Race 2 Win: Busch Series Race Notes

NASCAR Busch Series

Sharpie Mini 300 - Juan Pablo Montoya Notes

Juan Pablo Montoya Advance
Bristol 03.24.07

Race: Sharpie Mini 300 on Saturday, March 24, 2007
Track: Bristol Motor Speedway (.533-mile oval)
Location: Bristol, Tenn.

Juan Pablo Montoya and the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Team Facts:

Welcome to Bristol, Juan!: The Sharpie Mini 300 will be Montoya’s first official NASCAR competition at the infamous Bristol Motor Speedway. He tested at Bristol during the NEXTEL Cup Car of Tomorrow test earlier this month, but has never run his Busch car on the .533-mile Tennessee track.

Impressive First Impression: Montoya first visited Atlanta Motor Speedway this past weekend and made quite a good first impression on the 1.54-mile Georgia quad-oval, as well as all of those watching both the NASCAR Busch Series and NEXTEL Cup races. Montoya’s first Busch Series competition at Atlanta resulted in a top-10 start (10th place) and eighth-place finish. Then, on Sunday, he lined up in 16th place to start the 500-mile NEXTEL Cup race and concluded the day in fifth-place, which marked his second-best career finish in NASCAR (His best was first place in the Busch race at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City, Mexico, March 4).

So Far So Good: The No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Busch team now stands 11th in the overall NASCAR Busch Series owner points. They have a total of 529 points and are just 18 points outside the top 10. Montoya is 10th in the driver standings and is just 53 points outside the top five.

Head of the Class: Last Saturday in the NASCAR Busch Series race at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Montoya’s eighth-place finish helped him claim Rookie of the Race honors for the second time this season. Montoya now stands first in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year ranks with a total of 58 points. Marcos Ambrose is four points behind him in second place.

Moving on Up in Cup: After Montoya’s impressive, first-ever NASCAR NEXTEL Cup start at Atlanta, which resulted in a fifth-place finish, he and the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline team moved seven positions forward—into 15th place—in the NEXTEL Cup standings with a current tally of 443 points. They are just 28 points outside the top 10. Montoya also took a step up in the NEXTEL Cup Raybestos Rookie standings, moving into first place. He now leads the NEXTEL Cup rookie class with 47 points. He is one point ahead of second-place David Ragan. Montoya also took Raybestos Rookie of the Race honors for the second consecutive week in a row. He claimed the rookie honor first at Las Vegas Motor Speedway.

Chassis: The No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Busch team is bringing chassis #652 to Bristol this weekend. The car most recently raced at Las Vegas Motor Speedway just a couple of weeks ago, when Montoya and team wheeled their way to a 20th-place finish. Before that, the chassis was entered at Texas Motor Speedway last April, when Brad Parrot made his race debut as the crew chief of the No. 42 team. Parrot, Casey Mears and team went on to score a top-10 start and a third-place finish in their first run together in the Lone Star State.