Drivers rip Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya doesn’t seem to have a lot of friends in NASCAR.
The Nextel Cup rookie, who made the jump from Formula one, doesn’t care.
“I think I’m a lot more popular here than I was in F1,” Montoya said Friday. “So, I’m OK.”
Montoya has generated animosity among his peers this season for aggressive driving that has led to crashes.
The latest was last weekend on the road course at Watkins Glen, when he and Kevin Harvick got together with less than 20 laps left while both were running in the top 10.
After the accident at Watkins Glen, Montoya and Harvick got into a shoving match. More harsh words followed two days before Sunday’s 3M Performance 400 at Michigan International Speedway in Brooklyn, Mich.
“He drives like he doesn’t know what he’s doing,” Harvick said. “He can run fast, but he’s all over the place and every week it seems like he runs into a different person.
“He shrugs it off like he doesn’t care about anybody or anything. You make him mad and it’s, ‘Well, I’ve got a five-year contract, and I’ll just wreck you every week.’ It’s hard to talk to him and he doesn’t really respect anyone around him.”
Harvick said his opinion of Montoya is widespread.
“He’s not making a lot of friends out there,” Jimmie Johnson said.
While Montoya is not concerned about being popular among his peers, he does want to be respected.
“Being a rookie, I want people to know if they’re faster than me, I’ll give them space,” he said.
Nextel Cup Series
Since NASCAR put them on suspension in June, Chad Knaus and Steve Letarte have managed to stay busy. That hasn’t kept the two Nextel Cup crew chiefs from being frustrated.
“I’m not going to lie to you, it’s tough,” Knaus said after rejoining reigning Cup champion Jimmie Johnson and his No. 48 Hendrick Motorsports team to prepare for Sunday’s 3M Performance 400 at Michigan International Speedway.
Knaus and Letarte, who works with the No. 24 of four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon on the elite Hendrick team, were banned from attending six races after NASCAR technical inspectors found unapproved front fenders on their entries before the June 24 race at Sonoma, Calif.
“I’ve never done anything else my whole life and Steve’s in the same boat,” said Knaus. “In 24, 25 years of racing, I’ve been gone every weekend, every week I’m gone somewhere else, some other town going racing.
“When you instill that kind of competitive nature into your blood, it’s kind of difficult to unplug yourself. But it’s what happens, you just have to deal with it. I didn’t enjoy it, that’s for sure. It’s good to be back.”
NASCAR qualifying
Qualifying has provided Jeff Gordon with some surprises this season.
The four-time NASCAR champion had another one, winning his series-leading sixth pole of 2007 after having to wait for all the rest of the cars entered in the 3M Performance 400 to make their qualifying runs.
“We were decent in practice, but we didn’t get the best lap,” Gordon said. “But, obviously, we communicated well on the adjustments we needed. It just didn’t feel like a pole-winning lap.
“Obviously, I’ve got to thank this team and welcome back Steve Letarte. Man, that’s awesome. We’ve got good chemistry and I think that late draw really, really played out for us.”