Juan Pablo Montoya
A native of Columbia, Juan Pablo Montoya is driver of the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge of Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates. The 2000 Indianapolis 500 winner, 1999 Champ Car World Series champion and 2003 winner of the Formula 1 Monaco Grand Prix earned 2007 Raybestos Rookie of the Year Honors in the NASCAR Cup Series. Montoya made four starts in the NASCAR Busch Series in 2006 before making Cup Series debut at the season-ending race at Homestead that year. His best Busch finish was 11th in his debut at Memphis. Montoya drove the entire 2007 season, scoring his first career victory at Sonoma, Calif., in June and garnering three top-five and six top-10 finishes in all. He also scored a Busch Series victory at Mexico City in 2007. Montoya competed in Formula 1 from 2001-2006 for BMW Williams and McLaren Mercedes. During that period, he amassed seven wins, 30 podium finishes and 13 pole positions. The highlight of his Formula 1 career came in 2003 when he won the Monaco Grand Prix, the series’ premier event. He finished sixth or better in each of his five full seasons in Formula 1. Montoya won the 2000 Indy 500 racing for Ganassi in his first trip to the Brickyard. He spent two years in Champ Car, winning 10 races, including seven victories and the series title in 1999, his rookie year. Montoya competed in the Formula 3000 series for two years, racking up seven wins and winning the 1998 series championship. He started racing karts at the age of six and captured several Colombian local and national titles in the Children’s Kart Championship and Kart Komet Division from 1984-1989. In 2002, Montoya traded cars with Jeff Gordon for a publicity event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2002. Gordon drove Montoya’s F1 car and Montoya drove Gordon’s stock car. He is the first Formula 1 driver to compete full-time in NASCAR.
