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Juan Pablo stuns again

July 13th, 2006 | sport, autos

I can still remember Juan Pablo Montoya winning the CART series in 1999. His teammate was Jimmy Vasser and they drove for the Target/Chip Ganassi team. Then I remember him winning the Indy 500 in 2000 with Ganassi. I was as happy as a clam when we moved to F1 with BMW/Williams. Yeah it’s true Montoya has been my favorite racing driver for over half a decade. Now he has decided to leave F1 (my favorite racing) for the racing series I hate most: NASCAR.

I won’t go into all the things I hate about NASCAR because this would then become the longest post I’ve ever written. So instead I’ll focus on a few bright spots for JPM:

1. He and his wife are expecting their 2nd baby this fall. Since they live in Miami it will be better for him to stay in the States rather than flying around the world in F1.

2. He’ll tackle NASCAR with his old boss Chip Ganassi and drive the #42 Target car. I’ve read some recent comments that the two are good friends, so he should fit in with the team. I only wish JPM would have joined up with Ganassi to drive in the IRL series (C.G. also has a team there with drivers Scott Sharp and Dan Wheldon–who is one of my current favorite IRL drivers).

3. I like Target stores.

4.

Well I guess that ends the “Pros” of moving to NASCAR. Deep down inside JPM kinda bothers me with this move. Besides that fact I hate NASCAR, I still remember an appearance on the David Letterman show. During the interview he said something to the effect of (I’m not sure on exact wording) “No offense to NASCAR, but driving an F1 car compared to a NASCAR car is like driving a Ferrari vs. a pick-up truck”. Now I read quotes about how excited he is for this new challenge. But how can he seriously be excited about walking away mid-season from a sportscar and jump in a pick-up truck?

The other thing that bothers me about the move is I’ve read a few JPM quotes in the past that suggested the JPM/C.G. relationship wasn’t so grand. Now of course every article makes them out to be long-lost brothers finally reunited. What’s the real deal?

JPM is a great driver, but he has to kick some serious NASCAR ass. History is not on his side when it comes to drivers switching from open-wheel cars (real racing cars) to NASCAR (crap racing cars). If he ends up only performing to mid-pack status, then he’ll not only write the lowest chapter to his great racing career, but NASCAR drivers and fans will lose respect for all F1 drivers in general, when I reality I truly believe that F1 drivers are the best drivers in the world (WRC drivers are a very close 2nd).

Good luck Juan Pablo!

1 Comment

  1. Roy
    July 13th, 2006 at 4:26 pm

    JPM’s move is a big loss to Formula 1 :(

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