Watkins Glen to be the last race for Montoya’s Busch team
The race next week at Watkins Glen will be the last for Juan Pablo Montoya in the Busch Series event, after the race this weekend the team will stop competing in the Busch Series.
The former F1 driver who didn’t find the shift from F1 to NASCAR easy was inducted into the Busch series to help the transition. According to the Chip Ganassi Racing officials, six seasons in F1 had had a lasting effect on Montoya’s racing style and therefore they had to create the Busch program to help him adjust to NASCAR.
Another reason to end the program after the race is that the remainder of the Busch series schedule is conflicting with Montoya’s NASCAR schedule.
Juan Pablo Montoya drives the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge in the NASCAR Nextel Cup for Chip Ganassi and Felix Sabates’ NASCAR team, Chip Ganassi Racing. He qualified second in his stock car debut race in an Automobile Racing Club of America race event at Talladega Superspeedway. He is already climbing up the ranks in NASCAR, this year he pulled out at number 17th in the Daytona 500 event belligerent of a handling issue. At Allstate 400 today he qualified second and stayed in the top 10 all the time before finish just behind the winner Tony Stewart, this makes him a favorite for the 2007 Rookie of the year award.
The Former BMW Williams F1 Driver is also well known for his philanthropic activities, he cofounded the Formula Smiles Foundation with his wife. The charity aims to help raise money for poor children and develops or facilitates existing sports amenities and infrastructure. Two main events held annually by the charity are the Échele Cabeza al casco de Juan Pablo Montoya and the race of the stars event.
