RICHMOND, Va. -- Earnhardt Ganassi Racing team manager Tony Glover perhaps put it best when he scrambled around the front of Juan Montoya's grime-smeared Chevrolet in a madhouse Sprint Cup garage at Richmond International Raceway.

"I feel like we won the damned race," Glover said through a wide grin. "That was good, and I'm proud of you."

“

It was a great night -- the [car] was amazing. We ran top five most of the day. The team did an amazing job. We had a great car.

”

-- JUAN MONTOYA

And so were Montoya's bunch, who came by, one after the other to shake his hand and offer congratulations after he scored his career-best finish of sixth on this fast and demanding .75-mile track.

"I have said it before -- this is a horrible track for me," Montoya said. "To finish where we finished is good for points and we have to keep it up."

Now Montoya didn't hang around long, and neither did many other people who were hell-bent to get their stuff loaded, grab their duffle bags and haul to whatever airport or conveyance they were using to get home for a day off Sunday.

But in the handful of minutes he spent behind his EGR hauler, Montoya reveled in only his fifth top-10 this season, which for the second consecutive weekend vaulted him forward in the standings.

Montoya, who came into Saturday's race 123 points out of the Chase, picked up two spots -- to 18th -- and 19 points on new 12th man Clint Bowyer. Montoya is now 104 points off the critical Chase cutoff spot.

Montoya's misery this season has been well-documented, and with about 20 laps remaining Saturday night it appeared he was in position for more disappointment.

After starting mid-pack in 19th, Montoya worked his way into the top 10 in 60 laps --- where he remained for most of the rest of the 400-lap event. With 15 laps remaining he was fourth, but on a restart things appeared ready to blow.

"The No. 31 [Jeff Burton] had a bad start and I got stuck behind him -- and then I was just too loose on tires," Montoya said. At that point, he had dropped to 11th when the race's sixth and final caution flew.

"We weren't gonna make up any ground, so we decided to put tires on," Montoya said. "And it jumped out of gear a couple times right there at the end, and we lost a little bit of ground -- but it was good. We still finished good."

It was a rebounding moment for Montoya, who hit a low point with five finishes of 26th or worse in a seven-race stretch earlier this season. But for the second consecutive week, Montoya moved forward in the standings -- and as far as he and his team are concerned, that's the most important thing.

Even though Montoya was the only car that finished in the top eight that didn't lead a lap, he was pretty thrilled with the performance of his No. 42 Chevrolet tuned by crew chief Brian Pattie.

Montoya said his finish hinged on Pattie's late-race pit call under the final caution.

"It was just tires," Montoya said. "Tires were huge. But the car was OK [all night] -- we made it a lot better. You know, I think we made all the right calls today on the set-up of the car, during the race -- and that really paid off.

"It was a great night -- the [car] was amazing. We ran top five most of the day. The team did an amazing job. We had a great car."

And Montoya did his part, turning the fastest last lap of the race, 22.72 seconds, or .08 seconds faster than race winner Busch's final, 22.80 effort.

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• Montoya struggling to make finishes match effort