Juan Pablo Montoya insists speed is still there, luck is not
Juan Pablo Montoya finds himself in a different position this year as the IndyCar Series returns to Pocono Raceway. With four races left in the season, he's not the man to beat.
Heading into Sunday's race at Pocono, Montoya sits 12th in the standings, the last of Roger Penske's four cars. The other three -- Simon Pagenaud, Will Power, and Helio Castroneves -- are 1-2-3, with Pagenaud and Power separated by just 58 points, and Josef Newgarden 120 points behind Pagenaud in fourth.
"The gap to a different competitor from a different team is bigger (than last year). It might just come down to Simon and Will," Montoya said. "I think we'll be much better prepared going into the last race to make sure we all work together, and so we can win the championship as a team. We'll see what happens."
A year ago, Montoya had led the points for the entire season before losing out in the finale to Scott Dixon. Dixon dominated a race worth double points to tie Montoya, and was declared the champion because he had one more victory than the hard-driving Colombian.
"It sucks, but it is what it is. Move on, you know," Montoya said.
Montoya seemed poised to make amends for his heartbreaking title loss when the new season began. He started on the second row and won the season opener at St. Petersburg. He was still third in the standings after two top-fives in the ensuing four races. However, he then watched his season begin to unravel at the Indianapolis 500. Montoya lost control of his car on lap 64, crashed into the wall and finished last.
He rebounded with a third-place finish in the first race at Belle Isle, but then had 20th-place finishes in the second race at Belle Isle as well as Iowa and Toronto, before placing 11th at Mid-Ohio. He had contact at Belle Isle, mechanical problems at Iowa, and strategy bit him at Toronto and Mid-Ohio.
"It's been tough because we've had cars fast enough to be there," he said. "Race pace is really, really good. I'm not really struggling. We've been making the wrong calls. At Iowa I was the fastest team car. When you go every week and you're competitive and things just go wrong, there's nothing you can do."
Montoya returned to IndyCar two years ago after a 14-year stint in NASCAR. He won at Pocono and finished fourth in the championship. His contract with Penske is up after this season, and he said he is looking at three options, trying to decide the best fit for him personally.
"They're going to wait until after the season to make a decision. We'll see what happens," Montoya said of Penske. "I think I've done a really good job. I won the Indy 500 for them last year. They hadn't won it since `09. I nearly won the championship, but as a team we didn't execute well enough.
"Personally, I think we have the potential to keep going doing nice things. This year, everything that could go wrong has gone wrong."
