A Montoya Crash That Ended a Career

By Marc • March 4, 2007

Juan “Latino Piloto is Muy Bueno” Montoya’s first NASCAR win at Aut

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21 Responses to “ A Montoya Crash That Ended a Career ”

michael Mar 5th, 2007 at 7:14 pm

only time will tell if this will be Montoya’s MO… at very best he has lost some respect…accident or not.
Marc Mar 5th, 2007 at 7:43 pm

Loss of respect?

Doubtful, in fact around the garage (and in many fans eyes) he more than likely gained some.

Rookies, even one with the stature of Montoya, aren’t always treated with the utmost respect in NASCAR.

Intentional or not, and I highly doubt it was, the spin to win shows and proves to everyone not to hold up a faster
michael Mar 5th, 2007 at 8:11 pm

I agree marc… he is an awesome driver but was Pruett holding him up? I think he {Montoya} was anxious and very determined to win and showed some very aggressive driving. The loss of respect…well he certainly lost Pruett’s. I do see JPM being among the best in NASCAR, let’s just hope he learned a little from yesterdays incident
J.D. Mar 5th, 2007 at 9:09 pm

How is it Pruett’s fault if he was punted in the RR corner as his RF was nearly at the apex? JPM just went in way too hot.

JPM was fast enough that he had plenty of time left to make a clean pass.
Marc Mar 6th, 2007 at 4:16 am

I agree Montoya could have waited to pass with an obviously faster car (and with fresher tires) but he didn’t. And he wasn’t required to wait.

I would also recommend a frame-by-frame look at the replay. A split second prior to contact Pruett jogged right ever so slightly towards that apex.

A correct move BTW, assuming he knew Juan was there. Therein lies the problem, and we may never know the real truth.

As stated above, it’s was no ones “fault,” just two accomplished drivers who both wanted to win.
peterg Mar 6th, 2007 at 9:54 am

I have not seen the footage so I will rely on your call on JPM & SC,I’m pleased to hear Ambrose had a good run. It was a brave decision to leave a very comfortable life as a champ in Aussie V8’s & cross the pond.
George Mar 6th, 2007 at 11:27 am

Both men share in the blame. Bubbacito for his impatience, but an experienced road racer like Pruett KNOWS he can’t leave the inside line so open. The in-car replay shows Scott way on the left side approaching turn 1 and prior to his turn-in Juan dove to the inside. Pruett couldn’t have seen Juan, but he damned well should have protected the inside line.

And Juan MAY have thought Pruett was going to let him pass on the inside. I call it a racing deal.
Don Long Mar 6th, 2007 at 12:00 pm

There was A GREAT DEAL of talk about how JPM’s cowboy attitude would be a better fit in NASCAR than F1. Now that we’re finally seeing it, why is anybody surprised?

George is right — Scott left the door open too long. When, in JPM’s history, has he not jumped on such an opportunity? (never)

My prediction: If Montoya succeeds in Cup, he’ll be the new Intimidator.

And why does his crew chief keep calling him “the best driver in the world?” He sounds like a fool for never having heard of Michael Schumacher.
toomuchcountry Mar 6th, 2007 at 12:57 pm

I really don’t think the issue of Scott having the edge in the corner or not will last beyond Wednesday. After all, it was a Busch weekend in Mexico with the Cup guys on the sofa. Very little NASCAR talk over the weekend. And we’re talking about SCOTT PRUETT getting run - not Smoke, Dale Jr, Jeffy, the Champ, Happy, or any other big gun having the NASCAR PR machine winds in their sail. Scott has game on the RCs, but - bluntly speaking - his NASCAR resume is pretty thin. What will ultimately be remembered is that JPM won the race - not how and at whose expense. Not endorsing him or his actions - just stating what I think happens down the road.
George Mar 6th, 2007 at 2:04 pm

Did anyone notice Dr. Jerry’s breathless comments about JPM? He actually called him a seven time best driver in the world, due to his seven wins in F1. What an idiot!!

And how long before some TV exec puts a bullet in Rusty’s broadcast career and spares us all his lame descriptions? We really miss you Benny!!
Marc Mar 6th, 2007 at 4:05 pm

toomuchcountry, you have it exactly right.

Since the race I’ve noticed a pronounced lack of the usual rancor against either driver.

Over at That’s Racing, and two blogs who shall remain nameless, if this were Junior $ Jeffy or one of the two Buschs & an anyone else in a 43 car Cup field the name calling and delusional thinking fueled by selective viewing of the tape would have been of epic proportions.

George, yea I heard it and feel very disappointed. That’s not then Dr. Jerry I remember from the original ESPN broadcasts.

Agreed, Rusty has gotta go. Generally I could care less about the talking heads (its racin’ stupid, pay attention!) but Rusty makes Waltrip sound like a modern version of Edward R. Morrow.

