Racing on a tricky track and battling wet conditions, Juan Pablo Montoya didn’t have the day that he was hoping for after qualifying third for the Honda Indy Toronto. Rather than being upfront battling for the win, Montoya ended the race in the seventh spot.
Montoya started off the race solid, running inside the top-three during the beginning stages. However, on lap seven, he would go off course in turn three while battling with Scott Dixon. As a result, he fell back outside of the top-five. He fell back further in the running order mid-race through pit strategy in switching from the wet tire compound to the firestone red tire compound, but managed to battle back for a solid finish.
“The PPG Automotive Refinish boys did a great job today despite the changing conditions,” he commented. “We sort of struggled when the track was wet and I made a couple small mistakes on track, but we recovered pretty quickly from those. After that it was a good race and we were really good on black tires from that point on. It was a nice, solid finish that allowed us to keep the points lead going into three straight oval races. I’m excited about that.”
Even though he did not finish in the top-five, his string of success this season with only one finish outside of the top-10 allows him to maintain the points lead, 25 points ahead of Will Power heading into Auto Club Speedway.
