NASCAR Cup Series

Montoya eyes redemption at Indianapolis

Published Jul. 24, 2010 9:59 p.m. ET

foxsports

When NASCAR busted Juan Pablo Montoya for speeding on Lap 125 of last year’s Brickyard 400 — after he had led the first 116 — his temper kicked in.

The tirade that followed on the radio was far from G-rated. Montoya was ninth in points entering Indianapolis, but he was just concerned with winning the race. Montoya was poised to become the first driver to win both the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400.

His crew chief Brian Pattie, however, was thinking big picture — maintain consistency for a Chase for the Sprint Cup berth. Pattie was driven all season to turn the No. 42 team around. He couldn’t afford for his driver to lose sight of the Chase.

Pattie understood the importance of winning the event for Montoya. Not only was it the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Montoya still wanted to prove to pundits he could win somewhere other than a road course. Pattie understood Chip Ganassi’s desire to become the first owner to win both races at Indianapolis. Although Ganassi has his share of 500 wins and championships, there’s still the cachet of being first.

“Sure, you grew up watching the 500 and making model cars of Indy cars growing up,” Pattie said. “But it’s a real big deal for Chip. Just the way he talks about the place. The way he interacts with his IndyCar guys, then winning the 500 with Dario (Franchitti), winning the 500 with (Scott) Dixon, it’s a huge deal. All you have to do is talk to Chip and you understand that. So we put a little more emphasis on this than the other tracks.”

For Pattie, a Floridian, the Daytona 500 held more prestige. But a few weeks after last year’s disappointment, a conversation with Ray Evernham changed his mind.

“After last year, I really didn’t understand the whole thing,” Pattie said. “I didn’t get the history. It was just another track where we ran well. It didn’t sink in until I talked to Evernham at Michigan. He said, ‘Hey man, sorry about that.’ And I said, ‘No big deal. We’re just trying to make the Chase. We finished 11th, we’re still on our goals.’ He told me straight up, ‘you’ll make the Chases more times than not. You won’t have as many chances to win the Brickyard 400.’ It meant a lot. That’s when it sunk in. That’s when I knew we had something special.”

The scenario has changed for Pattie this season with Montoya 21st in the point standings and realistically, although not mathematically, out of contention for the title with seven races to go before NASCAR’s playoff begins. The only thing that interests Pattie is leaving here with the trophy on Sunday.

“It would be redemption,” Pattie said. “To take a car that last year that was pretty good — we obviously killed it at Texas — and to bring another car here and do the same thing would mean a lot. It means you have a quality team and they take quality notes and everything is as it should be. This is our biggest stage. Hopefully, we can do that.

“The track doesn’t owe us anything. We chose to give it away. It would be nice to come back and redeem ourselves.

NUMBERS GAME