Or a far, far, faaaaar less educated Howard Cosell.
Marc Mar 6th, 2007 at 4:08 pm

Funny that you mention that Don, I had forgotten all the “cowboy talk” referencing Montoya.

They got what they were talking about, a new sherif is in town.
Marc Mar 6th, 2007 at 4:22 pm

Peter, mate, if you would slow down from knocking down the piss and avert your eyes from gawking at the skimpys you can view the race according to the sched below.

AUSTRALIAN TV VIEWERS
peterg Mar 7th, 2007 at 6:08 am

9.00 pm!!! on a school night!!!

Hey that’s better than my normal 11.00pm on a Sunday night for a F1 race.
Marc Mar 7th, 2007 at 7:36 am

But it’s Wednesday now.

So I guess ~~the skimpys~~ school held your attention and didn’t see the broadcast?
Charles Mar 8th, 2007 at 1:56 am

Nascar drivers (and owners!)take note. There are reasons why Montoya is no longer in F1. I visit and drive frequently in Colombia. Colombian drivers routinely pass on the solid double line; they pass uphill, downhill,and on blind curves; they pass on the right shoulder and on the left shoulder; they pass in the face of oncoming traffic. They pass in the most dangerous/risky circumstances imaginable when by waiting about two minutes they could pass safely.
Montoya is no naive rookie who thought Pruett would or should give him the line. He was just doing what comes naturally—impatient to the point that emotions over-rule good judgment. With his faster car and his talent he could have pulled off a pass in the last laps without taking out his teammate and kept his owners and BOTH sponsors happy (pro racing is after all a business-ask the McClaren F1 team owners).
Marc Mar 8th, 2007 at 5:54 am

Charles:

“With his faster car and his talent he could have pulled off a pass in the last laps without taking out his teammate..”

I’ve dealt with this bit of nonsense elsewhere but repeat it here:

A race drivers goal is to win. To win you must be in the lead when the checker falls. If you wait due to having a faster car and you are in the last few laps of the race you run the risk of 1. running out of time to make the pass, 2. having NASCAR toss a more than prevalent yellow costing you the win, 3. Allowing the chance for the third place car pass you before you pass for the lead and then making your job that much harder.

As for you Columbian driver tripe… I live in the Philippines and the vast majority of Filipino drivers exhibit the very same tendencies as you describe.

However, I’m not biased, or ignorant enough to assign the civilian populations driving habits to say Michael Bumgarner, Tyson Sy or Pepe Marave who are very accomplished Filipino drivers.

And BTW, Pruett doesn’t buy your tripe either.

“I spoke to Juan Pablo and he apologized and I do know that what happened was not intentional on Juan’s part. He and I have worked great together in the past - winning the 24 Hours - and I know we will work together in the future.
Charles Mar 8th, 2007 at 7:17 am

Nasty, nasty. Why get so personal and insulting? Says more about you than them issue. The moderator should remove such garbage. Business is business and racing is business.
Marc Mar 8th, 2007 at 8:10 am

Charlie: “Nasty, nasty. Why get so personal and insulting?”

First of all I am the moderator, owner, author and bill payer of Full Throttle. As such I have never deleted any comments here in 3 years.

It’s much better to expose foolishness for all to see and comment on.

Secondly what’s personal and insulting? The word “ignorant?”

Well there seems to be a failure to communicate here. Let’s simplify it shall we?

Ignorant: lacking knowledge or information as to a particular subject or fact, i.e. ignorant of quantum physics.

So as the official definition of the word notes , and in effect, ALL people are ignorant based on life’s experience, education and sadly in some cases bias in its various forms.

Your attempt to assign the bad habits of some Columbian drivers to all natives of that country (including a professional race driver) is ignorant, and borders, on if not in actuality xenophobic and racist.

P.S. Here is more from Ricky Craven:

Really, the idea that drivers should race their teammates more carefully than other competitors is a contradiction and recipe for disaster. A driver’s abilities are compromised when required to make decisions on the race track based on who he is racing late in the race. I certainly gave consideration to teammates during the course of a race, but that would erode as the laps wound down.

Who’s side is this professional driver on?
peterg Mar 8th, 2007 at 9:58 am

Lol, I almost commented on the conclusion that JPM’s nationality & the behaviour of his countrymen - on public roads - were somehow connected but I figured it wasn’t worth my time.

I wonder where our buddy is on the “American” habit of DUI.Not one but two drivers, AJ 4TH & Al jr, have both been done DUI recently so clearly it is an ingrained national trait.
Marc Mar 8th, 2007 at 10:10 am

Peter, making that connection as a joke is also something I had thought of. As I have in relating the drivers here in the Philippines inn the same way.

But I never have. And it’s plain Charlie didn’t mean to be the resident satirist at Full Throttle.