Where's Juan? Sonoma

Michigan was a tough race for Juan Montoya as for the first time this season the No. 42 Dodge failed to finish a race and it resulted in a 43rd-place finish after a blown tire forced him into the wall on Lap 67 of the 200-lap event.

"The right front tire went flat and just hit the hell out of the wall, but that's the way racing goes," Montoya said. "The car was very loose and I hit the wall a couple of laps before and hit the fender, and I saw a little bit of smoke but nothing major.

"The spotter said it looks good, you know, it's just wrinkle but it looks good. Five, six laps later just going into [Turn] 1, the tire went flat and went straight into the wall."

Montoya goes from last-place to a heavy favorite as the Nextel Cup races on a road course for the first time this season.

Earlier this season at the Busch Series race in Mexico City, Montoya won his first ever NASCAR event as he took the checkered at the road course.

Montoya's experience at Sonoma isn't much though. The only time he's driven on the 1.99-mile track was at a three-day school when he was 16.