WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Juan Pablo Montoya is back in NASCAR, and he “has no idea what to expect.”
At 48-years-old, the two time Indianapolis 500 winner and two-time NASCAR Cup Series winner is back in the thick of stock car racing this weekend after a long hiatus.
His start Sunday (Sept. 15) in the NASCAR Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International — courtesy of 23XI Racing and Mobil 1 — is his first in Cup since he competed in the 2014 Brickyard 400.
Why is Montoya, who spends his time these days shepherding his son Sebastian’s racing career, back for a one-off appearance in NASCAR?
For the hell of it, basically.
Montoya, who will start 34th Sunday, got a call earlier this year from 23XI Racing President Steve Lauletta asking if he’d be interested.
“It is kind of funny, because [if] you would [have asked] me last year, and I would be like, ‘No, no way,’” Montoya said. “Then the idea comes, and I’m like, ‘Huh. I honestly think it is pretty cool.’
“The idea behind it is pretty cool, and the cars are really competitive — so why not? I really don’t have a reason not to do it.”
It doesn’t hurt that his NASCAR return is a reunion of sorts. Lauletta was the president at Chip Ganassi Racing when Montoya competed for the team.
Also, each time 23XI has fielded a third car this season, it has done so with sponsorship from Mobil 1.
“I raced with McLaren with Mobil 1, and actually my first sponsor in Columbia was Mobil 1 too,” Montoya said.
Montoya, who won the Cup race at WGI in 2010, thinks he “should run pretty well” come Sunday, even if the car he’ll drive now is in a different universe compared to what he previously experienced.
He asked some of his teammates what to expect from the car, and they told him, “It is so difficult to drive.”
However, he also asked road course veteran Michael McDowell, who told him, “It is much easier to drive — it is more like a GT3,” which is what Montoya expected.
He did get some time in the Next Gen car before showing up at Watkins Glen. He made 40 laps at Virginia International Raceway “just to get comfortable — make sure the seat and everything was working.”
He came away thinking it “was easier to drive than the last car.”
All of Montoya’s comments came before he climbed inside the No. 50 Toyota on Saturday (Sept. 14) to start the race…
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