Juan Pablo Montoya, one of the most decorated drivers in the world with an Indianapolis 500 victory and wins in Formula One, NASCAR and the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, will not have a chance to find success in NASCAR with longtime team owner Chip Ganassi.
The team owner informed Montoya he will not bring the Colombian back for an eighth NASCAR season. Ganassi president Steve Lauletta announced the decision to the team Tuesday, multiple people present for the announcement told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because Ganassi does not comment on driver contracts.
Montoya has been with Ganassi since 2006 when he abruptly left Formula One — where he had seven wins and 30 podiums — for NASCAR. It's his second stint with the car owner — the two teamed together to win the 1999 CART championship and 2000 Indianapolis 500 before Montoya moved to F1.
But results in NASCAR have been sporadic. Montoya has just two wins in 239 career starts and his best season finish was eighth in 2009.
The poor showings led Montoya to rededicate himself this season and turn up his fitness, "I want to (expletive) succeed in this. I'm tired of sucking," he said before the Brickyard 400, in an effort to see if he's been the problem with the No. 42 Chevrolet.
Only there's no clear answer what has been the problem with Montoya, the No. 42 team or the Ganassi organization.
The program has been through several rebuilds since Montoya came aboard, and it was a middle-of-the-road organization when he signed on in 2006. It was Ganassi that was the draw for Montoya: The two had won 11 races together in 1999 and 2000 in CART, including the Indy 500.
Their first NASCAR season was decent and gave the organization a boost with a win on the road course at Sonoma, six top-10s and rookie of the year in 2007. But 2008 was the first sign of trouble as Montoya had two crew chief changes in the first 16 races.