Texaco/Havoline Team Improves From Last Visit to Michigan, Finishes 26th

Results from Michigan International Speedway

1.    Kurt Busch, No. 2 Dodge
21.  David Stremme, No. 40 TUMS Dodge
26.  Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge
38.  Reed Sorenson, No. 41 Target Dodge

BROOKLYN, Mich. (August 21, 2007)-For the first time in over 30 years, NASCAR held a race on a Tuesday due to unseasonable rain in Michigan.  The Texaco/Havoline Team and its driver Juan Pablo Montoya started and finished the 3M Performance 400 at Michigan International Speedway 26th, a strong improvement from their 43rd-place finish in June.  Montoya remains atop the standings in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year race and sits 19th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup standings.

Practice and qualifying went on as scheduled on Friday and Saturday.  As race day rolled around, the weather had other plans.  For two straight days the rain forced NASCAR officials to postpone the race, but by Tuesday morning the rain had moved out of the area and the cars took to the track around 10 a.m.  NASCAR started the race under a green/yellow condition, but the fog was so dense it red-flagged the race for 30 minutes.  The green flag finally waved on a lap 12 and the race was underway.

Montoya quickly began to pick off his competitors and was up to 20th in just three laps.  Unfortunately, the No. 22 car appeared to not see Montoya on his inside.  Montoya hit the brakes to avoid the car and was sent spinning.  He avoided contact with the wall and brought the car down pit road for tires.  He restarted 43rd on lap 17.

Crew chief Donnie Wingo and the Texaco/Havoline team had a very fast No. 42 Dodge for the early stage of the race.  Montoya broke into the top 15 on lap 92.  A long green-flag run followed, that included a pit stop. The second round of green-flag stops began on lap 165, with Montoya still running in the top 20.  Unfortunately, the set of tires made the car extremely loose and Montoya fell one lap down. The caution flag finally waved on lap 175, but the team was battling to get position to earn NASCAR’s free pass back onto the lead lap. With only six laps on the tires, Wingo told Montoya to remain on the track to start side-by-side with the leader.

Montoya was never able to earn the free pass and slipped back to 28th by lap 187 because the car was so loose he described it as “undrivable.”  Over the closing laps, including a green-white-checker finish he gained two spots to finish 26th.  Montoya holds a 23-point advantage in the rookie standings heading into this weekend’s night race at Bristol Motor Speedway.

CGRFS Driver Quoteboard

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA “We were lucky during that first spin early on in the race.  The 22 just came down and hit us and we spun.  Luckily I kept the Texaco/Havoline Dodge off the wall and didn’t hit anything.  Then we came back, we had a strong car and one of the long runs we came in and changed tires and they were junk, I guess.  The balance went and we lost over half a second a lap. We were never able to get the car tightened back up from that point on, but it was still better than our first trip out here when we finished dead last.”