Montoya eighth at Phoenix, makes move on top five

AVONDALE, Ariz. -- Juan Montoya had one of the worst cars Sunday he's ever had at Phoenix International Raceway, yet he scored his best career finish on the unique desert mile oval, eighth.

It was Montoya's sixth top-10 in nine Chase races and bodes well for his chances of returning to the top five in the championship as the gaming finish, coupled with Tony Stewart being involved in a mid-race melee and ending up 25th, leaves Montoya only four points behind Stewart, in sixth.

Juan Montoya

Chase Results

Site	Finish	Points
Loudon	3	4
Dover	4	3
Kansas	4	3
Fontana	3	3
Charlotte	35	6
Martinsville	3	5
Talladega	19	4
Texas	37	6
Phoenix	8	6

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Judging by the finish alone, which was eight spots better than his previous best of 16th, in six Phoenix starts, Montoya was asked if his No. 42 Chevrolet was the best ride he'd ever had for Phoenix.

"Oh, no -- this was probably one of my worst ones," Montoya said with a laugh after he parked his car on pit road, then walked directly to the motorcoach lot. "The car, you know, the last couple of weeks we've missed the setup quite a bit."

That resulted in Montoya logging finishes of 19th at Talladega and 37th at Texas, and a two-spot drop in the standings, to sixth. That left Montoya with a seemingly difficult-to-overcome 58 points behind Stewart.

"But it's OK," Montoya said. "We work hard; we bring great race cars and to finish seventh with a horrible car -- that is pretty promising. We just couldn't get the handling where it needed be to make a charge to the front."

A lot of teams struggled at Phoenix, though his Earnhardt Ganassi Racing teammate Martin Truex Jr. won the pole and hung around the top five most of the day, finally finishing fifth in his No. 1 Chevrolet.

"It was just really tight in the center [of the corner]," Montoya said. "And every time I tried to throw it off [the corner] I couldn't touch the gas."

Stewart's crew seemed to struggle with his No. 14 Stewart-Haas Racing Chevy, as he was in the top 10 early, only to fall closer to the top 20 before he got swept up in a melee coming off Turn 4 on Lap 172 when Dale Earnhardt Jr. spun in traffic. The damage nullified any chance Stewart had to move up and put a dour look on crew chief Darian Grubb's face as he left the garage. (Continued)