Montoya gets first NASCAR win in Mexico
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Since its creation two years ago, the NASCAR Busch Series race in Mexico City has been the one that has the most international flavor. Indeed, this year's race featured 8 nationalities amongst its 43 drivers. But it will be remember for being the day when Juan Pablo Montoya became a real stock car driver.
The former F1 racer won his first NASCAR event with his victory in the Telcel Motorola 200 at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. It did not come with either drama or controversy.
After starting third behind teammate Scott Pruett and Mexican driver CCarlos Contreras, Montoya stormed to the front early in the race. The early race was rather uneventful with the Ganassi teammates amongst the main contenders. Montoya had an awful break when during a pit stop (the last schedule one of the race), the fueling mechanism broke and it forced the Columbian to pit again. The stop, taken under caution, gave him the edge for the end of the race.
While he emerged from the pits in 19th place, Montoya quickly gained positions, with a superior ride and fresher tires to thank. A series of cautions also boosted his positions, as he got great position of the restarts and passed a number of cars on the first turn, one of the key spots on the track. By lap 70, he was behind Pruett with 10 laps to go.
On lap 72, things took an interesting turn as one Turn 1 Montoya divebombed under Pruett. Not seeing his teammate coming, Pruett was helpless as he got bumped and spun around to bring out another caution. He dropped all the way to 17th, he recovered in the remaining laps to finish in 5th.
Montoya only had to hold off defending race winner Denny Hamlin to earn his first victory. Pruett however was not happy. Right after the race was over, Pruett said to ESPN, "Of all the people to take you out - your teammate. That was just lowdown, nasty, dirty driving."
This now officially makes Juan Pablo a real NASCAR driver, since someone is pissed off at how he raced.
