AVONDALE, Ariz. (AP) -- Juan Pablo Montoya will make his Nextel Cup debut next week at Homestead-Miami Speedway if his NASCAR team can work out the logistics.
Car owner Chip Ganassi said Sunday he has submitted an entry for the Cup season finale for Montoya, who has so far driven only three lower-tier Busch Series events.
"We're going to look at it this week and decide," Ganassi said. "Quite frankly, I hope we do it."
Getting the Colombian into the race requires a fourth team, and Ganassi wants to make sure he has the personnel in place.
"The issue is getting him out of the pits in a competitive manner," he said. "We've got to get the rest of the team organized around it. We just don't want to embarrass him or ourselves out there. We want to make sure it's right."
There are other issues to figure out, including the possibility of Montoya replacing Casey Mears in the No. 42 Dodge for next Sunday's race. Mears' car is guaranteed a spot, but the fourth Ganassi entry is not and would have to qualify on speed.
The logical move would be to give Montoya the automatic spot in the race, and put Mears in the No. 30 Dodge because his experience at Homestead makes him a surer bet to get the car in the field.
Mears, who is leaving the Ganassi organization at the end of the season to join Hendrick Motorsports, is opposed to driving the No. 30.
"That would upset me. I'd rather be released," Mears said. "I've been told by Chip that I am running the 42 and nobody has told me otherwise. But if there was a scenario where they were going to put me in a fourth car, then I'd rather be let go."
Ganassi isn't sure what he'll ultimately do.
"A lot of it has to do with how many other cars are entered and who has a better shot at qualifying," Ganassi said. "Obviously, Casey is a great qualifier, but we haven't even broached that subject. I made a commitment to Casey Mears, that he's going to be driving the 42 car and until I talk to him about it, nothing's changing. And it may not change after I talk to him."
Montoya is not convinced he will run the Cup race next week _ even though he ran a car there during last month's open test session.
"I think if everything is right, it's worth doing it," Montoya said. "If things are not right, there's no point to doing it. I don't care. It's just a race."
One school of thought is that Montoya should get his first Cup race out of the way to relieve the pressure he'll be under next year at the season-opening Daytona 500. He's replacing Mears in the No. 42 next season for a full Cup schedule, and the two weeks of preparation before the Daytona 500 can be chaotic.
But Montoya said he wasn't concerned with that. With an Indianapolis 500 victory, a Champ Car title and seven Formula One wins, he doesn't anticipate Daytona being an overwhelming experience.
"They said that Indianapolis would be this huge deal, and yes it was this huge place and there were a lot of people there and on race day it was 'Oh, wow, look at this,' but it really was just another race," he said. "To me, they are all just races. I mean, Monaco (in F1) was a really big deal to me, but you go and you see it and you get over it. So I don't really care where my first Cup race is. I am not too worried about it being a circus."
Montoya has had mixed results through his first three Busch events -- an impressive debut at Memphis, followed by struggles at Texas and a 20th-place finish at Phoenix on Saturday. But his latest effort was particularly frustrating because traffic at the back of the Busch field was often difficult to maneuver.
But he forced himself to stay patient, leading some to wonder if it's time for him to flex some muscle on the track and show his new rivals he won't be pushed around. Ganassi thinks he should do it; Montoya insists it's too early.
"What do I need to do that for?" he said. "I'm not points racing, I'm here to learn and that's what I'm doing."
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
Car owner Chip Ganassi said Sunday he has submitted an entry for the Cup season finale for Montoya, who has so far driven only three lower-tier Busch Series events.
"We're going to look at it this week and decide," Ganassi said. "Quite frankly, I hope we do it."
Getting the Colombian into the race requires a fourth team, and Ganassi wants to make sure he has the personnel in place.
"The issue is getting him out of the pits in a competitive manner," he said. "We've got to get the rest of the team organized around it. We just don't want to embarrass him or ourselves out there. We want to make sure it's right."
There are other issues to figure out, including the possibility of Montoya replacing Casey Mears in the No. 42 Dodge for next Sunday's race. Mears' car is guaranteed a spot, but the fourth Ganassi entry is not and would have to qualify on speed.
The logical move would be to give Montoya the automatic spot in the race, and put Mears in the No. 30 Dodge because his experience at Homestead makes him a surer bet to get the car in the field.
Mears, who is leaving the Ganassi organization at the end of the season to join Hendrick Motorsports, is opposed to driving the No. 30.
"That would upset me. I'd rather be released," Mears said. "I've been told by Chip that I am running the 42 and nobody has told me otherwise. But if there was a scenario where they were going to put me in a fourth car, then I'd rather be let go."
Ganassi isn't sure what he'll ultimately do.
"A lot of it has to do with how many other cars are entered and who has a better shot at qualifying," Ganassi said. "Obviously, Casey is a great qualifier, but we haven't even broached that subject. I made a commitment to Casey Mears, that he's going to be driving the 42 car and until I talk to him about it, nothing's changing. And it may not change after I talk to him."
Montoya is not convinced he will run the Cup race next week _ even though he ran a car there during last month's open test session.
"I think if everything is right, it's worth doing it," Montoya said. "If things are not right, there's no point to doing it. I don't care. It's just a race."
One school of thought is that Montoya should get his first Cup race out of the way to relieve the pressure he'll be under next year at the season-opening Daytona 500. He's replacing Mears in the No. 42 next season for a full Cup schedule, and the two weeks of preparation before the Daytona 500 can be chaotic.
But Montoya said he wasn't concerned with that. With an Indianapolis 500 victory, a Champ Car title and seven Formula One wins, he doesn't anticipate Daytona being an overwhelming experience.
"They said that Indianapolis would be this huge deal, and yes it was this huge place and there were a lot of people there and on race day it was 'Oh, wow, look at this,' but it really was just another race," he said. "To me, they are all just races. I mean, Monaco (in F1) was a really big deal to me, but you go and you see it and you get over it. So I don't really care where my first Cup race is. I am not too worried about it being a circus."
Montoya has had mixed results through his first three Busch events -- an impressive debut at Memphis, followed by struggles at Texas and a 20th-place finish at Phoenix on Saturday. But his latest effort was particularly frustrating because traffic at the back of the Busch field was often difficult to maneuver.
But he forced himself to stay patient, leading some to wonder if it's time for him to flex some muscle on the track and show his new rivals he won't be pushed around. Ganassi thinks he should do it; Montoya insists it's too early.
"What do I need to do that for?" he said. "I'm not points racing, I'm here to learn and that's what I'm doing."
Copyright 2006 Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.