pitted for fuel and tyres, falling down to 21st as Pruett, Hamlin and the rest of the top runners stayed out.
As the racing restarted on lap 55 Pruett stayed ahead with Hamlin putting him under pressure. Only seven laps later, a third caution came out when Brad Coleman spun at Turn 4. Montoya had already made his way up to ninth by then, behind local Adrian Fernandez.
With fresher tyres than his rivals, Montoya was the man to watch when the green flag waved with 16 laps to go. By lap 70, with only 10 to go, Montoya overtook Boris Said into Turn 1 to take second at the restart. Behind him, Hamlin took third, overtaking Said into Turn 2.
With Montoya and Pruett looking for their first NASCAR victory, it was going to be a tough fight between the two Ganassi drivers - and so it was.
With seven laps to go, Montoya repeated his late surprise dive on the inside of Pruett under braking for Turn 1, although this time things ended in a different way.
Pruett spun as Montoya hit his right rear, the Colombian successful at staying in the lead after being forced to go through the grass between Turns 1 and 2. It was classic Montoya.
"That was the dirtiest, nastiest move I've ever seen done by a teammate," Pruett said afterwards. "He was faster than me, if he had waited he would've passed me. We talked about it in meetings and he did it anyway."
With five laps to go, the green waved again. Montoya had a damaged left front fender and Hamlin tried to put the former Formula One star under pressure. He even hit the back of his car a couple of times.
With two laps to go, the last caution came out for debris on track forcing a green-white-chequer end to the race.
Montoya had no problems this time opening a comfortable gap to Hamlin, taking his first NASCAR victory - also the first for a non-US driver since Ron Fellows won a Busch Series race at Watkins Glen in 2001.
Telcel Motorola Mexico 200 results:
Pos Driver Make Laps
1. Juan Pablo Montoya Dodge 82
2. Denny Hamlin Chevrolet 82
3. Boris Said Dodge 82
4. Carl Edwards Ford 82
5. Scott Pruett Dodge 82
6. Jason Leffler Toyota 82
7. Jorge Goeters Ford 82
8. Marcos Ambrose Ford 82
9. Adrian Fernandez Chevrolet 82
10. Jon Wood Ford 82
11. Todd Kluever Ford 82
12. David Reutimann Toyota 82
13. Dave Blaney Toyota 82
14. David Ragan Ford 82
15. Brent Sherman Chevrolet 82
16. Kyle Krisiloff Ford 82
17. Bobby Hamilton Jr Ford 82
18. Steve Wallace Dodge 82
19. Mike Wallace Chevrolet 82
20. Greg Biffle Ford 82
21. Shane Huffman Chevrolet 82
22. Brian Simo Chevrolet 82
23. Todd Souza Chevrolet 82
24. PJ Jones Chevrolet 82
25. Michel Jourdain Jr Ford 82
26. Regan Smith Chevrolet 82
27. Stephen Leicht Ford 82
28. German Quiroga Jr Chevrolet 81
29. Rogelio Lopez Dodge 81
30. Scott Wimmer Chevrolet 81
31. Kertus Davis Chevrolet 81
32. Ron Fellows Chevrolet 81
33. Alex Garcia Chevrolet 80
34. Carlos Contreras Dodge 72
35. David Gilliland Chevrolet 68
36. JJ Yeley Chevrolet 68
37. Brad Coleman Chevrolet 61
38. John Young Ford 33
39. Stanton Barrett Chevrolet 30
40. Ruben Pardo Dodge 8
41. Antonio Perez Dodge 3
42. Brad Keselowski Chevrolet 2
[/QUOTE]
| Jonathan | 03-04-2007 09:15 PM |
I think its somewhat ironic that Montoya's difficulties in F1 came to a head at Indianapolis where he knocked Kimi and himself out in the first lap, and yet here he comes back to America with all the support in the world, no pressure to perform (just to get some experience) and Chip's one big instruction is to not to punt your teammate out. And yet Juan manages to repeat his performance.
Yes he is a great driver, but this was a bone-headed move that Juan didn't have to make.
Yes he is a great driver, but this was a bone-headed move that Juan didn't have to make.
| Ferg | 03-04-2007 09:19 PM |
[QUOTE=Jonathan;17255612]Yes he is a great driver, but this was a bone-headed move the Juan didn't have to make.[/QUOTE]
Agreed 100%
I'd also like to add that the next time I hear Rusty Wallace say "ripple-strips" I'm taking out a contract on him.
