Juan Pablo Montoya – Glad to stay with NASCAR
Juan Pablo Montoya, who once echoed the critics of Formula One racing, has now been affiliated with NASCAR for around four years and his words about his future aims, “no chance of going back”.
Montoya has proven his temperament and determination to become a legitimate NASCAR driver after joining as the F1 refugee. He was in an interview with the Spanish website “prensa.com”, where he indicated that the decision of leaving Formula 1 was indeed
the right one, while driving for McLaren in 2006.
"Some people tell me I should go back to F1, but I'm happy here," he said.
"I think it is clear that there is no chance of going the other way at the moment.”
While talking to the press, Juan Pablo Montoya insisted that he shall remain with NASCAR without any plans to return to Formula One, as he answered, “I am happy, my sponsor is happy, Chip Ganassi is happy. That's all I care about."
Prior to his switch to NASCAR, he made an astounding career with CART and Indy cars and then moved to Formula 1, where he won the Monaco Grand Prix. He made his Formula 1 debut for Williams in 2001 winning seven Grand Prix in his five years tenure till his
final season 2006 with McLaren.
He then signed for Chip Ganassi Racing team winning two road-courses in the Rolex 24 at Daytona endurance race and five races in overall NASCAR variants. He also had his astounding entry to the Chase in 2009. However, 2010 did not go too well for the Colombian
star where he fell off pace under the controversy of numerous decisions and questionable finishes.
It was then speculated that having a sub-par 2010 season with NASCAR, Montoya might be thinking of returning to open-wheel cars eventually. But Montoya negated all the rumours and seems quite content to stay with his current sport.
“racer.com” also reported that Montoya has no plans to leave his current stock car gig with Chip Ganassi Racing and shall be showing his thrilling performance in the next Sprint Cup Series.
The Earnhardt Ganassi Racing star finds it “more fun” in the NASCAR for the competitive races, citing the flaws and redemptions in Formula 1.
The team of Chip Ganassi and their driver Montoya, after a not so good season 2010, shall be aiming high for the next year to come with a rebound and also to return to the Chase for the Cup form.
In similar fashion, the seven times Formula 1 winner, Michael Schumacher also denied that he will make his return to the track even when he had started testing for Ferrari, in 2009. But later, he was added in the Mercedes squad of 2010, so it can possibly
be a false denial. Yet it will all be confirmed with time, as currently Montoya is aiming for the Sprint Cup 2011.
Despite all the rumours and controversies, Montoya staying with the NASCAR could be good news for the upbringing of character to the game. His zeal and strong determination is as vigilant as anything in his races, earlier on the Formula 1 track and now with
NASCAR. It’s obvious that a star from a rival background certainly pinches in the conversational needle into NASCAR, and that, is indeed what the sport needs for the moment.
Tags: