ARCA RACE!

[kat2220]

WOW, what a race! Steven Wallace was leaing, and JPM was 2nd, and then HE BIG ONE! Kimmel passed Steven and the race ended up being called for darkness after the officials decided that there wasn't going to be enough time to clean up the track.

'DEGA NEEDS LIGHTS!

Juan Pablo was most impressive (to me) in the way he handled his car, even bump drafting Steven to the lead earlier.

I do believe JPM will do well in '07!

 

[Magnethead]

JPM did a heck of a job saving that car when the 11 and 78 (?) got together. Did you see the air that 11 caught? And that last green lap was a mess...the 32 car was on top of another car for a chunk of the stretch.

 

[kat2220]

TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Juan Pablo Montoya's initiation into stock-car racing wasn't stopped by a bad pit stop, a big crash or an engine problem.

It was stopped by darkness.

Friday's ARCA race at Talladega Superspeedway was called after a big pileup on Lap 79 of the 92-lap event featuring the 31-year-old Colombian attempting to move from Formula One to Nextel Cup.


Juan Pablo Montoya spent more time in the pits than he wanted, but was surprised how he was able to work his way back to the front.

Montoya was running third at the time after starting second, and thought he had a chance to win had there been enough light to finish.

"I was having so much fun I didn't care,'' Montoya said as he crawled out of the car.

Montoya had nowhere to go but down after his first competitive lap in something other than an open-wheel car. He led the first nine laps.

He was running eighth when the right-front side of his car was damaged on a Lap 35 wreck that forced him to pit four times for repairs. He restarted 31st and quickly moved through the field with the help of eventual second-place finisher Steve Wallace, the son of former Cup driver Rusty Wallace.

"That was good [expletive], man,'' Rusty Wallace told Montoya during the post-race interview.

Race winner Frank Kimmel agreed.

"For a rookie, he did OK,'' Kimmel, the seven-time ARCA champion, said. "You knew he was going to run really, really well. It bodes well for the ARCA series that he didn't really, really dominate.''

Chip Ganassi, who signed Montoya in July to replace Casey Mears in the No. 42 Cup car next year, was more than pleased.

"He learned a lot,'' Ganassi said. "I wish they had another restart. That would have been fun. All in all, it was a great day. I'll take that.''


Ganassi was most impressed with the way Montoya maintained his composure after the wreck and fought his way back through the pack, using the bump-draft maneuver necessary in NASCAR to move forward on restrictor-plate tracks.

Montoya had fun over the in-car radio, throwing out a little Southern slang during one of the stops for repairs.

"How long y'all reckon I'll be in the pits?'' he asked.

Had this been an F1 race Montoya would have been either out of the race or so far back after repairs that he would have had no chance to win.

"In Formula One, if you go to the back you stay back,'' he said. "You can be 2 seconds quicker than any other car and you still cannot pass him. It's great to see that whatever happens ... you can still get up front.''

Montoya's next test will come on Monday when he tests Ganassi's Cup Car of Tomorrow at Talladega. He'll test again on Tuesday in Memphis, Tenn., and likely run the ARCA race next weekend in Newton, Iowa.

The ultimate goal is to have him ready for the Daytona 500, the next time he'll be on a superspeedway such as Talladega.

"In a way, it's nice that Chip got me here,'' Montoya said. "It definitely was necessary to come here. You've got to live it and experience it well.''

 

[buckaroo]

One must remember Kat, that many drivers have looked so good in the ARCA races, yet when they are racing in NASCAR, they haven't quite measured up. The list goes on and on and why, I don't know, but there are endless top caliber ARCA drivers who just never made it in NASCAR, Kimmel amoung them.

We shall see how well JPM does against the world's best next year. Those boys seldom like to include rookies, in their drafting.

 

[Bucky Badger]

Good race for ARCA....Crap ass ending. TV coverage was scheduled for 3 hrs and cut it after 2 hrs 19 mins, because of darkness, who ever decided of the time of the race.....well.......should be ...........you know. How convienent for Kimmel

 

[kat2220]

One must remember Kat, that many drivers have looked so good in the ARCA races, yet when they are racing in NASCAR, they haven't quite measured up. The list goes on and on and why, I don't know, but there are endless top caliber ARCA drivers who just never made it in NASCAR, Kimmel amoung them.

We shall see how well JPM does against the world's best next year. Those boys seldom like to include rookies, in their drafting.

But Buckster, what series CAN'T you say that about? Arca, CTS, BUSCH and even CUP racers that had won often in other series, but just don't make it when taking that step up. (Jeff Green and Truex, maybe even Yeley come to mind at this moment).

 

[buckaroo]

But Buckster, what series CAN'T you say that about? Arca, CTS, BUSCH and even CUP racers that had won often in other series, but just don't make it when taking that step up. (Jeff Green and Truex, maybe even Yeley come to mind at this moment).

Exactly what I was talking about. I think what it really shows, at least to me, is that the cars that are fielded in a big ARCA race by a top Cup team will have the ability to, if not dominate, at least be one of the top cars. I don't think there are too many people here who would say that Steven Wallace would do well in a Cup car at this stage of his carreer, but he's raced these cars much more than JPM and he did finish ahead of him in that race.

I know that JPM is one hell of a driver with loads of talent. He still has to learn the ins and outs of NASCAR and admits as much. But the other thing is that the rest of the field hasn't raced against him and so they aren't sure what to expect from him.

 

[TAYLORFAN44]

Anyone know if Justin Allegiar ran at Dega? He is a buddy of mine...