CART: Failed air jack knocks Montoya off podium, from win contention
11 September 2000
Posted By Terry
Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel
- Juan Montoya was on pace for a late race duel with eventual winner Helio
Castroneves before an air jack failed on his last pit stop dropping him
from
second to eighth on his way to a sixth-place finish. For Montoya, it's
the
ninth time this season that some form of misfortune - either bad luck or
mechanical has knocked him from contention for a win while running in the
top
three. In those nine races, he's suffered from: engine failure (Miami),
gearbox failure (Rio and Road America), pit incidents (Motegi and
Monterey),
running over debris (Nazareth), broken CV joint (Detroit), fuel leak
(Chicago) and fuel pump (Vancouver).- The sixth-place finish for Montoya was his sixth top-10 finish of the season.
- Jimmy Vasser finished eighth today, marking his third consecutive top-10 finish and his 11th of the season.
- Despite his third straight top-10 finish, Vasser dropped to ninth-place overall in the points race, one spot ahead of Cristiano da Matta. With the sixth-place finish, Juan Montoya moved up to 11th.
Quotes:
Jim Aust, Toyota vice president of motorsports: "Another opportunity lost. The amazing thing about the series this year is that Juan is still only 47 points out of first despite all of his troubles."
Manufacturer's Championship: Honda 269; Ford 268; Toyota 216; Mercedes-Benz 63
Text provided by John Procida
Editors Note: To view hundreds of hot racing photos
and art, visit
The Racing
Photo Museum and the
Visions
of Speed Art Gallery.