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Montoya entered in No. 30 Cup car for finale
Possibility exists former F1 champ could drive No. 42 at Homestead
AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Plans are in place for former Formula One star Juan Montoya to make his Nextel Cup debut in next week's season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Car owner Chip Ganassi said he's submitted the No. 30 for Montoya on the early entry list.
Although unlikely, he didn't completely rule out that Montoya might be in the No. 42 of Casey Mears that he will drive next season.
The 42 is guaranteed a spot in the field based on owner points. Montoya would have to qualify the No. 30 for one of eight positions left for cars outside the top 35.
"A lot of it has to do with how many other cars that are entered and who has a better shot at qualifying,'' Ganassi said. "Obviously Casey [Mears] is a great qualifier, but we haven't even broached that subject.
"As far as Casey knows he's in the 42 next weekend, and I've told him that."
Montoya has run in the last three Busch Series races at Memphis, Texas and Phoenix, finishing 11th, 28th and 20th, respectively. Ganassi said one of the biggest issues has been getting Montoya in and out of the pits in a "competitive manner.''
"You can have the fastest car there and if we can't get out of the pits you might as well not even be there,'' he said. "We've got to get the rest of the team organized around it. This has all come on pretty quick about putting him in a Cup race and everything.
"We just don't want to embarrass him or ourselves out there. We want to make sure it's right.''
Ganassi said he's been pleased with Montoya's progress as a driver, saying if anything he's been too nice to fellow competitors coming down on him in the corners.
"He backs out of it and he hits the wall,'' Ganassi said. "You just can't do that.
"We had five of the fastest laps in the [Busch] race yesterday on the good side. On the bad side he came in and pinched the guys against the wall one time. We had a slow, slow stop. It's just another learning curve.''
Montoya said he's prepared to enter the Cup race next weekend if Ganassi can square away a good crew around him.
If not, he'll be ready for the 2007 opener at Daytona.
"I don't care,'' Montoya said. " It's just a race. It's getting in the car and driving it. What's the big deal? For me the biggest deal, probably more than doing a Cup race, was probably the ARCA race in Talladega because that was my first stock-car race, my first NASCAR-style race.
"Cup is a lot more give and take than Busch. In Busch people want to prove themselves to be able to get to Cup. When you're in Cup you don't have to do that.''
Possibility exists former F1 champ could drive No. 42 at Homestead
AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Plans are in place for former Formula One star Juan Montoya to make his Nextel Cup debut in next week's season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.
Car owner Chip Ganassi said he's submitted the No. 30 for Montoya on the early entry list.
Although unlikely, he didn't completely rule out that Montoya might be in the No. 42 of Casey Mears that he will drive next season.
The 42 is guaranteed a spot in the field based on owner points. Montoya would have to qualify the No. 30 for one of eight positions left for cars outside the top 35.
"A lot of it has to do with how many other cars that are entered and who has a better shot at qualifying,'' Ganassi said. "Obviously Casey [Mears] is a great qualifier, but we haven't even broached that subject.
"As far as Casey knows he's in the 42 next weekend, and I've told him that."
Montoya has run in the last three Busch Series races at Memphis, Texas and Phoenix, finishing 11th, 28th and 20th, respectively. Ganassi said one of the biggest issues has been getting Montoya in and out of the pits in a "competitive manner.''
"You can have the fastest car there and if we can't get out of the pits you might as well not even be there,'' he said. "We've got to get the rest of the team organized around it. This has all come on pretty quick about putting him in a Cup race and everything.
"We just don't want to embarrass him or ourselves out there. We want to make sure it's right.''
Ganassi said he's been pleased with Montoya's progress as a driver, saying if anything he's been too nice to fellow competitors coming down on him in the corners.
"He backs out of it and he hits the wall,'' Ganassi said. "You just can't do that.
"We had five of the fastest laps in the [Busch] race yesterday on the good side. On the bad side he came in and pinched the guys against the wall one time. We had a slow, slow stop. It's just another learning curve.''
Montoya said he's prepared to enter the Cup race next weekend if Ganassi can square away a good crew around him.
If not, he'll be ready for the 2007 opener at Daytona.
"I don't care,'' Montoya said. " It's just a race. It's getting in the car and driving it. What's the big deal? For me the biggest deal, probably more than doing a Cup race, was probably the ARCA race in Talladega because that was my first stock-car race, my first NASCAR-style race.
"Cup is a lot more give and take than Busch. In Busch people want to prove themselves to be able to get to Cup. When you're in Cup you don't have to do that.''
sweep the track clear of Stewart , Biffle and Edwards ... giving ME a good Survivor finish with Truex in the Soonermobile !
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