Ganassi putting stock in Montoya
HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Brad Parrott remembers the first time Juan Pablo Montoya had to qualify a stock car. Parrott, crew chief of Montoya's Busch car, said the former Indianapolis 500 winner told him he'd never been so nervous before taking the track.
"I said, 'Why is a championship driver of your caliber so nervous,' " recalled Parrott yesterday at Homestead-Miami Speedway. "He said, 'It's because I want to do so well.' When you know you got the name and you got the talent and you got everybody watching you, you want to make sure that you do good. You don't want to stumble."
Montoya didn't stumble yesterday in his first attempt to qualify for a NASCAR Nextel Cup race. The former Formula One driver, who had just three races worth of experience in a stock car, all on the Busch Series, will run with the big boys tomorrow after qualifying 29th for the Ford 400, turning a lap of 175.581 miles per hour in the Chip Ganassi-owned No. 30 Texaco/Havoline Dodge.
The original plan called for Montoya, who spent the last five-plus seasons in Formula One, to drive Casey Mears's car tomorrow, which was already in the field on points. Montoya is taking Mears's ride next season in the No. 42 Texaco/Havoline Dodge. But Ganassi opted for a change.
"I wanted him to go through the cycle for next year," said the car owner.
That put added pressure on the 31-year-old Montoya, who will be racing near his adopted hometown of Miami. Every move of the Colombian-born driver was scrutinized yesterday as he pulled double duty, shuttling between his Busch car, which he will attempt to qualify today, and his Nextel Cup ride.
"I finished the Cup practice and I didn't think I was going to make the show," said Montoya, who qualified on the second lap of a two-lap run. "I knew I had to step it up a little bit. It was a good lap, but the car was really tight. It was cool making the race. It will give me more experience."
And the respect of fellow drivers.
"It's all about earning respect and Chip wanted to make sure we did it on respect," said Parrott. " The whole point of him racing this race is to get more experience. It wasn't to come to Miami and race."
Montoya has a history of being a quick study. In 1999, he won the CART Series championship as a rookie, becoming the youngest driver to capture a championship in the open-wheel series. But as they say in NASCAR country, stock car racing is a whole different deal, and Montoya had to learn that the hard way.
In three Busch races he's finished 11th, 28th, and 20th. Parrott said Montoya is still learning his way around stock cars, but said Montoya's Busch results are not an indictment of his ability to make the switch to NASCAR.
Parrott said with better track position, Montoya could have recorded a top-five finish at the Sam's Town 250 in Memphis, Montoya's inaugural Busch race.
"The challenge for me is to give him better racecars because I know he's a champion driver," said Parrott. "The whole team has done a great job. It's just we have to make our racecars better to fit his needs. Yeah, he has a long way to go still, but if we give him better racecars, he's going to run better, just like any driver."
Open-wheel stars have had mixed results in making the transition to stock car racing's premier series. Tony Stewart, a former Indy Racing League champion, was successful almost immediately on the stock car circuit and is a two-time series champion. Robby Gordon, who drove in the CART Series for A.J. Foyt before committing full time to NASCAR, has had a solid career but never became the superstar in NASCAR many predicted.
However, while Montoya's name bears the burden of high expectations, it's also allowed him to avoid the obstacle-strewn road that most drivers must take to a full-time Nextel Cup ride. "The name is already there and now we have to put the racecar around the name," said Parrott.
Montoya is not even going to put in a full season on the Busch Series. Next year, he'll do the Nextel-Busch double, but won't run a full Busch slate.
"I think Juan is just going to be good for our sport," said Nextel Cup points leader Jimmie Johnson. "He has a huge learning curve ahead of him to learn these vehicles, but it won't take him long. He'll be just fine."
Johnson won't have to worry about Montoya tomorrow. The Nextel Cup neophyte said he's just going along for the ride.
"I don't want to get in anybody's way, not only the guys going for the Chase but there's a lot of points out there for people that want to stay in the top 25, and I just want to have a good race," said Montoya. " We're here to learn and get all the laps in. Next year will be a different deal."
Christopher L. Gasper can be reached at cgasper@globe.com. 
