Montoya leaves Brickyard with nothing left to prove (cont'd)

Montoya processes information at a staggering pace. He won the Indy 500 in his first attempt, after having never even seen the place before May of that year, and performed as smoothly as if he had been driving on it for years. Team members credit the handful of Busch and ARCA events he raced in last year with helping him learn what a stock car feels like, and to identify what changes might make it better. This from a guy who had never competed on an oval until 1999, and had only about 20 career races on circle tracks until he moved to NASCAR last year.

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"I think from where we thought we were going to be, we've got to say we're way ahead," Montoya said. "But from where we want to be, we're still way behind. I think this is a big boost for the team, like the win at Sonoma, and Reed [Sorenson's] win last week in the Busch Series. It really shows what the team can do. But we've just got to look at Hendrick. They show up every week. They're always up there, and the only way to get into the Chase and secondly win the championship is, you've got to be good week in and week out."

That's a level Montoya has yet to reach. Indianapolis was only his fourth top-10 finish in a season full of inconsistencies, and blighted by an early summer stretch where he finished outside of the top 20 eight consecutive times. But Wingo said his Chip Ganassi Racing team is learning how to better free the car at the beginning of the race, which is how the driver likes it. It's not beyond the realm of possibility to think that Montoya can show improvement at other tracks once he becomes as familiar with them as he is Indianapolis. And a seven-time F1 winner who once had a reputation for being difficult to work with is thriving in a pressure-free environment.

"Something that's very nice in the position I'm in right now is, I've managed to achieve a lot of things in life already," he said. "I don't have the pressure of performing to keep a job. A lot of young guys have to do that. Guys like Jeff [Gordon] and myself, when you see a chance to win, you're going to take it and you're going to work hard for it. But you learn to be a lot smarter, and take the chance when you have to. There's no pressure. Working for Chip is really nice, because he's a guy who believes 100 percent in me, and that gives you a lot of confidence."

That shows in the way Montoya interacts with the members of his crew.

"He's definitely a morale-booster," Wingo said. "He keeps everybody pumped up. He thanks everybody for the job they do. He comes around and shakes everybody's hand after practice, after qualifying. He's a tremendous guy. He keeps everybody pumped up, and he demands a lot. That's what you want. You want somebody that demands a lot from a team, to keep pushing the team to do better. That's what we need, and that's what we've got."

And sooner or later, they're going to get a victory on an oval track. In all likelihood, several of them. Sunday, that much was as clear as the brilliant blue sky that hung over Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The opinions expressed are solely of the writer.