NASCAR with a Latin Flavor – A Glimpse into Juan Pablo Montoya
Monday, April 7th, 2008 Subscribe To Our Feed
Juan Pablo Montoya, joining NASCAR in the end of 2006, comes to NASCAR after a lengthy career as an open-wheel driver. Born in Bogota, Columbia, Montoya has raced all over the world. He began racing at the tender age of 6, and apparently, hasn’t stopped yet. He began as a child with cart racing and loved the speed and the thrill. He went on to continue his practice of racing and made it easily into the world of Formula 1 racing. His record shows a strong driving ability, but a certain unpredictability—sometimes delivering and sometimes not, but doing either with a little bit of latin flavor. His moves are bold and unapologetic, and have led to a few unfriendly severances with former teams.
He is clearly a talented driver, which is why he’s being picked up for NASCAR; however, there are some wrinkles to be ironed out if he is to be the next NASCAR fan favorite. His record shows a strong history and partnership with a few teams in Formula 1, but his record also shows some daring, and costly mistakes that have caused him to fall out of favor with some teams. He’s got a certain edge—think Maverick in Top Gun, that lets him decide to make a very bold move at the last possible second, without consulting team mates and perhaps before thinking the decision through all the way to fruition. In any case, NASCAR is looking for a new partnership with Montoya.
Montoya has been working on testing for NASCAR in the summer and early fall of 2006 and makes his NASCAR debut on October 28th in Memphis. Joining the Dodge team, he will be behind the wheel of a Charger for his October premiere. Many fans are looking forward to his spunk coming to NASCAR, while others are wary of his bold moves. Either way, he will find a home for himself among NASCAR drivers, and based on his track record, it will only take a few seasons to get an idea of whether or not this is going to be a lasting career for Montoya.
In addition to racing, Montoya founded the Smiles Foundation, which works on improving sports facilities in impoverished areas of Columbia. The foundation works to raise money for sports programs and facilities in cities where kids would otherwise not have access to high-quality (or any at all) sports equipment and spots. Races are sponsored to raise money and also fun contests are created such as the helmet-painting event in which children got to come up with new designs for Montoya’s helmet. The winning helmet painted design was to be worn by Montoya in upcoming races, which, of course, was a very exciting idea for the kids participating in the contest.
Montoya’s racing style is due to see slight changes in the end of 2006 and early 2007 as he becomes comfortable rocketing around a small race track with so much traffic all around him. He has participated only in a limited way in two NASCAR races in October, but the one at the end of October will be his first pilot race. The team is very optimistic that he will do very well, not just because he’s a top-driver, but also because he really knows what he’s doing when he’s inside a race car. The team’s engineer is very pleased with his communication with Montoya, saying that the only reason he’s been able to get the car to perform so well is because Montoya is able to give such accurate descriptions of how the car is handling and what needs to be changed in order to make it better.
Technorati Tags: No Tags
Related Tags: No Tags
Possible Related Posts
A Glimpse into How the Ford Fusion is Doing on the NASCAR Tracks
