Juan Pablo Montoya
» View Juan Pablo Montoya's Photo Gallery
If the past is any indication of what to expect from Juan Pablo Montoya as he makes his foray into stock cars and NASCAR,
Montoya is about to take the Texaco/Havoline Racing program international. When he enters the 2007 NASCAR NEXTEL Cup season,
teaming up with Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, Montoya will become the first Formula One regular to ever join the
NASCAR ranks on a full-time basis.
The Colombia native has seen success in everything he has driven, and Team Owner Chip Ganassi can attest to that. Montoya
drove for Ganassi’s open-wheel team in 1999 and 2000. Although their renewed partnership seemed logical, they still
shocked the racing community in July when they announced Montoya’s return to the Ganassi fold would be in a stockcar.
The 31-year-old Montoya joined CGRFS with impressive open-wheel credentials. He has made 137 starts between the CART, IndyCar
and Formula One Series’ where he’s tallied 18 wins, 26 poles, 60 top-five and 79 top-10 finishes. Over his five
complete seasons in Formula One, Montoya has finished sixth or better in the standings every year.
Like most successful
drivers, Montoya’s racing career began at a young age. He started racing Karts at the age of six with his father Pablo
guiding the future champion. From 1984 to 1989, Montoya captured several Colombian local and national titles in the Children’s
Kart Championship and Kart Komet Division. He then went on to take the Kart Junior World Championships in 1990 and 1991.
Montoya first raced in the states in 1992 when he took part in the Skip Barber Racing School. He also made a move to the
Copa Formula Renault Series in Colombia. That year, Montoya captured five poles and four wins in eight races. His racing dominance
continued the following year in the Swift GTI Championship Series where he captured both seven poles and wins in eight starts.
At the age of 19, Montoya competed in three different racing series’ in one year and left an impression on everyone.
He captured the class win in the Karting Sudam 125; finished third in the Barber Saab Championship Series in the United States;
and racked up three wins and four poles in just five Formula N class races in Mexico.
Over the next two years Montoya continued to progress up through the motor sports ranks. He competed in the 1995 British
Formula Vauxhall Championship before running in the British Formula 3 Series in 1996. He took the checkered flag twice in
Formula 3, before getting the break he hoped for—a chance to compete in the Formula 3000 Series (now GP2 and the feeder
series for Formula One) in 1997.
Montoya went on to finish second in the 1997 championship standings. The rookie’s impressive performance caught the
eye of the Williams F1 team. He was then summoned to participate in his first Formula One test before getting signed to a
multi-year testing contract in 1998. In addition to his testing duties, Montoya competed again in the Formula 3000 series
and grabbed the FIA International Formula 3000 Championship.
The young Colombian would soon find himself heading to the United States in 1999 as part of a driver swap between Williams
and Ganassi. The team owner exchange resulted in Montoya taking over for two-time CART Champion Alex Zanardi at Ganassi’s
Indianapolis-based open-wheel shop, while Zanardi returned to Formula One.
Immediately, Montoya made his presence known in the CART Series, and all across the United States. At the age of 24, the
rookie driver proceeded to set several series records en route to claiming his first and Ganassi’s fourth-consecutive
CART Championship. Montoya claimed a record breaking seven wins in his rookie season, including the most consecutive wins
by a rookie (three) and the most laps led by a rookie (954). Altogether, he collected more wins, pole positions, laps led
and earnings than any other driver during the 1999 CART season.
As the defending series champion, Montoya added three additional wins to his CART resume in 2000 at Milwaukee, Michigan
and St. Louis while battling for the points lead up until the second to last race of the season. He finished ninth, just 42
points behind the eventual champion. In addition to the regular CART season, Ganassi decided to enter his teams in the Indy
Racing League’s Indianapolis 500 for the first time since 1995. The 2000 Indianapolis 500, one of the most prestigious
races in the world, was Montoya’s first trip to the famed Brickyard. After just missing the pole and starting second
on the grid, Montoya set a rookie record by leading 167 out of 200 laps on his way to an Indy 500 victory. That same weekend,
Williams announced Montoya had signed a two-year deal to drive for them in the Formula One Series.
Montoya made his debut with BMW Williams in the premiere open-wheel series at the Australian Grand Prix in 2001, and then
captured his first F1 victory at the Italian Grand Prix at Monza. The rookie racer also tallied three pole positions and four
podium finishes during his freshman season to finished sixth in the Drivers' Championship standings.
He fared even better in the 2002 standings. Even though Ferrari dominated the season, Montoya finished third, turning the
fastest qualifying laps in seven out of the 17 races and earning four runner-up finishes. It was also during the 2002 season,
when he lit up the track at Monza by posting a record-fast qualifying lap with an average speed of 259.844682 km/h.
Statistically, 2003 proved to be the most successful season in F1 for the Montoya-Williams duo. Montoya finished third
in the Drivers’ Championship with 82 points, and captured two victories which included the Monaco Grand Prix –
Formula 1’s equivalent of the Daytona 500 or Indy 500. He also had six additional podium finishes - four second and
two third-place. It was also in 2003 when Montoya announced he would be leaving BMW Williams at the end of the 2004 season
to move over to the McLaren Mercedes team.
Montoya finished 2004 fifth in the F1 Drivers’ Championship standings, taking the checkered flag in Brazil—his
last race with the Williams team. In 2005, Montoya looked to a new beginning with McLaren. He brought home three victories
that season, including leading the McLaren team to its first 1-2 finish in years at the Brazilian Grand Prix. His other two
victories came in England and Italy, which resulted in a fourth-place finish in the standings.
In 2006, Montoya was in sixth place in the F1 Championship Standings after 10 races when on July 9, he along with his former
boss Chip Ganassi announced to the world that he would be leaving McLaren and Formula One racing to re-partner with Ganassi…but
this time in a stock car. He signed a multi-year deal to race in NASCAR’s NEXTEL Cup in the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge
beginning in 2007.
Only time will tell how the Colombian will fair in America’s premiere motorsports division, but based on his past
successes it shouldn’t be long before Montoya is running up front.
» Juan Pablo Montoya Resource
» Race Results
» Juan Pablo Montoya Team Gear at ChipGanassiRacing.com
| 
