Texaco/Havoline Team Earn 16th-Place Finish in Pocono

Results from Pocono Raceway

1. Kurt Busch, No.2 Dodge
16. Juan Pablo Montoya, No.42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge
25. David Stremme, No. 40 Target Dodge
28. Reed Sorenson, No. 41 Target Dodge

LONG POND, Pa. (August 5, 2007 ) –Juan Pablo Montoya and the Texaco/Havoline team started from the ninth position at Pocono Raceway, but after battling a tight-handling car, finished 16th in the 200-lap race.  Montoya earned Raybestos Rookie of the Race honors for the 10th time this season and remains 18th in NASCAR NEXTEL Cup point standings.

The Texaco/Havoline team made a vast improvement in its qualifying effort from the race in Pocono in June.  The ninth-place starting spot was 29 positions better than Montoya and the team’s previous effort.  By lap 20, Montoya told Crew Chief Donnie Wingo the car was “loose in and off the corners, but plowing tight through the center of the corners.”  Green-flag pit stops began on lap 27, and Montoya brought the Texaco/Havoline Dodge down pit road for four tires, fuel and a wedge adjustment.   The caution flag waved on lap 54 for debris, and Montoya and the team were running in the 10th spot.

Montoya brought the No. 42 Dodge down pit road for fresh tires, an air pressure adjustment and a trackbar adjustment and returned to the track in the ninth spot.  He stayed out when the caution flag waved on lap 64 when the No. 26 car wrecked.  Two laps after the restart Montoya damaged the front valance while attempting to avoid another car.  The second round of green-flag stops began on lap 87 and Montoya pitted two laps later.  The team made another air pressure adjustment before putting on four tires and pulling on the damaged valance.

By lap 100, Montoya was running 13thand still struggling with a tight-handling condition.  Despite the team’s effort to free up the car in the center of the corners, he was able to make up some ground on the track.  During a round of pit stops on lap 139, Wingo called for a four-tire stop while several other teams took just right-side tires.  Initially it dropped Montoya back to 18th, but the two tires were no match for four fresh Goodyear’s.   With 50 laps remaining in the 500-lap race, the Texaco/Havoline Dodge was back up to 13th.
 
The final round of green-flag stops began on 168 and Montoya made his last stop on lap 170.  The caution flag waved on lap 172 with the No. 42 Dodge in 14th when fellow Raybestos Rookie David Ragan spun.  Over the closing laps, Montoya slipped back to 16th while trying to maneuver through lapped traffic.

The Texaco/Havoline team took the checked flag in 16th, a four spot improvement from Montoya’s first trip to Pocono.  The team held onto its 18th position in points, but now sits 267 points out of 12th, the final transfer spot in The Chase for the NEXTEL Cup.  Montoya continues to lead the rookie standings over Ragan.

CGRFS Driver Quoteboard

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: “The Texaco/Havoline Dodge was just okay.  We’re struggling a little bit on horsepower, but overall it was a decent day.  That’s where we are, we just need to make it better over the next few races.”