Juan Pablo Montoya
Fontana Advance
Race:
Stater Bros. 300 on Saturday, Feb. 24, 2007
Track:
California Speedway (2-mile oval)
Location:
Fontana, Calif.
Juan Pablo Montoya and the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge Team Facts:
Familiar Territory, but Different Story: This weekend at California Speedway, Juan Pablo Montoya will be running on a familiar track. He competed at the Fontana track in 1999 and 2000 for his current stock car team owner Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) in the Championship Auto Racing Teams (CART) Series. The Colombian native totaled two starts that resulted in two top-five beginnings, along with one top-five finish and two top-10s. The 10th-place finish in October of 2000 was achieved after he experienced mechanical problems that forced him out of the race. Only five cars finished all 250 laps of competition that day. Montoya completed 219 to bring home the top 10.
Chassis: The No. 42 Busch team is bringing a strong chassis—#654—to race in this weekend’s Stater Bros. 300. The same chassis was entered in a total of six NASCAR Busch races in 2006. The most memorable run was at Chicagoland in July when Casey Mears drove the chassis to his first NASCAR victory, which ironically that same weekend is when CGRFS announced Montoya was coming back on board with the team to go stock car racing in 2007. Montoya also raced the same chassis to a 14th-place finish in the last NASCAR Busch race of the 2006 season at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla. Altogether, the #654 car collected one win, three top-five and five top-15 finishes last year.
California Boys: Another CGRFS Busch crewman is headed home this weekend to California. Scott Ward, the front-tire changer on the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Busch team and the No. 40 Coors Light NEXTEL Cup team, is from the west coast state. He is originally from Clearlake.
Tune in to Watch: The second Busch race of the 2007 season is schedule to start at 4:30 p.m. CT/7:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, Feb. 24, and will broadcast live on ESPN2 (TV), MRN (Radio) and Sirius Satellite Radio Channel 128.
