Montoya will have to work way through field at AMS

HAMPTON, Ga. -- For Juan Montoya, the next two Cup Series races are about two things: being smart and avoiding trouble. In the first instance, that's something he can control. But it's the second case that worries him the most.

After scoring a solid top-10 finish at Watkins Glen, Montoya was seventh in the standings, 154 points ahead of Kyle Busch and 192 in front of Brian Vickers. But flat tires at Michigan and Bristol led to finishes of 19th and 25th -- and heading into Sunday night's Pep Boys 500 at Atlanta Motor Speedway, Montoya is now ninth, leaving both Busch and Vickers, not to mention Mark Martin, Kasey Kahne and Matt Kenseth, within striking distance.

"To be honest, right now, where we are right now is OK," Montoya said Saturday before qualifying. "We can't change that we had two flat tires the last two races and it cost us a lot in the race results. It is part of racing. We do everything we can and we still do. Coming here, we think we have a good car. We have to make it to the end and get a good finish and see what happens."

Montoya certainly knows the quick way around Atlanta. He finished fifth in his first visit to the 1.54-mile quad-oval as a rookie in 2007. However, that success has been somewhat short-lived, at least when it comes to finishing position. Since then, his best finish was 16th -- and despite starting fourth in March, Montoya battled an ill-handing car to wind up 27th, five laps down to eventual winner Kurt Busch. (Continued)