Juan Pablo Montoya

Do you think JPM is underrated?

  • Yes.

    Votes: 13 65.0%

  • No.

    Votes: 7 35.0%
  • Total voters
    20
JJ_14

JJ_14

Go Briscoe!
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Many people call Juan Pablo Montoya a "bust" because he only won two races, both of them at road courses. Some could argue that he was a road course ringer at best.

That said, I was looking at stats and noticed that Montoya finished in the top 10 at pretty much 50% of his races; 255 starts, a whooping 108 top tens. Sure, those don't count as wins but that's impressive. This guy was super consistent.

To put it in perspective, I looked up someone who I thought was in the same tier: Elliot Sadler. Afterall, Sadler won three races. Well, in 448 starts, he had... 69 top tens. I was surprised when I saw this. Sadler had decent equipment his entire career.

I think Juan Pablo made the most out of his stint at the Cup level. Sure, he'll mostly be remembered for his blunder at the '09 Brickyard and of course, hitting the jet dryer at the Daytona 500 a couple years later. Still, I think he is super underrated.
 
I don't think he is underrated, I don't think he is overrated either.
 
He is underrated IMHO as a NASCAR driver, but at the same time I feel as if he and Jaime Mac were going through the rougher times with CGR post 2010 where they had most of their success. I think JPM adjusted to NASCAR very well and was successful to do what he did honestly. He was super consistent as mentioned, especially between 11 and 13 where he was carrying the CGR banner. May not have not been the fastest, but he was a consistent top 15 runner. I would have liked to see him with a different team, but Chip loved JPM and was extremely loyal to him.
 
nascar-cup-watkins-glen-2009-connie-montoya-wife-of-juan-pablo-montoya-earnhardt-ganassi-r.jpg
^ underrated
 
It looked like he was going to win The Brickyard until he messed up with a pit road speeding penalty. The Ganassi teams were second tier during his time there. He ran in a number of premier racing series and did well. I respect drivers who can do that.
 
Some folks said Ganassi equipment held him back, which is a load of BS in my opinion. Ganassi cars haven't always been on the same level as HMS/JGR/Penske, but they have always been capable of winning races when they had a good driver behind the wheel. Sterling Marlin nearly won a championship. Larson has had a lot of success. The only "down years" were due to below average drivers like David Stremme and Reed Sorenson. Hell, Casey Mears put up better numbers with Ganassi than he did with Hendrick.

I don't think Montoya was a bust at all, but I certainly don't think he was underrated either.
 
2 Sweet said:
Some folks said Ganassi equipment held him back, which is a load of BS in my opinion. Ganassi cars haven't always been on the same level as HMS/JGR/Penske, but they have always been capable of winning races when they had a good driver behind the wheel. Sterling Marlin nearly won a championship. Larson has had a lot of success. The only "down years" were due to below average drivers like David Stremme and Reed Sorenson. Hell, Casey Mears put up better numbers with Ganassi than he did with Hendrick.

I don't think Montoya was a bust at all, but I certainly don't think he was underrated either.
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There was a pretty substantial performance increase when they went from ECR to HMS engines though. Even McMurray posted increases across the board in Top 5s, Top 10s, poles, and laps led in both 2013 and 2014. If JPM also had gotten a second year or more with HMS support he probably could've won some more. He was already close enough in their first year with that stuff.
 
FLRacingFan said:
There was a pretty substantial performance increase when they went from ECR to HMS engines though. Even McMurray posted increases across the board in Top 5s, Top 10s, poles, and laps led in both 2013 and 2014. If JPM also had gotten a second year or more with HMS support he probably could've won some more. He was already close enough in their first year with that stuff.
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Ganassi changed some personnel around the same time he signed up for Hendrick support also. Larson really jumped up a couple of notches. No doubt Montoya would have been faster IMO.
 
I'm terrified that if we're talking about JPM years after he departed, can conversations about She Who Shall Not Be Named will still be popping up in 2023 or longer?

With that said, I think he was more successful than most drivers who have come to NASCAR from other forms of racing. Certainly more than Travis Pastrana :D
 
The thing that turned me off for Juan Montoya was the video where he blindly walked into a stationary cameraman and then berated the guy for not watching where Juan, himself was walking. I think he's perpetually grumpy about being 5' 6". I didn't mind seeing him have minimal success in NASCAR. I think he's arrogant.
 
BobbyFord said:
The thing that turned me off for Juan Montoya was the video where he blindly walked into a stationary cameraman and then berated the guy for not watching where Juan, himself was walking. I think he's perpetually grumpy about being 5' 6". I didn't mind seeing him have minimal success in NASCAR. I think he's arrogant.
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See those two guys in your avatar.

One who got punched in the mouth and the other who had roid rage wanting to beat his other teammates head in.:D

Serously though, JPM overtime calmed down and in IndyCar he seemed to calm down a ton. Honestly, a lot of the Latin drivers are hot under the collar. Very fired up and wears their emotions on their sleeves. Also, I agree with the Napoleon syndrome because I'm guilty of it as well getting mad at times...:oops:

Also, his rage at Raikkonen was an absolute classic.lol
 
He's not really underrated. People had high expectations of him when he came into NASCAR, and he sorta delivered. For a man who had made the entirety of his racing career based around open-wheelers, he did not do half-bad in stock car racing.
 
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