Pit Pass: Steve Ballard
For the first time in his rookie NASCAR season, Juan Pablo Montoya heads into a race with a legitimate chance of winning.
That's because Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., is the first track he has encountered as a Nextel Cup driver that requires right- and left-hand turns. As the Colombian showed in winning a Busch Series race in Mexico City in March, the road racing skills he polished in two years in CART and seven in Formula One are transferable to a stock car.
Of course, in Mexico City, he didn't have to contend with Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Robby Gordon and the handful of other accomplished road racers among the Nextel Cup regulars. But that didn't stop five-time Infineon winner Jeff Gordon, whose status for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 cleared up Wednesday when he became a father for the first time, from labeling Montoya a threat.
"Absolutely," Jeff Gordon said. "I think you're really going to have to look at Montoya as being a factor."
Montoya bulldozed his way around unhappy Ganassi Racing teammate Scott Pruett on his way to winning in Mexico City. Cup regular Denny Hamlin finished second and came away impressed with Montoya's road racing acumen.
"He was really smooth," Denny Hamlin said. "But these Cup guys are a lot different than the Busch guys on the road courses. I think he's got as good a chance as any, but to say he's the favorite would be stretching it."
Montoya sits 23rd in the Cup standings after failing to finish last week at Michigan Speedway for the first time in 15 races this season. He leads David Ragan by four points (159-155) in the rookie standings.
Montoya's only previous visit to Sonoma was in 1992 when, at age 16, he attended a racing school.
While never lacking for confidence, Montoya told The Associated Press he isn't into making predictions, especially with Sonoma being the first test of the Car of Tomorrow on a road course.
"Do we have a chance of winning? Probably yes," he said. "Are we as good prepared as some of the (other) teams? Probably no. So we'll see what happens."
Date sought for bike race
Indianapolis Motor Speedway president Joie Chitwood said Thursday settling on a date remains one of the biggest challenges to bringing an international motorcycle event to the track in 2008.
Chitwood had hoped for a late August weekend, but a busy local and international schedule appears to make that prohibitive.
"We have to find a date that works for all parties," he said Thursday. "There are a lot of factors to consider."
MotoGP has an 18-race schedule in 2007 that visits many of the world's top road courses. It has one U.S. race, set this year for July 22, in Monterey, Calif. Adjustments would be needed to accommodate Indy in September or October. This year, MotoGP has races in Italy (Sept. 2), Portugal (Sept. 16), Japan (Sept. 23), Australia (Oct. 14) and Malaysia (Oct. 21).
Chitwood said no discussions have been held with Formula One boss Bernie Ecclestone regarding a new contract for the U.S. Grand Prix. Speedway officials have set a July 12 deadline to get a deal done.
Start crucial in Cleveland
After the first standing start in Champ Car World Series history went off without a hitch two weeks ago at Portland, Ore., drivers and officials are hoping for more of the same Sunday in the Grand Prix of Cleveland.
Six of the past seven years, the first turn on the Burke Lakefront Airport layout has claimed at least one car. Last year's aborted start was among the more bizarre as Paul Tracy went airborne and landed squarely atop Sebastien Bourdais, knocking him unconscious.
"I just had a car on top of me, then it went dark and that's all I can remember," Bourdais said.
Bourdais, fresh off of a runner-up finish with the Peugeot team in the 24 Hours of LeMans (France), his hometown, arrives at Cleveland on a three-race winning streak.
