Chase rookie Montoya has bull's-eye on his No. 42 (cont'd)

Montoya, whose only career Cup victory in 99 starts came on the Infineon Raceway road course in his 2007 rookie season, is having a career year no matter where he finishes in his first Chase.

He executed a cagey strategy of consistent high finishes through the race to the Chase to qualify, but said he wouldn't throw that strategy out the window now that the 10-race finale is under way, but at the same time he qualified it.

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Most of the cars in the Chase are going to be up there. To gain points on them is going to be really hard. To lose points to them is going to be very easy. I think you've got to be very smart on that aspect, but you've got to go for wins. You've got to go for broke.

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-- JUAN MONTOYA

"I don't think with top-10s you're going to win the championship -- but at the same time, you look at Brian Vickers, he had one win, but apart from one win he was like seventh or eighth or sixth or fifth," Montoya said of fellow Chase rookie Vickers' steady run to qualify. "If you look at that average, it was the best average in the last 10 races. Right now, there's not a clear guy that you can say 'man, this guy is just going to dominate every week.'

"So, I think you've got to be very smart about it. Most of the cars in the Chase are going to be up there. To gain points on them is going to be really hard. To lose points to them is going to be very easy. I think you've got to be very smart on that aspect, but you've got to go for wins. You've got to go for broke."

Montoya's overall improvement was shown when he concentrated on race runs -- making just one qualifying run -- in Friday's practice and still broke the track qualifying record set by Ryan Newman. He wasn't giddy enough to think winning the pole itself gave him any great advantage.

"You know how these races go," Montoya said. "If it was a 10-lap shootout, I'll say, 'hey, we're looking good.' But what is it -- like 300 laps or something? Or 400 laps? I don't even know. It's a bunch of laps."

In Saturday's two practices, neither of which had a major incident, Martin Truex Jr. -- who despite being from New Jersey is much loved here thanks some great career success in a variety of divisions -- showed the greatest potential to challenge for a win.

Truex, who had what appeared to be a potential race-winning car here in June before getting involved in history's first major pileup on a double-file restart, was less than a tenth of a second behind Montoya in each practice.

Besides Truex though, Chase drivers, as Montoya indicated, were dominant with seven of the top 10 in both practices being Chase contenders. Besides Montoya, Mark Martin and Jimmie Johnson were the only ones with two top-five practice runs.

Told that Martin had fingered him as a potential champion, Montoya just laughed.

"And I think it's him," Montoya said. "I honestly believe [the favorite is] Mark Martin right now. Some weeks they've run out of fuel or you know they can beat themselves pretty easy -- but on speed? I would think that's the car to beat.

"I think it's great that he thinks we're a car to watch, and hey, it makes you feel good and I like Mark Martin saying that. But I'm always in the theory of 'let the driving do the talking.'"

Montoya has that chance Sunday and former two-time Cup champion Tony Stewart is another who thinks he's a threat, much more than any other open-wheel crossover driver of recent record.

"I think Juan is the exception to the rule [and] he's done a great job, obviously -- I've said that from day one," Stewart said "It takes people a long time to get used to these cars when you come from open wheel. He's the guy that it doesn't matter what kind of car you throw him in -- he's going to figure it out. But I'm not sure that everybody has the talent level that he has."

And if that's true, now Montoya will also get to test his mental fortitude.

"You have more opportunities to take yourself out of winning a championship than you do ensuring that you win a champion," Montoya said. "I think you have to take it one week at a time. You can lose it very easily on the last race just as easily as you can on the first race.

"If you have a bad week now you can pretty much be sure that you are going to be out of it for the next nine weeks. It's crucial to have 10 good weeks and it starts this weekend. You have got to not worry about the next nine until you get through this one first.

"I think when you get a shot at winning you've got to take the win. Right now, you can't give any points away, so I think that's going to be very important -- but at the same time, you've got to be smart [because] from 10th you're not going to win the race."