Montoya wants to win, but will 'Chase race' at Sonoma

SONOMA, Calif. -- Was this really Juan Montoya?

The guy in the sunglasses with the hip Colombian accent and smooth delivery sure looked and sounded like the Sprint Cup driver. And on the track during Saturday's Happy Hour, the final practice for this Sunday's Toyota/SaveMart 350 at Infineon Raceway, he sure drove like Montoya usually does at a road course -- posting the fourth-fastest lap of 43 competitors at 92.307 mph.

But something seemed amiss. This fella was talking about "Chase racing."

As unlikely as that might have seemed a couple of years ago -- maybe even a couple of minutes ago -- that is indeed what is foremost on Montoya's mind as he heads into Sunday's event at the road course where he claimed his only career Sprint Cup victory two years ago.

Asked if this was the place where his team stood poised to possibly gain significant ground in the point standings, Montoya cut off his questioner.

"Or lose a lot," Montoya corrected. "That's why you've got to be very smart and while you're trying to take a victory, don't screw yourself in the championship."

Asked then if that meant he would be satisfied with a good points day, Montoya was quick to answer again.

"I will Chase race, yes," he said, arching an eyebrow and chuckling just a little. "Surprising, isn't it?"

That Montoya enters this race in Chase-race mode is a sign in itself of the improvement he and his No. 42 Chevrolet team have displayed in this, his third full-time Cup season. This is the 16th race in a stretch of 26 that make up the regular-season portion of schedule and sets the 12-driver field for the Chase -- and Montoya currently sits in 14th in the standings, just 43 points out of 12th.

Whenever NASCAR ventures to a road course and Montoya is in the field, he's bound to be one of the favorites to win the race because of his extensive road-course experience as a former Formula One and IndyCar driver. In addition to winning at Infineon two years ago on the Cup side, he also earned his first NASCAR win in what is now the Nationwide Series in Mexico earlier that same year.

And don't get Montoya wrong. He would love to win Sunday.

He said he's just going to be careful about how he tries to go about it, lest he take a big hit in the point standings.

"I'm gonna run hard. It's just avoiding stupid mistakes, avoiding the stupid wrecks," Montoya said. "Going down the stretch late in this race, there are always people taken out. I was a victim of that last year. And if you can avoid that somehow, then you have to. (Continued)