JOLIET, Ill. -- It was three years ago when Juan Montoya traveled to Chicagoland Speedway to make the announcement that he was coming to drive in NASCAR's Cup Series.

“

For us right now, my focus is not who is going to be my teammate or whatever. My focus is making the Chase and making sure this team runs good.

”

-- JUAN MONTOYA

"Time really flies. It's actually surprising to me that three years ago I flew up here and did the press conference, and it was the first time I really looked at the cars and everything," Montoya said Thursday before qualifying for this Saturday's LifeLock.com 400 race at the track.

Time isn't the only thing flying in Montoya's world these days. He's been flying around tracks at a pretty good pace, which has him 11th in points with only eight races left before the Chase. The top 12 drivers will compete for the points championship the final 10 races of the season.

So why was Montoya a little on the defensive Thursday at the Chicagoland media center? Because he had to answer questions about why his Earnhardt Ganassi Racing teammate, Martin Truex Jr., made the decision to leave EGR at the end of this season. Truex announced Tuesday that he will be driving next season for Michael Waltrip Racing instead.

In making the announcement, Truex said he made the decision to switch teams because there appears to be fewer questions about the Toyota-backed operation at MWR than there are at Chevrolet-backed EGR. The perception left lingering from that explanation of Truex's departure is that, despite Montoya's significant on-track improvements this season, EGR's future is cloudy at best and shaky at worst.

Montoya and Steve Lauletta, president of EGR, insist that perception couldn't be further from the truth.

Asked how he felt about Truex departing the team, Montoya shrugged his shoulders and replied: "Good for him. If he wanted to go and he thinks he's got more stability at Waltrip's, you know, good for him.

"Ourselves as a team, we have got to look for the good things and the bad things. I think he has too many questions [about EGR] and tough luck. Hopefully he runs better there than he is here. For us right now, my focus is not who is going to be my teammate or whatever. My focus is making the Chase and making sure this team runs good." (Continued)