Montoya Out at Ganassi After 2013 Season

Juan Pablo Montoya will not return to the No. 42 Target
car in 2014 (Google Images)

Yet another world renowned open wheel champion has failed to find regular success racing in NASCAR's premier level. The Associated Press broke a story late Tuesday night that Juan Pablo Montoya's contract for next season had not been renewed, news that was later confirmed by Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates co-owner Felix Sabates in an exclusive interview with Dave Moody on SiriusXM Radio's SiriusXM Speedway.

 The former owner of Sabco Motorsports told Moody that, "We have decided not to renew his contract. It was a difficult decision, but he understands the profession, and that you've got to move on in life sometimes." Sabates also talked about the frustration of underperforming, despite having equipment that is capable of winning. "You can't point a finger at one person. We win as a team and we lose as a team. We've had a lot of things happen to us -- last year and this year -- that weren't anybody's fault. But sometimes you have to make a change, hoping that maybe your bad luck will go away."



Montoya celebrates his 2010 victory at Watkins Glen (Google Images)

A native of Bogota, Columbia, Montoya has won many of motor racing's premier events, the Indianapolis 500, the Grand Prix of Monoco and the Rolex 24 Hour of Daytona to name just a few. But he could never find that same level of success in stock car racing, however he did experience more of it than others like Patrick Carpentier and Dario Franchitti. While they never made it past their rookie seasons, Montoya has amassed two Sprint Cup wins in 239 starts and one Nationwide Series win in 23 starts. His first win came in 2007, his rookie season, at the Sonoma road course and finished a respectable 20th in the final points standings. Since then, he has scored a second win on the road course at Watkins Glen in 2010 and made one Chase appearance in 2009, finishing a career best eighth overall. Since that result, Montoya has finished no better than 17th in points, doing so in 2010. Two seasons ago, Montoya ranked 21st in points and finished 22nd overall in 2012.






Montoya (left) celebrates his Sonoma win with owner
Chip Ganassi (Google Images)

While Montoya will not be back, Sabates confirmed that the No. 42 Chevrolet SS will return in 2014 with funding from Target. This will undoubtedly add more intrigue to "Silly Season." With drivers like Ryan Newman and Kurt Busch not locked up for next season, it would no doubt be hard for these two proven winners to turn down a chance at a fully funded car with horsepower courtesy of Hendrick Motorsports. However, there is also the variable of up and comer Kyle Larson. Signed to a long term contract with Ganassi, he is believed to be the next big thing. But it would be hard to believe team principals would promote Larson after only running a full Nationwide slate and a handful of truck races.Joey Logano was heralded as the "best thing since sliced bread" and was brought to Sprint Cup by Joe Gibbs Racing in 2009 after just 19 Nationwide starts. Four seasons 
later, Logano has just a pair of victories at Nascar's top level and, as a rule, he has been mediocre at best.
Sabates also told Moody that there could possibly be opportunities for Montoya to run a full schedule of races for Ganassi in either the IZOD Indy Car Series or the GRAND AM Rolex Sports Car Series. "We are still hoping to get some things worked out with Juan," he said. "We hope he will still be in the picture."

After 22 races so far this season,  Montoya ranks 22nd in points with three top fives and five top tens. He also came the closest he has been to winning a race on an oval, losing the lead late in races at Richmond and Dover. Meanwhile, his teammate Jamie McMurray is listed 15th in points, with a single top five result -- a second place at Kentucky -- and five top ten finishes.