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JOLIET, Ill. -- Casey Mears experienced a wide range of emotions over the past two days at Chicagoland Speedway, getting his first NASCAR victory in Saturday's Busch Series race and finishing 25th in Sunday's Nextel Cup event after crashing twice in the final 32 laps.

He's sure Juan Pablo Montoya, who will replace him in the No. 42 car at Chip Ganassi Racing next season, will run a gamut of emotions as he attempts to move from Formula One to Nextel Cup.

"He's going to have a big learning curve coming over to stock cars, but it's not like he doesn't have talent," Mears said of Montoya, the 1999 CART champion and 2000 Indianapolis 500 winner.

"It's totally different. Nothing's the same, but he's going to have time. He's got a long-term deal with Chip. Chip's committed to him and he's committed to Chip. If they stick it out for a couple of years and get through the first two, I'm sure he'll be fine."

But Mears is offended by recent comments that Montoya will take over a "dead" race team because of his so-called lame-duck status before moving to Hendrick Motorsports in 2007.

Mears reminded he's had two top-10 finishes -- seventh at Michigan and Daytona -- in the four races since it was announced he would replace Brian Vickers next season.

He was running between 12th and 14th on Sunday before a wreck involving Ryan Newman.

"Everybody keeps saying [we're a dead team], but nobody has a clue what's going on inside of our team right now," Mears said. "It's nothing like that. There isn't even a hint of people backing down. There's no sore attitudes. Nothing has changed at all.

"Everybody is upbeat and trying to get in the Chase. For people to be saying that we're dead, they're pulling stuff out of thin air."

Mears is 15th in points, more than 200 points behind race winner Jeff Gordon who moved into the 10th and final spot that guarantees a place in the Chase for the Nextel Cup.

He said Montoya will inherit a team capable of competing for the Chase if he can adjust quickly.

"Anytime there's a situation like this everybody starts saying lame duck," Mears said. "The only people that are inside our team are us. There isn't any conflict in any way."

Gordon is excited to see Montoya in NASCAR. He swapped cars with the 30-year-old Columbian a couple of years ago for a test run at Indianapolis.

"I thought he did a great job then," Gordon said. "I don't know if he's the first F1 driver to move to NASCAR, but I respect him a lot for making that kind of move. It's a big challenge and it's going to be a big challenge for him.

"Driving his car, because I drove it, it's so much different than our cars. I respect the fact that he knows that, but he knows he's talented and has a team that's committed to him."

Gordon said over time Montoya will adjust.

"It's going to be a long road, but he's going to do a great job and it's going to be fantastic for our sport," he said.

Kyle Petty agreed.

"I don't see why a Formula One driver can't come into NASCAR," he said. "It's great from an international standpoint. The media in England, Japan, China, Germany and other countries are really going to get excited about this.

"That's going to help grow our sport. That's really big for us."

Christian Fittipaldi drove some in Formula One before driving 16 races for Petty Enterprises between 2002 and 2003. He failed to finish seven of those races and never finished on the lead lap.

"But there's no magic to it," Petty said. "[Montoya's] probably in the perfect position to do it. He's the right age and he has a lot of racing talent."



http://www.nascar.com/2006/news/head...eam/index.html

dsnowgs4

I dont get it??!?!?

I always knew that F1 was political and had the BS of the cars, but how could someone go from the highest form of racing on the planet, to .... a lesser form of racing/??

NASCAR has its place in racing. It is cool and all, but it is NOT Formula 1.

Was he tired of getting hit on by the European Groupies?

I dont get it...

its got to be about the $

rosskoss

newr

.

Ramon

It's cuz nobody in F1 wants his ***... How many McLaren's has he wrecked sofar this season??? He took out his own teamate in the USGP. How many pole's has he gotten? How many races has he won? Heck, how many podium finishes does he have this season? I think like 1... Very poor performance from someone who gets paid as much as he does.

DrRick

montoya is a top 5 driver in F1. easily. i sincerely doubt that he has forgotten how to drive since being with BMW. a team that he stayed competitive with ralf, despite getting the leftover tech. F1 is dominated by technology and if you are not one of the "haves" or even a preferred driver for the "haves" then you will be mired in the back. he's definitely not going to nascar for the money. the snobbish F1 fans will wonder why anyone would leave their glorious "parades" of next level technology and go race "taxi-cabs". well, news flash.........nascar is much more competitive and much more exciting. that being said, i dont expect him to do much for a couple of years. again, flying in the face of the snobbish F1 fans who say that nascar drivers lack skill.

