May 17 2008. JPM finished 14th on his first All Stars Race.
Montoya Finishes 14th in First All Star Race Appearance
Results from Lowe’s Motor Speedway
1. Kasey Kahne, No. 9 Budweiser Dodge
14. Juan Pablo Montoya, No. 42 Wrigley’s Juicy Fruit Dodge
CONCORD, N.C. (May 17, 2008)-Juan Pablo Montoya made his first appearance in the Sprint All-Star race on Saturday night when he drove his No. 42 Wrigley’s™ Juicy Fruit® Dodge to a 14th-place finish. Montoya’s entrance in the 100-lap race came as a result of his first NASCAR Sprint Cup victory at Infineon Raceway in June of 2007.
The week began with the fourth-annual Pit Crew Challenge in downtown Charlotte on Thursday night. The No. 42 crew was eligible for the Challenge, but drew first for the head-to-head dual along with the No. 1 car. With Montoya and his family there to cheer them on, the crew was unfortunately defeated in the first round. The No. 83 crew of Brian Vickers took the title for 2008.
Practice began for the All-Star race on Friday, and Montoya was pleased with his No. 42 Juicy Fruit Dodge. Qualifying for the event began that evening which included a mandatory four-tire pit stop. Montoya and the pit crew were both quick enough to start the race on Saturday from the 15th position despite a loose handling race car.
The All-Star event began after the conclusion of the Showdown, the last-chance qualifying race for those not automatically entered into the All-Star race. The cars of A.J. Allmendinger and Sam Hornish Jr. transferred into the race after finishing first and second respectively. Kasey Kahne won the fan vote and also transferred over.
The All-Star race was comprised of four 25-lap segments. Montoya began the first segment and was still extremely loose. NASCAR waved the yellow flag after lap 25, and Montoya drove the No. 42 Dodge down pit road for fuel, tires and the removal of a spring rubber. He restarted the second segment from the 22nd position. The second segment went caution free again and Montoya parked in his pit for the 10 minute mandatory break at the midpoint of the event. The crew made some adjustments to the car while fitting it with fresh tires to improve its handling.
Racing resumed for the third segment with Montoya in 21st. He worked his way up to 17th before the final caution between segments waved. The car was better off the corner as the changes Crew Chief Jimmy Elledge made were making the car easier for Montoya to drive. Debating whether or not to take tires and gain track position during the mandatory pit stop, Elledge and Montoya agreed to see what the car would do with a few more changes and fresh tires. The green flag waved with the No. 42 in 17th, and Montoya drove his way up to 14th before the checkered flag. Kahne won the All-Star race in his No. 9 Dodge Charger.
Montoya and the crew will return to points racing next weekend at Lowe’s Motor Speedway for the longest event of the 2008 season, the Coca-Cola 600 on Sunday.
CGRFS Driver Quoteboard:
Montoya: “The Juicy Fruit Dodge was pretty loose for the first half of the race. The important thing is that we were able to make changes that made a big difference with the handling of the car. We learned a lot that should really help for next weekend’s 600-mile race. It was a fun event, hopefully we will win a few races this year and we can run it again next year.”
