Published: July 27, 2009 12:03 am         

Speeding penalty plays big role in Montoya's race

INDIANAPOLIS — Since 2007, Juan Pablo Montoya had an opportunity to make history running the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard. No driver had ever won both the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400. Last year, Sam Hornish Jr., threw his hat into the ring. Both will have to wait 12 months to try again after Sunday’s 16th running of the Brickyard race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Montoya should be devastated. His Target Chevrolet dominated as soon as he took the lead on lap four. After leading three times for a total of 116 laps, NASCAR slapped Montoya with a pit road speeding penalty in the closing laps, dashing any hope of his place in history. He had to settle for an 11th-place finish.

As he was exiting the pits on lap 125, Montoya thought his speed was fine, but NASCAR officials thought differently. Fortunately, after he came in for the drive through penalty, Dale Earnhardt brought out the yellow, allowing Montoya to stay on the lead lap, but he restarted in 12th. “It kind of sucks, but that’s what it is. Once it happens, you can’t change it,” said Montoya. “I thought I wasn’t speeding. I was on the lights every time It’s pretty frustrating.”

All signs pointed to Montoya having a great race. He qualified second. His car carried the paint scheme of his 2000 Indianapolis 500 win, and he was fast. The whole field knew it. “He consistently drove away from the field,” said Tony Stewart. I know what he’s feeling like. It’s got to make him sick inside ‘cause, I mean, to be able to accomplish what he would have accomplished today, just a remarkable feat.

And he had the car and he had the talent to do it today. He just made a mistake and it cost him.”

As happy as Mark Martin was with his second-place finish, he felt Montoya’s pain. “I feel really bad for him. If I or a teammate couldn’t win, I was absolutely pulling for Juan. It’s tough, but it happens to every one of us. Those days you’ll have. The great days are still coming for them “ he said.

Owner Felix Sebates was not convinced of Montoya’s infraction.

“You can imagine we lead most of the race and with 25 laps to go they penalize us. I don’t know if he was speeding or not. NASCAR said that he was. And they have the pictures of it, so I just want them to show it to me after the race, and if they show it to me that he was speeding, I’ll be happy with that.”

Reminiscent of his 2000 run in the Indy 500 where he started second and dominated the race, Montoya had those thoughts running through his head. “Actually, it reminded me of the last time I led here. It was kind of easy, to be honest. I was cruising. I was super fast.”

In that race, he led 167 of 200 laps. Sunday, Montoya did earn one place in the record book, by leading the most consecutive laps at 59 from lap 34 to 92, breaking Jeff Gordon’s old record of 47. In all, the Colombian led 116 laps, more than he had led in his entire NASCAR career.

Montoya’s pairing with team owner Chip Ganassi had its beginnings in 1999. Montoya, at age 24, became the youngest champion in CART history. The following year, he made his one and only appearance in the Indianapolis 500. At the end of that CART season, Montoya tried his hand at Formula One. Again he found success. In nearly 6 seasons, Montoya garnered seven victories including the prestigious Monaco Grand Prix, but he shocked the racing world in 2006 by announcing his decision to return to Ganassi, but this time he wanted to go stock car racing.

His only win came in 2007 at Infinion, and he finished second that year at the Brickyard The team struggled through 2008, but this season Montoya and the team seemed to find their footing with respectable finishes and a chance at the Chase for the championship. Currently Montoya sits 10th in the points.

Hornish’s day began well. Starting 15th in the Penske Racing Mobil One Dodge, he moved himself into 13th, then to 11th where he spent most of the first 69 laps. On that circuit, Hornish, hit the SAFER barrier with the right rear and then the right front in Turn Two. With a flat tire and right-side damage, Hornish’s day was pretty much finished, although he returned to complete a total of 118 laps for 37th place.

“It was disappointing, for sure. We had a much better car here than we had here last year. We know we can run fast. We just need to get a little better track position, and the driver needs to be a little bit more patient. So we’ll just do what we can to get ready to come back next year. Now we’ll go on to Pocono. Obviously, Pocono handles a lot like this track does as far as what you need to have on the car, so I’m really looking forward to that.”

Hornish is currently 29th in points.