July 26, 2007
By Chuck Wallace

Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart have won at the Brickyard. But to many auto racing enthusiasts, they haven’t really won at Indianapolis, where despite stark contrast between the relative popularity of NASCAR and the IndyCar Series, the Indianapolis 500 remains one of the crown jewels of American auto racing. Only the Daytona 500 can give the Indy 500 a run for its money when it comes to prestige. Nope, only one driver in the field for Sunday’s Brickyard 400 has really won at Indy. He’s a rookie … and he won the Indy 500 in his first and only start.

In May of 2000, Juan Pablo Montoya was defending his wildly successful 1999 campaign where he not only won CART rookie of the year, but took the series championship driving the familiar Chip Ganassi red Target car, left vacant when Alex Zanardi moved to Formula One.

Though still a mainstay of the CART circuit, Ganassi “crossed over” by entering Montoya and teammate Jimmy Vasser for the Indy 500, sparking an intense media event. Many labeled Montoya “too risky” to complete the race, and Al Unser Jr. publicly warned the young Colombian that the track will “bite you hard” if you don’t respect it. Brushing the criticism aside, Montoya dominated the race, leading 167 of 200 laps, and became the first “rookie” competitor to win at Indianapolis since 1966.

That weekend in 2000 was also significant in the timeline that leads to this weekend’s Brickyard 400, as it was when Montoya announced that he planned to join Ralf Schumacher at Williams-BMW in Formula One. Despite a controversial, crash filled rookie campaign in 2001, Montoya captured his first F1 win at Monza.

The talented Colombian raced F1 for five more years and won six more races. He started six races on the F1 course at Indianapolis, but never finished higher than fourth. Of course, we all know what happened next, with Montoya shocking the auto racing world by announcing his commitment to again drive for Chip Ganassi, this time in NASCAR.

So Juan Pablo again finds himself at another prestigious race at Indianapolis. He continues to be labeled “overly aggressive,” but given his history, a Brickyard win shouldn’t really shock anyone. And though Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart, Kevin Harvick, Jimmie Johnson and a handful of others have taken the checkers at the Brickyard, none has captured the track’s marquis event. Stewart tried to win the Indy 500 five times, but never finished better than fifth. Robby Gordon tried 10 times, but fourth was the best he could do.

To date, only two men have ever won the Indy 500, a Formula One race and a NASCAR Cup series race -- the great Mario Andretti and Juan Pablo Montoya. But because Andretti won the Daytona 500, he will remain atop the list of most accomplished drivers ever.

A win at the Brickyard would improve Montoya’s position in history, and his win in his first start at the track in 2000 suggests that he cannot be discounted on Sunday. But even if Montoya fails to impress, he can still walk with pride in the garage area. While he has yet to taste the bricks, he has tasted the milk -— and there’s likely not a driver around who isn’t aware of it.

The thoughts and ideas expressed by this writer or any other writer on Insider Racing News, are not necessarily the views of the staff and/or management of IRN.