Montoya opens door for Hispanics

LOUDON, N.H. -- When Juan Pablo Montoya won last weekend's Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, Calif., it was a victory celebrated not only in Montoya's native Bogota, Colombia, but all throughout Latin America.

After Montoya, driver of the No. 42 Dodge, became the first Hispanic to win a NASCAR Nextel Cup Series event, the exuberant gritos -- or shouts -- could be heard from the Latin Quarter of the NASCAR Busch East Series garage, where three Mexican-born drivers (Rogelio Lopez of Aguascalientes, German Quiroga Jr. and Ruben Pardo of Mexico City) and one Mexican-American (Jesus Hernandez of Fresno, Calif.) were listed among the competitors in NASCAR's most diverse series.

And don't think they didn't take note of -- or pride in -- Montoya's triumph.

"Yeah, oh, yeah," said Hernandez, who finished 23d in yesterday's New England 125 Busch East Series race at New Hampshire International Speedway. "We were watching the race and kind of waiting to see what was going to happen, because he had to pit there at the end, or at least they were talking like he was going to run out of fuel.

"When he brought home that victory, it was good to see, just because any time you see something like that, your heritage comes out and you've got to honor that."

Yesterday, when NHIS hosted more Spanish-speaking NASCAR drivers than it ever has, Montoya was the talk of the track among Hispanic drivers in the Busch East garage.

"I think that's going to open the doors for us," said Lopez, who raced in Mexico against Quiroga and Pardo (an eighth-place finisher yesterday) and idolized his father, Rogelio Sr., a three-time champion of the Mexican GT Series. "Juan Pablo's a great driver. He's doing an excellent job and he's going to open the door for us, for the guys who are coming from Mexico and from everywhere in Latin America."

Said Montoya, who qualified fifth for tomorrow's Lenox Industrial Tools 300, "I think for the whole Latin community it was a big deal. They think it's a big deal. People in Latin America, before they were only thinking about Formula One, because NASCAR was viewed as an All-American sport."

Montoya dramatically altered that perception, though, when he defected from Formula One to go NASCAR racing with Chip Ganassi, the car owner with whom Montoya won a CART championship and the 2000 Indianapolis 500.

"It's going to help us out," said Quiroga, who raced the open-wheel circuits of Formula Renault, Barber-Dodge, and the Indy Racing League's Infiniti Pro Series before gravitating to stock car series in Mexico and, eventually, NASCAR's Busch East Series, commuting from his home in Mexico City.

"Our goal is to get to Cup, you know?" said Quiroga, who ranks second in the NASCAR Mexico Series behind Rafael Martinez. "Our goal next year is to do well. This year, it's to get to know the cars and the people."

Growing up, Quiroga raced in the Neon Series, where he was a champion who developed a reputation as an aggressive driver. Yesterday, he finished 33d after he was involved in a three-car wreck with 22 laps left. "In Mexico, they called me the In-teem-me-dator," Quiroga said, referring to the nickname of his favorite driver, the late Dale Earnhardt.

"That's news to me," said Lopez, who finished in last place (43d) after he escaped unharmed from his burning car after completing 15 laps. "That's really a big nickname. That's Earnhardt's nickname. I know a bunch of guys in Mexico who really deserve that nickname, so I guess German is right with them."

Quiroga, Lopez, and Pardo had the distinct honor of racing against Montoya in Mexico City, where he recorded his first career NASCAR win in a Busch Series event at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez March 4. Quiroga even led eight laps before getting passed by Montoya on Lap 25.

Hernandez, though, would have loved the honor.

"Oh, yeah, that would have been cool in itself," he said. "But him coming here to NASCAR, that's huge, obviously, because he stands out and he's an accomplished driver. By him coming into the sport and being able to basically earn some of that respect, even though he had some to start with, and starting fresh in a new series and being who he is and what he is, I'd say he definitely has to make a difference."

The Hendrick Motorsports team attempted to present a united front yesterday in the aftermath of the severe sanctions NASCAR took against Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson's teams following Car of Tomorrow rules violations last weekend.

Gordon and Johnson were each docked 100 driver points and their crew chiefs -- Steve Letarte (Gordon) and Chad Knaus (Johnson) -- were fined $100,000 apiece, suspended for six races, and placed on probation until Dec. 31. Yesterday, Doug Duchardt, Hendrick Motorsports vice president of development, said that while the team felt NASCAR's penalties were "too severe," it chose not to pursue an appeal. "We just felt like rather than prolong it, prolong the discussion around this, we'd just put it behind us, focus on moving forward and get the suspension over with as soon as we could so we could focus on the Chase."

Letarte and Knaus will miss six of the 10 races leading up to the Chase for the Nextel Cup Championship. They will be replaced on an interim basis, respectively, by Jeff Meendering and Ron Malec, who will also continue his over-the-wall duties as a member of Johnson's pit crew.

"We're clear now that there is no gray area," said Gordon, who qualified eighth fastest (128.350), with Johnson qualifying 10th fastest (128.316), for tomorrow's race. "But prior to last week, I think that, I shouldn't include every crew chief, but I know it was not as clear as what I think NASCAR thought that it was, that we weren't allowed to work in any way, shape, or form in between templates.

"I know how Steve and Chad and our race teams work. We work hard to try to make our cars improve every time we build a new car, every time we go to the racetrack," Gordon added, "and if they had thought that this was going to be the penalty by working in between two templates, I promise this would have never occurred because they never dreamed in a million years that this was what was going to happen."

The 100-point hit Gordon sustained drew Denny Hamlin, second in the points, within 171 of the lead. But the second-year driver of the No. 11 Chevrolet didn't seem to think it would make a dent in Gordon's lead. "For guys running the top three, they can afford to take the risk that they are and still be OK [for the Chase]," Hamlin said. "Even if NASCAR takes 300 points, they are still in the Chase and they still have got the wins and the bonus points. They are still going to be ranked first. So, really, as severe as it sounds, it is probably not as bad as everyone thinks." Hamlin said a harsher penalty would be the deduction of bonus points at the start of the Chase, where each driver among the 12 qualifiers is awarded 10 bonus points for each victory in the first 26 races of the season. Gordon and Johnson, with four wins apiece at the midway point, will be eligible for at least 40 bonus points each. "That would be pretty big," Hamlin said. "Honestly, from my perspective, for the other 10 guys who are going to be in that Chase, we would much rather see 10 bonus points taken away than we would the 100 real points." . . . Hamlin seemed relieved this was a weekend where both Busch Series and Nextel Cup races will be held at the same track. Last week, Hamlin had to go from Sonoma to Milwaukee, then helicopter to the track, where the helipad was blocked by cars that had parked on the flat top. Hamlin required the relief services of development driver Aric Almirola, who qualified on the pole in Hamlin's stead and started the race in his absence. Hamlin, whose helicopter was diverted back to the airport, finally arrived at the Milwaukee Mile via police escort and jumped in the car midrace, a move that angered Almirola. "I was put into a situation where I was told to get into the racecar and that is what my job is to do," said Hamlin, who relieved Almirola on Lap 58 of the 250-lap race and went on to win a race that was credited to Almirola. "We were in a situation where, yeah, it is the end of Rockwell's contract [as a Busch Series sponsor], so it is time. We were really trying to do good for them, especially in their hometown. We needed a win. It was a win-or-nothing type race and they felt like they did what they had to do to get that done."

Michael Vega can be reached at vega@globe.com