Where's Juan? Bristol

There's nothing like Bristol Motor Speedway in Juan Montoya's native Colombia, but that doesn't mean that Montoya doesn't like the place.

Last year, in the August race, Montoya put the No. 42 Dodge on the outside of the front row and eventually finished 17th. In two previous Cup starts at the .533-mile banked oval, Montoya has completed all but three regulation laps, and he was on the lead lap at the finish of the August race.

Juan Montoya

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That's not even his best finish at BMS, however. Montoya was 14th in his lone Nationwide Series start there last year.

"This is a nice disappointment," Montoya said after qualifying second last year. "Some days you are disappointed when you qualify 35th and now I'm disappointed because I'm second."

Montoya liked the new configuration of the Bristol track, which cut down some of the banking and made it a little wider.

"I'm running way high and it worked," he said. "In race trim I tried the bottom and high and you can run everywhere. Before, if you weren't in the bottom, you stunk. I think it changed a little bit the way you get into the corner. Where the bank starts is a lot nicer for racing."

Montoya said the physical nature of the track didn't faze him much.

"When it was at like Lap 130, I thought, 'man, it's going to be a long night,' and then the next time I looked it was 370 already. It was good. It's easy when you run up front. When you start getting behind it's a nightmare."

Montoya will do his best not to get behind on Friday in qualifying and continue to move up in the points from 23rd, where he is after finishing 16th at Atlanta.

About last week

• Montoya drove his No. 42 Dodge to a 16th-place finish at Atlanta Motor Speedway. Montoya struggled to find grip out of the corners all day, but crew chief Donnie Wingo and the team adjusted on the Dodge and Montoya rallied to finish in the top 20.

• Points: Montoya gained another spot in the standings after Atlanta. He currently stands 23rd, tied with teammate Reed Sorenson who is listed in 22nd. Montoya and the team are just 79 points out of 12th, the cutoff for the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

About this week

• Back in black: Montoya's No. 42 Dodge Charger will again sport the red and black colors of Texaco/Havoline this weekend for the Food City 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway.

• Chassis: Wingo and the 42 team are bringing chassis 634 this weekend to Bristol. This chassis is one of the oldest COT chassis in the Ganassi/Sabates stable. Originally built in 2006, the car has never been raced but has been rebuilt with the new body specs and updates.

Radio and blogs

• Listen to Sirius Satellite Radio every Monday on Channel 128 for the Juan Pablo Montoya Report. Montoya will provide exclusive updates on the No. 42 team, give post-race downloads and share his thoughts on the events of the season. He also chats with hosts David Poole and Mike Bagley on The Morning Drive at 8:30 ET every Tuesday.

• Montoya's spotter, Tab Boyd, is once again providing fans with his view on the race from atop the spotter's stand with an in-depth post-race blog. Boyd recaps the race weekend from his point of view on www.texacohavoline42.com.

Formula Smiles

• Montoya and his wife, Connie, hosted NASCAR chairman and CEO Brian France, NASCAR CFO Todd Wilson, driver and founder of the Victory Junction Gang Camp, Kyle Petty, team owners Chip Ganassi and Felix Sabates, and Sandy Marshall from the NASCAR Foundation in their home country of Colombia on Monday and Tuesday. The group toured the historic city of Cartagena on Monday evening before visiting one of the sites built by the Montoyas' foundation, Formula Smiles.

• Formula Smiles is a non-profit organization that utilizes sports to improve the quality of life of Colombian children. The foundation provides the necessary equipment and teachers to enable under-privileged kids to engage in athletics in an academic and recreational manner. At the site on Tuesday, the children performed a native-Colombian dance for the guests of honor, and paraded through the grounds in their Formula Smiles uniforms. France then presented Formula Smiles with a $25,000 donation from the NASCAR Foundation.