Will start 32nd in first trip to Sonoma in Cup Series car

“My background in racing has always been road courses, so a lot of people are expecting great things … we should have shown that in qualifying, and we didn’t.”

Juan Montoya

SOMONA, Calif. — He thought the lap was a good one, maybe within a few tenths of a second of the pole. Then Juan Montoya zoomed across the start/finish line at Infineon Raceway, and learned he was nowhere close.

The former Formula One star’s first Nextel Cup event on a road course got off to a shaky start Friday when the Colombian qualified 32nd for Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350. He’ll start near the back on a 1.99-mile, 12-turn road course where passing is notoriously difficult, and no driver has come from further than 13th to win.

“We’re actually looking at everything,” he said after debriefing with his crew. “We lost a little of everything. We were actually sliding around a little bit more. I don’t know what to tell you. We braked the same place we braked in practice. We thought we were going to be about three- or four-tenths [of a second] from the pole. I don’t know.”

The day started promising enough for Montoya, who posted the13th-fastest practice time in the day’s lone session. But he couldn’t find as much grip in qualifying, sliding through turns and losing time. His speed of 90.976 mph was well off the pole-winning lap of 92.414 mph turned in by Jamie McMurray (watch video). It was a tough afternoon for all three drivers in Chip Ganassi stable — Reed Sorenson qualified 29th, and David Stremme posted the slowest time of the 50 drivers who made an attempt.

“Our cars seem to be really off the pace,” Montoya said. “In practice, we were about two- to three-tenths [off], and in race trim we were about two- to three-tenths. We just made our lives a lot harder starting back there, but that’s where we’re going.”

He can always ask for a little help from his friends. In NASCAR, so many things are kept secret — except the best way to get around a racetrack. Drivers within this traveling community readily share advice with brethren who are struggling, even if they have to try and beat them the next day. Road-racing specialists ask regular Nextel Cup drivers for tips on how to get around ovals, who in turn seek suggestions for navigating a road circuit like Infineon.

“There are a lot of people out there who will teach you a lot, if you’re willing to listen,” Dale Earnhardt Jr. said.

He should know. At places like Sonoma, NASCAR’s most popular driver relies on advice from road-racing ace Boris Said. After making a mistake in Turn 11 of his qualifying lap Friday — which was still good enough to claim the fifth starting position — Tony Stewart said he’d ask for help from Said or Ron Fellows, a road racer fresh off an appearance in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In his move from open wheels to stock cars, Montoya has leaned on friends like Casey Mears, a former teammate at Ganassi who made the same transition himself.

“I’ve been really surprised,” Montoya said. “Whenever I have a question or a doubt, I know that I can go and ask. But I try not to abuse that and go to everybody to ask, ‘What do I do here?’ I did ask Casey Mears if he could help me a little bit when we come here and tell me what to do and what gears to use. He’s driven a Ganassi car, so he knows what to expect more than anybody else.”

That’s a stark contrast from the closed world of F1, where asking another driver — perhaps even a teammate — for advice would attract only an icy stare in return. But in NASCAR, it’s as commonplace as tires and fuel.

“I had a lot of people help me,” Mears said. “That’s the thing about the NASCAR sport that’s different from other sports. If you went over to Formula One and you’re struggling with a couple of things, you can’t go over to another guy on another team, much less your teammate, and ask them, ‘How do you get around the track?’ or, ‘What are your keys?’ When I first came here as a rookie, I could have gone to anybody. Mark Martin, Bill Elliott, all those guys gave great information. Just seeing a guy coming over who has so much to learn, I’ll definitely give any help I can.”

Montoya was bred as a road racer, taking part in a three-day Skip Barber driving school at Infineon in 1992, before he became a household name. He had never raced on an oval until he began competing in Champ Car for Ganassi in 1999. When he moved to NASCAR full time late last season, he estimated that he had raced in only about 20 events on oval tracks in his entire career.

All of which heightened the expectations for this weekend, as Montoya makes his initial foray onto a Nextel Cup road course. This is the same driver who won seven times in F1, including premier events at Monaco and Monza, Italy. It’s the same driver who picked up the Mexico City road course in about 10 laps, and won the Busch event there in his first try.

“My background in racing has always been road courses, so a lot of people are expecting great things,” he said. “But you have to remember that there are a bunch of really good guys here as well, like Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart, who have road-course experience as well, and they have been racing for so many years here. I probably have more experience on road courses than anybody, and that should play into our hands. The main focus is to get a good result. If we can get a good result, I’ll be really happy.”

That quest became markedly more difficult Friday. His Mexico Busch win came in an event where he started third and led 43 of 82 laps. His F1 victories came in a series with smaller fields and very little passing for the lead. Now he’s 32nd at a track where only one driver — Davey Allison in 1991 — came from further back than 11th to win.

“Generally, we’re not fast enough,” he said. “There’s not much we can do. I think we’ve got easily a top-10 car, and we should have shown that in qualifying, and we didn’t.”

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