Oh, man. That was sad. Bad luck, that's not the way to win. Montoya's car was the best in that race. I was at the edge of my seat: in 20 laps he went from 22 to 1st. He even made an extra-stop and everything. As we say here: "he gave them soup, main course and dessert".
I guess he couldn't avoid it. He really braked hard and took the grass afterwards. How the crash did not involve the entire field, beats me. I also don't understand what Pruett thought he was doing. My wife, no fan of NASCAR said: "I only saw that yellow car crossing him. What was Montoya supposed to do? Dissapear? I don't know about racing, tell me what was he supposed to do...". Montoya braked hard and crossed hard, I thought. "But that's not what american fans are going to say" was my answer to her. He could have lost the car easily. I still wonder what was Pruett doing, but...
I was really happy up to that moment. After that, well, I don't know. I had to go outside my house and take a look at the sky, before coming back inside to look at the perfunctory end. Besides, if there is a guy that didn't deserve it, was Pruett, his teammate in Daytona. It would have been nice a 1-2 for Ganassi, after so many years of being a mediocre team: this shows me, this reaffirms me in my opinion that NASCAR still have a place for romantic, gifted individuals and that not everything is lost against "the technical machinery". I want also to believe that Juan played a part in the mechanical revival of the team, but I'm not sure about that.
However, Juan showed he is, in my humble and biased opinion, the most complete driver I've seen. This guy can win a soap box race or a trailer race.
It is the first victory of a Latin American in NASCAR, btw. Well, if JPM proved he is a wide range driver, I only wish some better luck for him next time: if there is something worse than losing when you deserve to win, is winning without being noble and deserving victory.
As our national soccer team once said: "to lose is to win a little". I guess you could say it in reverse for this race: "to win is to lose a little"...
He MUST compensate Pruett somehow. Scott was incensed, let me tell you he is not going to be at victory party! I know Juan can do something extraordinary for Scott to forgive him: he is also a noble guy, even if too eager sometimes. That's what has killed many opportunities for him.
Anyway, nobody could take the smile out of me today: no one can say Mr. Montoya doesn't learn as fast as anyone and I know many countries have invested tons of money trying to breed someone like him. We're lucky to have this kind of racer in this country.
I'm waiting for his next move: I hope is one out of generosity toward his teammate and I'm sure Juan Pablo is not going to be as lame as to give Pruett his trophy, or to allow him to win next race (while everybody notices it) as other drivers have done...
Of course, knowing him, I'll bet he is going to do something catastrophic with astonishing frequency: I really don't care. I love his style even if I am unable to decipher how he does it. I only pray for him not to kill himself; the rest, I don't care.
Final comment: I'm not sure about this, I haven't followed NASCAR closely for over a decade, but no driver has ever received that kind of publicity in so little time, except maybe Jeff Gordon and his amazing entrance to NASCAR world. He needs to diminish somehow the envy this can cause: some americans are not precisely the humblest people in the world, if you know what I mean. You have, sometimes, to handle them with tweezers, specially those few that believe that USA is a gift from God to humanity. Not all, (heck, almost no one) are like that, but the few that believe it are a pain in the kidneys.
One of the best looking in the world IMO.
