Juan Pablo Montoya Advance
Phoenix International Raceway
Race: Basha’s Supermarkets 200 on Friday, April 20, 2007
Track: Phoenix International Raceway (1-mile tri-oval)
Location: Avondale, Ariz.
Juan Pablo Montoya and the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Team Facts:
Not His First Rodeo at PIR: Juan Pablo Montoya will make his first Phoenix International Raceway (PIR) run in NEXTEL Cup competition this weekend but his second in the Busch Series. Montoya competed at the Arizona track in 2006, finishing 20th in his third-career NASCAR Busch Series (NBS) race last November. After starting from the 11th spot for the Arizona Travel 200, Montoya struggled with the handling of his No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge Charger to earn his second top-20 finish.
Where They Stand: Although their run was ended prematurely last Saturday at Texas Motor Speedway when they were taken out of the competition with a little more than 20 laps left to run, Montoya and the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Busch team are still standing strong in the NBS owner ranks. The team is 12th overall and just 27 points away from the top 10.
Rookie Ratings: Montoya is now third in the NBS Raybestos Rookie of the Year race, with a running tally of 75 points. He is just three points behind rookie class leader Marcos Ambrose. The 31-year-old racer has grabbed rookie of the race honors two times this year in Busch Series competition—in Mexico City and at Atlanta Motor Speedway. On the Cup side, he is 13th in the NEXTEL Cup Series championship standings, which makes him the highest ranked rookie. Along with grabbing the Raybestos Rookie of the Race honors, he also took over the lead of the NEXTEL Cup Raybestos Rookie class this past weekend at Texas Motor Speedway with his eighth-place finish. Montoya has claimed Raybestos Rookie of the Race honors three times this season—at Texas, Las Vegas and Atlanta.
Chassis: Crew chief Brad Parrot and his No. 42 Texaco/Havoline crew are pulling out chassis #454 to go racing under the lights this upcoming Friday night at PIR. The chassis’ last run was at PIR in November 2006 when Montoya and team raced to 20th-place finish in his career-second NASCAR start. Before that, Montoya made his NASCAR debut in the same chassis at the Memphis (Tenn.) Motorsports Park, finishing 11th at the short track. Chassis #454 was originally brought out of teammate Reed Sorenson’s Busch Series stable. Sorenson raced the car at both Nashville Superspeedway races last year and finished 19th and 23rd in those events. He also competed with the same car several times in 2005, including when he grabbed his career-first win and pole in the March Nashville race.
