Indy success for Montoya? It's an open and shut case

Travel back to another time (the turn of a century, if you will) and another dimension (open wheel) and meet Juan Montoya, a brash 24-year-old who has never been satisfied with the status quo.

In 1999 he was the CART rookie of the year; more to the fact, Montoya also won that series' championship that season, becoming the youngest ever to do so.

In 2000, Montoya and his Chip Ganassi CART team took to the track at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and many IRL veterans predicted trouble for the Colombian whose aggressive driving style was in full repute. Montoya shrugged off the criticism and in his very first attempt won the Indianapolis 500. He set a race rookie record by leading 167 of the 200 laps.

In 2007, Montoya and his Chip Ganassi NASCAR team will attempt to win the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard (1 p.m. ET Sunday, ESPN) in his first stock-car race at Indy. A victory would make Montoya the first driver to win both the Indianapolis 500 and the Brickyard 400.

Regardless, Montoya will make history by becoming the first driver to race in all three major events at Indianapolis. He made six starts in the United States Grand Prix.

Montoya isn't the only driver with open-wheel ties to NASCAR. Tony Stewart is a former IRL champion who has won two Cup titles. Other drivers include Ryan Newman, Kasey Kahne, A.J. Allmendinger and Robby Gordon, who has three top-five and five top-10 finishes in the Indy 500. Even four-time Cup champion Jeff Gordon has an open-wheel background.

"Jeff Gordon was probably the biggest influence [in this trend]" Stewart said. "He had a lot of success in USAC -- won a lot of races. He wasn't just handed an opportunity in NASCAR. He earned his way. When he got the opportunity to go to NASCAR, he opened up a lot of opportunities for drivers like myself. ...

"When Jeff had his success [in NASCAR], it boosted everybody's spirits and helped show everyone in USAC that it was a reality and that if they had the same kind of results that Jeff had on the track, then it could happen to them too."

Gordon is a four-time winner at the Brickyard; Stewart, whose best finish in the Indianapolis 500 was fifth in 1997, finally kissed the bricks in 2005.

"Growing up in Indiana and every year watching the Indy 500 and the whole month of May leading up to it, a race at the Brickyard is more than just a regular points race," said Stewart, who hails from Columbus, Ind. "It's always been a big race to all of the Cup drivers, but then when you grow up in Indiana, it just makes it that much more important."

Gordon's four wins at Indianapolis tie him with A.J. Foyt, Rick Mears and Al Unser for second-most at the track. Retired Formula One star Michael Schumacher won on the track's road course five times.

"I witnessed Schumacher's fifth win and knew the comparisons would begin. But I don't even compare what we've done in a stock car to what Mears, Unser and Foyt did. Those guys are legends here," Gordon said. "I have four wins here -- four of the most amazing wins of my career. Any time you win at Indy, whether it's your first win or your fourth, is incredible."

Montoya actually got a feel for the stock car at Indianapolis in 2002 when he and Gordon traded rides during a publicity event, with Gordon taking the wheel of Montoya's F1 car. But since it's been seven years since Montoya made a start there in an Indy car, Stewart describes the differences.

"In an Indy car you just don't lift -- if the car's right. But in a stock car, even if it's right, you've got to lift and you've got to brake for at least two of the corners. With the other two corners, you just lift, basically," Stewart said.

"It's a challenging track in a Cup car. It's a challenging track in an Indy car, too, but if you can get it right in an Indy car then you can run it wide-open around there, and that's one less variable you've got to worry about when it comes to getting around the racetrack."