Agreed 100%
I'd also like to add that the next time I hear Rusty Wallace say "ripple-strips" I'm taking out a contract on him.
| REX8 | 03-04-2007 09:33 PM |
Certainly a bit of an over-reaction by Scott there.
Dirty? How can people think this was on purpose? Dumb, bone-head move? 100%, but certainly it was not his intent.
Dirty? How can people think this was on purpose? Dumb, bone-head move? 100%, but certainly it was not his intent.
| westcle | 03-04-2007 09:34 PM |
[quote=Ferg;17255640]Agreed 100%
I'd also like to add that the next time I hear Rusty Wallace say "ripple-strips" I'm taking out a contract on him.[/quote]
No need for that. Just send him to the tail-back :huh:
I'd also like to add that the next time I hear Rusty Wallace say "ripple-strips" I'm taking out a contract on him.[/quote]
No need for that. Just send him to the tail-back :huh:
| Ferg | 03-04-2007 09:36 PM |
[QUOTE=westcle;17255774]No need for that. Just send him to the tail-back :huh:[/QUOTE]
:lol: :lol:
Even my wife was like, "What the **** is he talking about? This isn't football!"
:lol: :lol:
Even my wife was like, "What the **** is he talking about? This isn't football!"
| Patrick Olsen | 03-04-2007 11:31 PM |
Although clearly the contact was Montoya's fault, I can see where he may have been confused by Pruett's line. When you've got a clearly faster car coming up behind you, the normal thing to do is protect your line and turn in early - as Montoya was doing to hold off Hamlin on the 8 million restarts in the last 3 or 4 laps, and as we've all seen F1 drivers do over and over again. But going into 1, Pruett stayed out wide, which may have seemed like an invitation to Montoya.
Of course, Pruett may have taken a normal line (rather than a defensive line) because he was figuring his teammate wouldn't dive bomb him. When he turned in aggressively, Montoya had nowhere to go.
Anyway, definitely not what JPM needed to endear himself to this new community he'll be racing with.
Of course, Pruett may have taken a normal line (rather than a defensive line) because he was figuring his teammate wouldn't dive bomb him. When he turned in aggressively, Montoya had nowhere to go.
Anyway, definitely not what JPM needed to endear himself to this new community he'll be racing with.
| ingko | 03-04-2007 11:53 PM |
GREAT RACE by Montoya (except for the touch). Thats what Montoya brings to Nascar. This is why I'm watching it now. To see the magic on four wheels. Poor Pruett. He should know that if Montoya see's a door open just the slightest bit, he's going to go in and make it his.
| Hotrodguru | 03-05-2007 03:00 AM |
New series...same arrogant Montoya. Only reason I've been pulling for him this year is because he's an opn wheel guy/road racer. Still the same prick and if I was Pruett I would have kicked his arse.
| ptclaus98 | 03-05-2007 06:21 AM |
*crosses fingers for a Kimi quote*
I know if he saw that he was laughing his *** off.
I know if he saw that he was laughing his *** off.
| REX8 | 03-05-2007 09:16 AM |
[QUOTE=Hotrodguru;17258377]New series...same arrogant Montoya. Only reason I've been pulling for him this year is because he's an opn wheel guy/road racer. Still the same prick and if I was Pruett I would have kicked his arse.[/QUOTE]
Again, this implies intent. Arrogant? Stupid, fine...but how do you get arrogant?
Again, this implies intent. Arrogant? Stupid, fine...but how do you get arrogant?
| Mykl | 03-05-2007 10:04 AM |
Whether or not his screw up was intentional, I think he needs to learn to be a lot more careful around teammates. In my mind his victory is tarnished by this screw up. To be honest, the whole thing looks staged to me.
| Ferg | 03-05-2007 12:27 PM |
Staged? :huh:
Must have been a pretty big check written to Pruett then...
[QUOTE][B][U]Montoya regretful after Pruett clash[/U][/B]
Monday, March 5th 2007, 16:18 GMT
Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya was regretful after causing a spin on Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Pruett during the Telcel-Motorola 200 on Sunday.
Montoya bumped front-running Pruett with eight laps to go at Mexico City's Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, a 2.518-mile road course.
Pole-sitter Pruett spun out and had trouble refiring his engine. He finished fifth out of 43 drivers while Montoya went on to score his maiden win in NASCAR.
"Of all the people to take out, your teammate," Pruett told ESPN television after the race. "That was just no good, low, nasty, dirty driving. I can't put it into words. It's just so disappointing."
