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Thursday, April 13
Four Laps. Ten miles. Sixteen left-hand turns. That's all
it took for Juan Montoya to announce his arrive at
Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Monday. In just four
trips around The Brickyard, the rookie sensation was
once again amazing a new group of peers.
In his first four laps around the Indianapolis Motor
Speedway, Montoya was fourth-quickest. By the end of
the day, he was only a tick slower than defending Indy
Racing Northern Lights Series champion Greg Ray.
Amazing. It was simply, flat-out amazing. But, what else
should we expect from Juan Montoya.
Montoya turned a lot of heads. And the word "incredible"
came out of a lot of mouths. To be able to jump into a
new car and go that fast was remarkable. He'd only been
in the car once for a Las Vegas test session, and that was
nothing more than a shake down. To see him go so fast,
so quick, on a tricky track like Indy, was something to
witness.
While we all watched in awe, Montoya wasn't at all in awe
of Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Then again, I haven't
seen Montoya be in awe of anything since arriving in the
United States last year.
The only other driver who comes to mind that's come to
Indy and taken to the track like Montoya is Greg Ray in
his rookie season. Qualifying for the 1997 Indy 500 was
when everyone stood up and took notice of Greg Ray. He
was with a low-budget team, but on his way to a
front-row starting spot in qualifying when he ran out of
gas on the fourth lap. He wound up 30th and finished the
race 25th.
It wouldn't surprise me to see the 2000 Indy 500 come
down to a battle of series champions -- Montoya vs. Ray.
And that's exactly what the 500 needs this year -- a
story line involving a battle between series.
All eyes are going to be on those two red Target cars.
"What is Chip Ganassi doing?" That's a question that will
be asked a lot at Indy this year. And that puts a lot of
pressure on the Ganassi teams, which will carry the CART
flag into the speedway come May 20-28.
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INDIANAPOLIS -- Roberto Guerrero set the benchmark for Colombians driving in the Indianapolis 500. But there wasn't another driver from the South American country on the horizon in 1984 to challenge those marks. Now a new millennium has arrived,
and so has a brave young newcomer from Colombia.
Juan Montoya, a native of Bogota, will make his debut at Indy as part of Chip Ganassi's two-driver entry in this year's race. Montoya, as a 23-year-old replacement for two-time CART champion Alex Zanardi, won
Target/Ganassi Racing's fourth straight CART series title last season.
"For me as a driver, I'm just going to come here and try to win," he said. "I think the team is prepared to give 100 percent and win the race."
If his first day on the track is any indication, Montoya is a contender to be the first rookie to win the Indianapolis 500 since Graham Hill in 1996. Montoya turned a lap of 219.780 mph on Monday -- the second fastest of the day. It was his first day of testing ever at Indy.
It would take a victory for Montoya to surpass Guerrero's achievements at Indy. That's the only thing that Guerrero is missing.
Guerrero, now 41 and a naturalized American citizen, nearly won his first Indianapolis 500 -- a spin in Turn 2 on Lap 154 dropped him out of contention behind winner Rick Mears. But his second-place finish earned him a share of
the Bank One Rookie of the Year award with Michael Andretti. He then placed
third, fourth and second again in his next three races. A stall in his pit
on his final stop in 1987 allowed Al Unser to get the lead and become a
four-time race winner.
At the top of his game, Guerrero was injured in a September 1987 practice crash at the speedway. Still, he came back to set the one- and four-lap qualifying marks (since eclipsed by Arie Luyendyk) in 1992 of 232.618 and 232.482 mph and added a fifth-place finish in 1996.
"He's obviously already done very, very well," Guerrero said of Montoya. "Ganassi has a great team. I'm sure he will have great equipment. I think that he will adapt very quickly."
Montoya and Roberto's younger brother Jaime grew up and raced together in Colombia. Their fathers, Roberto Guerrero Sr. and Pablo Montoya, are best friends.
Guerrero hopes to drive in his 15th Indianapolis 500 in May, making it possible that two Colombians will start the race.
"That would be great," Guerrero said. "All the years I've been (in the race) there never was much chance for another Colombian driver to be at Indy until Juan came along. He's amazing. I thought it would never happen until I
was gone."
Montoya's only trip around the Speedway before his first laps today came in the tour bus last January when he came to be fitted for his seat.
"I used to watch some races here and everything," he said. "It's interesting. A lot of people come in to a single event, so I'm sure it's
going to be very exciting on race day.
"It's different from Formula One and stuff like that. You don't have (pre-race) warm-ups. You just go straight to the race. So it's going to be fun."
Montoya is taking a wait-and-see attitude about the race. It'll be his first time in an Indy Racing Northern Light Series normally aspirated car.
"It will be very nice for my record to see if I can come here and win," he said.
Montoya was selected by Ganassi to take over for Zanardi, who had won two straight championships. The youngster responded beautifully, winning seven races and seven poles and scoring the same amount of points (212) as Dario
Franchitti. Montoya was declared champion because he had more victories.
Ganassi knew little about Montoya when he flew to Barcelona, Spain, in late
1998 to check out the champion of the European F3000 series.
|  | | Juan Montoya was quick to show Monday he will be a factor at Indy come May 28. |
"They said he was a good driver," Ganassi said. "He was better looking than
Zanardi.
"With somebody in our position, you're always looking for somebody who's
young, who's hungry. A lot of times in this business when you walk in as the
owner of the car that won the last championship you have these guys who are
kind of falling all over you and everything. I kind of liked him because he
couldn't have given a damn who I was when I met him. He just wanted to race,
and that's what I liked about him."
The Target/Chip Ganassi Racing tandem of veteran Jimmy Vasser and the young
Montoya is a nice blend and a team owner's dream, Ganassi said.
"You have the tried and true on your right and the young whippersnapper on
your left," he said. "It kind of gives you the best of both worlds when you
come into an event like this."
Coming to Indy is special for Montoya because it provides another
challenge. He will fly from Japan after the CART race there on May 13 to Indianapolis and be prepared to qualify on Pole Day on May 20. Then the team will race May 27 -- the day before the Indianapolis 500 -- in a CART event at Nazareth, Pa., that was snowed out April 9.
"It'll be very hard, but still I don't think that's going to be an excuse for not going quick," he said. "The Indy 500, like everyone says, is a huge race. And I think it is very special for us to be here. It's a bigger challenge. Every year I've been in
biggest challenge. And with Chip, you never know what to expect. He always
comes up with new ideas and new things."
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