Montoya Wins as Johnson Spins at the Glen
Photo Courtesy NASCAR Media
Juan Montoya took NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series drivers to school Sunday afternoon at Watkins Glen, showing everyone how road course racing was done. It didn’t hurt that Montoya’s No. 42 Chevrolet had an Earnhardt Childress Racing power plant under the hood. Those engines have been bullets all season long.
Montoya led 74 of 90 laps in the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen. The fastest car doesn’t always win, but today it did.
“Yeah, I think it’s nice,†an exalted Montoya said about the dominating win.†We executed right. I think we did what we had to all day. We ran really smart. I think yesterday we had a good talk with Chip. Last few weeks have been really frustrating for the whole team because we’ve been so close to victory. Seemed to keep slipping away.â€
“To come out here today and get the job done the way we did today, it was big. I feel more relieved than happy right now. It’s been a really hard road in a way. It’s been a lot of fun. It’s been frustrating. To finally get that first win for Brian, I think it’s good. I think we can really focus on just getting the job done.â€
The win was Montoya’s 2nd career Sprint Cup victory. His first coming at Sonoma in 2007 at NASCAR’s other Sprint Cup road course.
Winning crew chief Brian Pattie was nearly speechless following the win. “It’s huge,†said Pattie, who blamed himself for a recent near miss at Indy when a decision to take 4 tires on a late race pit stop likely cost Montoya a win at the Brickyard.
Johnson and Hamlin Crash
2 championship contenders were involved in a crash on lap 72. Jimmie Johnson was on the outside of the No. 31 of Jeff Burton when the 2 made contact sending Johnson’s No. 48 into the outside retaining wall before being collected by Hamlin’s No. 11 Toyota. Hamlin and Johnson are 6th and 5th respectively in the point standings following today’s race.
“It’s so stupid. We’re not even racing for the win, we’re racing for 8th or 10th,†said a frustrated Denny Hamlin.
Tony Stewart Delivers a Message
Tony Stewart sent Boris Said a message that he wasn’t going to be pushed around when Said drove his No. 83 Toyota to the outside and nearly put Stewart’s No. 14 Chevy in the grass on lap 67. Stewart was shoved nearly off the racetrack by Said and when Stewart finally refused to give the final inch Said’s car was sent spinning into the steel guardrail.
“The 14 dumped us,†said Said’s spotter over the teams 2 way radio following the crash. But Stewart had no other choice. He was simply out of asphalt and had nowhere to go.
“Some idiot tries to run us straight off the racetrack. I’m gonna hold my line,†said Stewart immediately following the crash. Stewart did exactly what he was supposed to do.
Dale Earnhardt Jr scored another 26th place finish in today’s race. How much longer does this have to go on before Mr. Hendrick decides to do something about it? Or does he even care?
Marcos Ambrose looked to be the only driver with a shot at chasing down Montoya as the final laps ticked off. That is until Montoya radioed in that he felt he had a tire going down.
It looked for a while that there might be a late race caution to give everyone one last shot at Montoya. The No. – car had a flat tire and was putting chunks of rubber in the racetrack. At the same time Robby Gordon’s engine let go sending a cloud of smoke into the air – but apparently no fluid could be spotted on the racing surface. I’ve seen a lot of cautions thrown for a lot less.
Montoya has been on the verge of victory several times recently. Now that he has sealed the deal look for him to repeat.
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