Montoya apologised to Pruett, but the Colombian said the incident was "terrible".
"With Scott, we had great racing all day and for this to happen, it's terrible," Montoya said on NASCAR's official website. "It's horrible because it could have been a one-two Ganassi finish."
Denny Hamlin, who finished second behind Montoya in the race, said the Colombian had been too aggressive, but dismissed suggestions of dirty driving.
"I wouldn't say it was dirty driving. I just thought it was too aggressive at the time," Hamlin said. "[Montoya's] car was so much faster than everyone else and he was half that much faster over [Pruett].
"He was going to pass him. It was a matter of time. I just thought he got a little overzealous right there."
Team boss Chip Ganassi congratulated Montoya's for his drive, but did not want to comment on the incident.
"That was a vintage Montoya drive from back there," Ganassi said. "Obviously, the incident down there in Turn 1 with our teammate Scott, I probably need to take a good look at it to see what happened before I make any comment."[/QUOTE]
Must have been a pretty big check written to Pruett then...
[QUOTE][B][U]Montoya regretful after Pruett clash[/U][/B]
Monday, March 5th 2007, 16:18 GMT
Colombian Juan Pablo Montoya was regretful after causing a spin on Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Pruett during the Telcel-Motorola 200 on Sunday.
Montoya bumped front-running Pruett with eight laps to go at Mexico City's Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez, a 2.518-mile road course.
Pole-sitter Pruett spun out and had trouble refiring his engine. He finished fifth out of 43 drivers while Montoya went on to score his maiden win in NASCAR.
"Of all the people to take out, your teammate," Pruett told ESPN television after the race. "That was just no good, low, nasty, dirty driving. I can't put it into words. It's just so disappointing."
Montoya apologised to Pruett, but the Colombian said the incident was "terrible".
"With Scott, we had great racing all day and for this to happen, it's terrible," Montoya said on NASCAR's official website. "It's horrible because it could have been a one-two Ganassi finish."
Denny Hamlin, who finished second behind Montoya in the race, said the Colombian had been too aggressive, but dismissed suggestions of dirty driving.
"I wouldn't say it was dirty driving. I just thought it was too aggressive at the time," Hamlin said. "[Montoya's] car was so much faster than everyone else and he was half that much faster over [Pruett].
"He was going to pass him. It was a matter of time. I just thought he got a little overzealous right there."
Team boss Chip Ganassi congratulated Montoya's for his drive, but did not want to comment on the incident.
"That was a vintage Montoya drive from back there," Ganassi said. "Obviously, the incident down there in Turn 1 with our teammate Scott, I probably need to take a good look at it to see what happened before I make any comment."[/QUOTE]
| Ferg | 03-05-2007 12:42 PM |
Here's the video for those who haven't seen it yet.
[URL=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EHEem7_LkI]teh YouTube[/URL]
You can definitely see what Patrick was talking about in regards to Pruett's line..he stays wide then turns in very sharp. I doubt there's a driver who wouldn't have been caught out by that.
And here's a nice little picture from JPM's turn one, lap three pass on Pruett. Certainly not a lot of room given by either driver...
[IMG]http://www.pbase.com/image/75237442/original.jpg[/IMG]
All that being said, it still was bone-headed clumsy move by JPM. :D
[URL=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8EHEem7_LkI]teh YouTube[/URL]
You can definitely see what Patrick was talking about in regards to Pruett's line..he stays wide then turns in very sharp. I doubt there's a driver who wouldn't have been caught out by that.
And here's a nice little picture from JPM's turn one, lap three pass on Pruett. Certainly not a lot of room given by either driver...
[IMG]http://www.pbase.com/image/75237442/original.jpg[/IMG]
All that being said, it still was bone-headed clumsy move by JPM. :D
| Urban_Scooby | 03-05-2007 01:40 PM |
i'm guess JPM couldn't hear me yelling at him thru the tv yesterday, but i have not been a fan since he went to F1. can't say he's not a great driver seeing as F1 doesn't take someone who thinks he can drive. but he's pulled so many bone head stunts like yesterday that it just confirms my feelings. not trying to flame anyone here as we all like different drivers. but the fact that the single (only) team order was not to take each other out pretty much makes JPM look like an azz. even Parrott (his crew chief) had to swallow his pride to admit it. and you know there was an azz chewing at the team meeting this morning. would've liked to see Pruett rough him up a bit after the race. good stuff!
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