Team owner puts the pressure on Montoya to turn it up in 2008
JENNA FRYER
The Associated Press
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – Chip Ganassi was careful to couch expectations on Juan Pablo Montoya last season, when the former Formula One star began his first full year in NASCAR.
Now that the rookie stripe is off Montoya’s bumper, the car owner is ready for results.
Ganassi didn’t back down Wednesday from the “Chase or bust” declaration he made late last season, insisting he expects the Colombian driver to compete for the Sprint Cup championship this year.
“It’s Chase or bust, and in a macro-sense I mean it,” Ganassi said. “Yes, it’s a lot of pressure, but that’s what this business is about. We’re not in the Wizard of Oz, you know.”
It’s a stark contrast from what Ganassi preached this time last year, when he cautioned observers not to expect miracles from Montoya. The switch from sleek, sophisticated F1 cars to the boxy, bulky stock cars was going to be a wild transition, and he insisted Montoya’s unique talent level wouldn’t insulate him from frequent struggles.
So the car owner tempered expectations at every turn, even after Montoya delivered the winning car in the prestigious Rolex 24 sports car race. His performance in that event last January showed that he was getting the hang of different cars, and led many to believe Montoya might race out of the gates in NASCAR.
And in a sense he did, scoring his first NASCAR victory a little over a month into the season when he won on the road course in Mexico City.
The bumps soon followed, though, and Montoya suffered through an eight-week stretch in which he failed to finish higher than 20th. When he turned it around, he scored his first Cup win on the road course at Sonoma.
It didn’t turn his season entirely around, but he weathered every twist and turn – including a minor shoving match with Kevin Harvick – to finish 20th in the points and earn Rookie of the Year honors.
Now Ganassi is demanding more out of the former Indianapolis 500 champion, but he doesn’t think his raised expectations will faze Montoya.
“This is not putting pressure on him, this kind of stuff doesn’t even get his attention,” Ganassi said. “Saying ‘Chase or bust’ isn’t going to speed him up or slow him down. This isn’t his first goat roping.”
Ganassi is right in his assessment of Montoya, who came to NASCAR with a reputation as a brash and aggressive driver. He’s got high hopes for this season, but won’t allow his No. 42 team to get ahead of itself.
“Do we think we can get in the Chase? Yeah. Do we think we can have a chance at winning a race on an oval? Yeah. Do we think we can win again on a road course? Probably,” he said. “But there are so many things that can happen. Somebody can have better fuel mileage than you, so they win on a road course.
“Or, you come into the pits, and it’s the wrong call. Any given day, there are four to five guys who can win the race.”
It sometimes confounded Montoya, who was used to driving superior equipment that could challenge for wins weekly. Experiencing the ups and downs during a 36-race season, when the car can be competitive one week and then never get close to the front the next, was frustrating.
“It’s amazing that you can actually go to a race weekend, qualify 35th, and you can run 30th all day and be two laps down and not even know what’s hit you,” he said. “And you go to the next week thinking, we suck, and you finish third. What did we do different? You look at it, and you didn’t do anything different.
“It’s just, the car was faster, you were more comfortable, and the setup was better.”
It will be up to crew chief Donnie Wingo to lead Montoya to more good days than bad this season. His Daytona test this week was decent, but Montoya was clocked middle of the pack in almost every session.
But Wingo thinks that at the end of the 26-race “regular season,” there’s no reason his team won’t be in contention to make the Chase for the championship. After all, he almost got Jamie McMurray into the Chase twice when McMurray drove the No. 42.
“I think making the Chase is something we can definitely do. We’ve been so close as a team over the last four years. We were within like 15 points two times,” Wingo said. “It’s frustrating when you get that close. I think this year we can do it. I think we’ve got the tools, I think we definitely have the driver, I think we have the team to do it.”
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Just when I think you said the stupidest thing ever .....You keep talking To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 5 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
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Yep, looks like the pressure will be on JPM this season, no more free ride with the owner!
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lol pressure is on....perhaps he will learn manners after the guys turn it up and bounce him off the walls a few times when his job is on the line! last year he had a free pass to be an idiot....he lost that with the yellow stripe!
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Does this mean he won't be running everyone down, that he'll think before he does the stuff he does? I don't think he will change his ways it's just the way he is, and I don't think he has learned his lession yet but we'll just have to wait and see, new year new start
Does this mean he won't be running everyone down, that he'll think before he does the stuff he does? I don't think he will change his ways it's just the way he is, and I don't think he has learned his lession yet but we'll just have to wait and see, new year new start
no jane....bet he is still at it....his ego is so big, his head bulges out of his helmet and obscures his vision!
Team owner puts the pressure on Montoya to turn it up in 2008
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