Notebook: One step at a time, Montoya says

RICHMOND, Va. - Juan Pablo Montoya finished second in Talladega's Aaron's 499, and all of a sudden, everyone's talking championship.

            The runner-up finish to Kyle Busch was Montoya's only top 10 of the year to date, but it was enough to put him, at least for now, a contender to make the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Asked if he considered himself a legitimate championship contender, Montoya replied, "Somebody would be dreaming if somebody tells me that. I think, as a company, we're getting better. I think we need a little bit more time."

Evaluating his own performance in stock cars, Montoya said, "I think I'm pretty good. I've still got to learn a little bit ... understand what the car needs, but that's part of the whole experience.

"I think the racing part, I'm pretty good at. I think it's more of, ‘Do I need a track-bar (adjustment)? Do I want to pull rubber out? Is it the wedge? Is it the track bar on the left or right?' It's all kinds of things. When the car is really good, then it's very easy to adjust like that because you all want to pick ‘here.' When the car is bad, it's very hard to decide which is the worst pick."

            Gaining experience is endlessly frustrating.

"It drives all of us nuts," said Montoya. "We all want to do really well in NASCAR. Chip (Ganassi, the team owner) is a guy who has won pretty much everything. He's won here (in NASCAR) before, but we're not going to win overnight. It's all about a process."

If a track could be moved ...

            Some of NASCAR's beloved tracks aren't around anymore, which is sort of pertinent since Rockingham Speedway is hosting an ARCA race today.

"I always have said you've got to keep up with the times," said Jeff Gordon. "Unfortunately, what I've seen happen is that we've looked more at the market that the tracks are in instead of just the race tracks, and as the growth and changes have come along, that's why some of the tracks like Rockingham have gone away. Sometimes you wish you could pick those tracks up and put them in the market that is good for the sport.

"It's hard to re-create some of these great race tracks, especially with the history that's there, and you don't want that to go away."

Bah, humbug

            Given the tire problems this year at intermediate tracks, one would think most drivers would look forward to the tests scheduled for Monday and Tuesday at Lowe's Motor Speedway.

            In Clint Bowyer's case, one would be wrong.   

"My personal opinion is it's kind of a wasted test, waste of money," he said. "I think we could have gotten along fine without it. With this car, you're just so limited to big things, big changes.  It's just not that big change you're going to make, and make or break your car as far as speed is concerned. It's all about fine-tuning and finding the little things and ‘massaging' what you have."

Only one

            The length of races has been a hot topic here. Many drivers wish Sprint Cup races were no longer than those in the Nationwide Series.

            Jimmie Johnson didn't want to go that far, perhaps in part because the longest race, the Coca-Cola 600, is at Lowe's Motor Speedway and Lowe's is Johnson's primary sponsor.

            He did, however, single out one track.

"In the car it goes by so fast that's it's tough for me to think that much needs to change except for Pocono. Pocono feels like it's a 2,000-mile race," said Johnson. "Then, talking to friends who are there four or five hours watching the cars run, from the outside perspective, I think they could be shortened up in some respects.

"Inside the car, though, it's amazing how fast 500 miles goes. It's gone before you know it."

Conscientious objector

            Texas Motor Speedway president Eddie Gossage is an inveterate - some would say shameless - promoter. Recently he offered Dale Earnhardt Jr. $100,000 to run at his track in the Indy Racing League.

            Gossage undoubtedly knew it wasn't going to happen.

"He thinks I'm a cheap date, I guess," said Earnhardt. "I wouldn't be able to do it; my conscience wouldn't let me. If they offered me more money, my conscience wouldn't let me feel comfortable with doing it.

"If I had the opportunity -- if I was there testing my (stock) car and somebody had their (Indy) car there, I'd like to jump in it and run a couple of laps, but that would be the extent of the adventure."

Catch a draft

            Montoya, who ought to know, said he thought Earnhardt Jr. could do just fine in Indy cars.

"I think, in an Indy car, he'd do pretty well," said Montoya, "because in the Indy car now, you ride wide-open everywhere. It's like Talladega everywhere, and he's pretty good at drafting."

            You can reach Monte Dutton at mdutton@gastongazette.com.