“Let’s be realistic here—we have the speed, we’re a lot faster than we were last year, so easily we should [be] in the Chase. But we’ve been involved in wrecks and all kinds of things have gone wrong.”
–South Florida-resident Juan Pablo Montoya, who qualified 10th for Saturday night’s Sprint Cup race in Chicago
Juan Pablo Montoya has found himself in one of two places most of this Sprint Cup season: either among the Top 10 race finishers…or in the garage early. He’s hoping to be in the former category tomorrow at Chicagoland Speedway—Race 19 of 36 en route to NASCAR’s series-crowning Ford Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway Nov. 19-21.
“We’ve been pretty good there in the past, and we need a good performance,” Montoya said of racing in the Windy City. “So, hopefully this weekend our luck will turn around, and we can stay out of trouble.”
Due to an inordinate amount of on-track issues, Montoya finds himself 246 points out of the coveted 12th spot for NASCAR’s Chase for the Sprint Cup. He has eight races to make up that deficit and be in the field that qualifies to contend for the 2010 Sprint Cup Championship Nov. 21 at Montoya’s “home track” of Homestead-Miami Speedway. It is worth noting that at this time last year, he rattled off nine Top 10s in a span of 14 races to vault from 15th to a Chase spot.
Montoya has started all 18 of the Sprint Cup races this season but has fallen victim to engine woes and on-track tangling—which makes the following stat all the more remarkable: The driver of the No. 42 has finished in the Top 10 of all but one 2010 race in which he has completed all scheduled laps. Included in that run for South Florida’s hometown’er are four Top 5s.
“As a team, we pull together,” Montoya said earlier today. “We win together, we lose together, we crash together. [My team members] say, ‘Yeah, we crash together, but you’re in the car.’”
Montoya’s next opportunity to gain points comes tomorrow/Saturday night in a showdown under the lights at Chicagoland Speedway (7:30 p.m. ET, TNT-TV, MRN Radio)—Race 19 of 36 en route to NASCAR’s series-crowning Ford Championship Weekend at Homestead-Miami Speedway Nov. 19-21.