biography
YEAR-BY-YEAR NASCAR SPRINT CUP SERIES RECAP2009: Finished eighth in series points. ... Former open wheel star had a breakout season in his third Sprint Cup cam- paign. ... Won his first Sprint Cup pole at Talladega. ... Had a best finish of second at Pocono as Denny Hamlin edged him by .869 seconds. ... Was third four times. ... Began the Chase seeded 11th but vaulted to third after the first race by fin- ishing third at New Hampshire (he won the pole and led 105 laps). ... Held third place for three weeks but dropped to sixth after suffering a mid-race spin and finishing 35th at Charlotte. ... Became the success story and standard of progress for the recent “open wheel invasion” by qualifying for the Chase in his third season. 2008: Finished 25th in series points. ... Finished with two top fives and three top 10s. ... Top finish was second in the spring race at Talladega. ... Best start was sixth in the spring race at Richmond. ... Led one year-end Loop Data statis- tical category – Green Flag Passes (3,090). ... Plagued by inconsistency atop the pit box, working with three crew chiefs during the season. 2007: Finished 20th in series points. ... Edged David Ragan for Raybestos Rookie of the Year Award. ... Finished fifth in fourth race of the season (Atlanta). ... Won first career race at Infineon after starting 32nd. ... Started and finished second at Indianapolis. ... Compiled three top fives and six top 10s. 2006: Finished 71st in series points. ... Made one start for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. Started 29th and finished 34th at the season finale at Homestead PREVIOUS RACING HISTORYMade four NASCAR Nationwide Series starts in 2006 before making Sprint Cup Series debut. Best finish was 11th in his debut at Memphis. ... Competed in Formula One from 2001-2006 for BMW Williams and McLaren Mercedes. Amassed seven wins, 30 podium finishes and 13 pole positions. ... The highlight of his Formula One career came in 2003 when he won the Monaco Grand Prix, the series’ premier event. ... Finished sixth or better in each of his five full seasons in Formula One. ... Won the 2000 Indy 500 racing for Chip Ganassi in his first trip to the Brickyard. Montoya started second. ... Spent two years in CART, winning 10 races. ... Won CART title in 1999, his rookie year. Won seven races in 1999, including three in a row, both rookie records. ...Competed in the Formula 3000 series for two years, earning seven wins and the 1998 series title. ... Started racing karts at the age of six. Captured several Colombian local and national titles in the Children’s Kart Championship and Kart Komet Division from 1984-1989. NOTEWORTHYTraded cars with Jeff Gordon for a publicity event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2002. Gordon drove Montoya’s F1 car and Montoya drove Gordon’s stock car. ... Is the first Formula One driver to compete full-time in NASCAR. ... Was the youngest CART champion in series history. ... Set a rookie record by leading 167 out of 200 laps during his Indy 500 win. ... His Formula Smiles Foundation – which benefits needy Colombian children – has become one of the sport’s most active charities. YEAR BY YEAR HISTORY2009 The 2009 season saw Montoya become the first Latino, first Formula 1 driver, and Indianapolis 500 winner to make the NASCAR Sprint Cup Chase for the Cup. He finished eighth in the Chase after earning seven top-five and 18 top-ten finishes along with two pole positions. Montoya also joined Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas for his third Rolex 24 at Daytona in the No. 01 TELMEX/Target Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Lexus Riley Daytona Prototype. In the closing laps, the No. 01 team battled for their third Rolex 24 win only to finish .167 seconds behind the leader – the closest finish in international 24-hour motorsports racing history. 2008 In 2008, Montoya and the No. 42 team amassed two top-five, three top-10 and seven top-15 finishes which include a runner-up finish at Talladega Superspeedway. In addition, Montoya became the first driver in history to win in his first two starts in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, which he won with teammates Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas and Dario Franchitti. 2007 Montoya visited victory lane three times across three different racing series in 2007. Montoya kicked off 2007 with a win in his first Rolex 24 At Daytona race in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series. Then, in just his seventh-career Nationwide Series race, Montoya took the checkered flag in Mexico City to earn his first win in a stock car. His abilities on the road course were evident to his competitors when he captured his first Sprint Cup victory after qualifying 32nd at Infineon Raceway. Montoya and his No. 42 crew went on to amass one win, three top-five and six top-10 finishes during the 2007 Sprint Cup season. Montoya also earned the honor of NASCAR Sprint Cup Series 2007 Rookie of the Year. NASCAR Sprint Cup Rookie of the Year Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona Winner 2006 After nearly six seasons in Formula 1, Montoya shocked the racing world by announcing he would rejoin his old boss Chip Ganassi but this time as part of Ganassi’s NASCAR operation as the new driver of the No. 42 Dodge. Montoya became the first Formula 1 regular to ever join the NASCAR ranks. He made his NSCS debut at the final race of the season in Homestead. 2005 Montoya looked to a new beginning with McLaren. He brought home three victories that season including leading the McLaren team to its first 1-2 finish in the Brazilian Grand Prix. His other two victories came in England and Italy, which resulted in a fourth-place finish in the standings. 2004 Montoya finished fifth in the 2004 F1 Drivers’ Championship standings, taking the checkered flag in Brazil—his last race with the Williams team. 2003 2003 proved to be the most successful season in F1 for the Montoya-Williams duo. Montoya finished third in the Drivers’ Championship with 82 points, and captured two victories which included the Monaco Grand Prix – Formula 1’s marquee event. He also had six additional podium finishes. It was also in 2003 when Montoya announced he would be leaving BMW Williams at the end of the 2004 season to move over to the McLaren Mercedes team. 2002 He fared even better in the 2002 standings. Even though Ferrari dominated the season, Montoya finished third, turning the fastest qualifying laps in seven out of the 17 races and earning four runner-up finishes. It was also during the 2002 season, when he lit up the track at Monza by posting a record-fast qualifying lap with an average speed of 259.844682 km/h. 2001 Montoya made his debut with BMW Williams in the premiere open-wheel series at the Australian Grand Prix in 2001, and then captured his first F1 victory at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. The rookie racer also tallied three pole positions and four podium finishes during his freshman season to finished sixth in the Drivers' Championship standings. 2000 Montoya led more laps than any other driver on his way to being voted Most Popular Driver in the CART series. That season the Ganassi team also competed in the Indianapolis 500 in the rival Indy Racing League. In his first race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Colombian star led 167 of 200 laps and ultimately found himself drinking the ceremonial milk in victory lane. 1999 In his first stint with Target Chip Ganassi, Montoya was crowned as the youngest-ever CART Champion at the age of 24 but the championship was closely fought all season long with Dario Franchitti who led the standings going into the final race. Both drivers finished the season with equal number of points but having won seven races to the Scotsman's three decided the title in the Montoya’s favor. |
