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Johnson grabs Indy win after Montoya penalty
Source: Agencies |
July 28, 2009, Tuesday
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JIMMIE Johnson grabbed an improbable third victory at Indianapolis Motor Speedway when a speeding penalty to Juan Pablo Montoya blew Sunday's race wide open.
Montoya led 116 laps and had a 5-second lead when he headed to pit road for a routine stop with 35 laps remaining. NASCAR flagged him for speeding on his way in, and the penalty knocked him out of contention.
"I swear on my children and my wife that I was not speeding!" he shouted over his radio. "There is no way! Thank you NASCAR for screwing my day."
Crew chief Brian Pattie begged his driver to calm down and focus on salvaging a solid points day, to no avail.
"Don't tell me to relax, dude!" Montoya yelled. "We had this in the bag."
Indeed he did, but the 2000 winner of the Indianapolis 500 was relegated to an 11th-place finish. Montoya, who had moved as high as sixth in the Sprint Cup standings as he ran out front, instead lost a spot and is now 10th in the race for the Chase for the championship.
The performance was reminiscent of Montoya's win in the Indy 500, when he led 167 of 200 laps in his first race at the storied track. His team celebrated his return on Sunday with a retro paint scheme that duplicated that winning car, and as he clicked off lap after lap, it was deja vu for the Colombian driver.
"Actually reminded me of last time I led here to be honest," a calm Montoya said after the race. "I was cruise(ing). I was super fast."
Too fast, actually. NASCAR said the electronic timing system caught Montoya twice exceeding the limit as he drove down pit road.
"There's nothing to prove wrong," said Robin Pemberton, vice president of competition. "It's about as simple math as you can use."
Montoya led 116 laps and had a 5-second lead when he headed to pit road for a routine stop with 35 laps remaining. NASCAR flagged him for speeding on his way in, and the penalty knocked him out of contention.
"I swear on my children and my wife that I was not speeding!" he shouted over his radio. "There is no way! Thank you NASCAR for screwing my day."
Crew chief Brian Pattie begged his driver to calm down and focus on salvaging a solid points day, to no avail.
"Don't tell me to relax, dude!" Montoya yelled. "We had this in the bag."
Indeed he did, but the 2000 winner of the Indianapolis 500 was relegated to an 11th-place finish. Montoya, who had moved as high as sixth in the Sprint Cup standings as he ran out front, instead lost a spot and is now 10th in the race for the Chase for the championship.
The performance was reminiscent of Montoya's win in the Indy 500, when he led 167 of 200 laps in his first race at the storied track. His team celebrated his return on Sunday with a retro paint scheme that duplicated that winning car, and as he clicked off lap after lap, it was deja vu for the Colombian driver.
"Actually reminded me of last time I led here to be honest," a calm Montoya said after the race. "I was cruise(ing). I was super fast."
Too fast, actually. NASCAR said the electronic timing system caught Montoya twice exceeding the limit as he drove down pit road.
"There's nothing to prove wrong," said Robin Pemberton, vice president of competition. "It's about as simple math as you can use."
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