Juan Pablo Montoya: a pictorial tribute pt.3 (2006-2008)
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Last in a three part pictorial tribute to my favourite racing driver, Colombia's Juan Pablo Montoya.Part three covers life after F1, where JPM returns to the USA to ply his trade in NASCAR with former employer Chip Ganassi. First competing in ARCA, then the Busch Series (now Nationwide Series as of 2008) and full time in Nextel Cup (now called Sprint Cup for 2008). In amongst all this stockcar racing is a dirt race at ELdora and a couple of 24 Hour races at Daytona. 2006: Made stockcar debut in ARCA Remax Series at Talladega, finishing third. Shortly after he made his Busch Series debut at Memphis, finishing an impressive 11th despite a spin. Made Nextel Cup debut in season ending race at Homestead, running strong all day before being punted into a fiery shunt by Penske's Ryan Newman.2007: The year began with a victory in the Daytona 24 Hours, another notable rookie succcess. Then followed a half-season of NASCAR Busch Series and a full series of NASCAR Cup Series with one win in each, both on road courses. Montoya became the first non-American to win a NASCAR Cup race for 33 years with his win at Sonoma. JPM held on to take Raybestos Rookie Of The Year honours, finishing 20th in the standings. Also competed in Tony Stewart's charitable Eldora Late Model dirt event.2008: Began the same as the previous year with another Daytona 24 Hours win. Montoya is to compete only in NASCAR Cup this year. The season began with a disappointing 2nd place finish at Daytona, but Montoya has consistently got the best out of his equipment since and racked up top 20 and top 15 finishes ever since. As of the today, just prior to Talladega this weekend, Montoya has a shot at reaching the Cup 'Chase' which requires 12th in the championship after 26 rounds. JPM is currently 17th, just 61 points from the cutoff. It is a tall order to attain this, but we all know he'll keep trying anyways!To be continued...
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