HOMESTEAD, Fla. — Juan Pablo Montoya appeared very relaxed as he leaned against the wall in the No. 42 hauler with the top of his driver’s suit draped down.
And why shouldn’t Montoya be stress free?
He’s 22nd in the Sprint Cup points standings entering Sunday’s season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway. So there’s little pressure chasing the South Florida resident this weekend.
After that, the Bogota, Colombia, native will travel home for his annual charity golf tournament next week.
Even 1,500 miles away, Montoya will hear a familiar topic.
“A lot of people think because I’m running bad here, I should go back to Formula One,” Montoya said before Friday’s Cup practice. “I think if we had a good car here … and when we had it, we ran good here … we gotta be patient.”
Patience on the track can’t be easy for the former CART Series champ and Indianapolis 500 winner. He’s completing his sixth season in the Sprint Cup series, and the top highlights have been two road-course victories and an appearance in the Chase for the Championship.
Does Montoya, 37, regret trading open-wheel for NASCAR?
“Not really,” he said. “We’ve had our downs, our ups and everything in between. We know what we need to do, and I think we have the right people to do it.”
Montoya competed in the 2009 Chase with then-crew chief Brian Pattie, who was replaced midway through last year. Pattie landed at Michael Waltrip Racing as crew chief for Clint Bowyer, who’s currently fourth in the Chase standings.
“In ’09, we were kind of shooting by the hip,” Pattie said. “We were competitive in all 10 (Chase) races, just had a couple of DNFs, and that left us out of the deal.”
The Montoya-Pattie team finished 17th overall in 2010 before parting ways in July last year.
“When things are going well, everything’s OK; but when they’re not, you see the true people,” Pattie said.
Former Dale Earnhardt Jr. engineer Chris Heroy left Hendrick Motorsports to become Montoya’s crew chief this season.
“We have a group of veterans on this crew and engineering staff that understand this is a cyclical business,” Heroy said. “You’re gonna have your ups and downs, but they have the maturity and wherewithal to not get too involved in it.”
The Montoya-Heroy team has managed just two Top-10 finishes: At Bristol in March and at Michigan in June.
“In a way, it was a very hard year for results, we didn’t the get the results we wanted,” Montoya said. “But for hard work … I never worked with a group of people that worked this hard.
“With a good base set this year, I think it could be a great next year. All the tools are there to have better results. We have to keep working on it and see what happens.”
Montoya and Earnhardt Ganassi Racing teammate Jamie McMurray will be switching to engines supplied by Hendrick Motorsports in 2013. Five cars competing in this year’s Chase use those engines.
“Do I think it’s a program saver? No, but I think it’s a step in the right direction,” said Heroy, who plans to return next year.
Montoya’s Cup career has included 216 starts, 20 Top 5s, 51 Top 10s and wins at Infineon Raceway (2007) and Watkins Glen (2010). He’s signed through next year with an option for the following year.
“I think the Chevys we run now are pretty good, and I think the Chevys we’re going to run are pretty good — we’ll see,” Montoya said. “The new engines might help us a little bit, but there are a lot of things we have to improve on, and that’s one of them.”
Sounds like Montoya’s stress level will be increasing soon.