DrRick

it all depends on what you view as racing? if its about the latest technology.............F1 is where its at. but if its about competition, which is what i thought that it was based on, then you have to say nascar is the highest form. regardless of how it is done, the cars are damn near equal. and then it comes down to skill, crew and the drivers ability to communicate what the car is doing. not the ability of a laptop to decipher it....

Ramon

Based on his perforamnce this season... Either he HAS forgotten how to drive, or everyone else just got a whole lot better. He's been VERY unimpressive, down right dissappointing IMO. Granted the McLaren team as a whole isn't as competitive as they were last season, but I see Kimi doing a heck of a lot better than Montoya.

GRSC300

Before we assume, let's please do some research about Montoya. If you know how to read Spanish there is a very interesting interview with the Colombian press in Spanish at Eltiempo.com and he explains his departure from F1.

For example; He mentions how many races has Alonso won this year = how many a NASCAR drivers wins a year is all about competition you don’t need a winning car in NASCAR to win a race. How about that in F1?
He also talks about offers that he received from F1 Teams, but doesn’t mention what Teams made the offers...Look at Barriquelo or how about, David Coulthard and Ralf Schumacher F1 is all about the Team that you’re with.
He also mentions about been home more often, NASCAR is Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Yes there are a lot more races in NASCAR but is closer from home F1 is “International” and is not only on the weekends is all season long.

He lets every one know that is about happiness in his life. (this tell me that wasn’t happening in F1).

I think we all know that he does makes a lot of mistakes but remember that he need to fight all the time for the race is not like Alonso or Michael that they know that they just have to finish the race or how many time Kimi’s had to retire from the race. Well all I know is that I'll be watching Montoya and hope that he does well.

P.S. If you ever see a Colombian flag at Dayton 500 or Homested next year. That will be me LOL…

I hope I didn’t offend anyone if I did I apologize. If you have any questions feel free to ask.

ktiger

It can't be about the money because F1 drivers make more.

trent

It's a good bet that McLaren wasn't going to renew his contract after this year, to me Montoya has alway's been a reckless driver even going back to his day'sin CART racing, I think he wrecks, or blow up the engine more than he finishes races.

DrRick

i was listening to an interview with chip ganassi today and he was talking about if montoya could handle 36 races plus companion races to get him seat time. he asked montoya that. and montoya told him that he tests over 40,000 miles every year. he said that he spends less than 1/4th of his time in the car in actual competition.

and speaking of competition, is there really any in F1? i love all forms of racing. but F1 to me is the most boring. i understand the complexities of it all. but when 90% of the passes are in the pits, thats not competition to me. and there are never more than 2, maybe 3, teams that compete week after week. and on those teams, there is the designated driver that has the best of the best equipment. i watched montoya when he raced in cart. i was disheartened when zanardi made the mistake to go F1'ing. i had no clue who this new dude was that was replacing him. he amazed me at how well he did jumping in that seat. basically taking jimmy vasser's apparent throne. but it wont be easy. very few open wheel drivers do well in nascar. he well wreck, and wreck often. but as a minority myself, i am ecstatic to see diversity coming into my favorite motorsports fix. even if we dont share the same heritage. i may get a colombian flag myself

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All I can say is... The face of F1 and NASCAR are going to be VERY different next year. Toyota in NASCAR, Lexus in F1, Alanso jumping to McLaren prematurely, the possibility of Kimi being in a Ferrari... GOD, I CAN'T WAIT FOR 2K7 RACING!!!!!

Ramon

Agreed 100% and I'm glad McLaren finally realized that... Now if they can just get Kimi a fast AND reliable car, they can start winning some championships, especially next year with Alonzo coming on board. Assuming Kimi stays with McLaren, they can do some serious damage next year.

I don't think there are any major rule changes next year, like there was for this year (going from V10's to V8's) so they should have all their quirks worked out of the cars by then.

mmarshall

Count me in with the NASCAR guys....glad to have Montoya on board. I've never liked Formula 1. I agree with the comments about it being snobbish, aristocratic, and arrogant.....and IMO it is not really racing per se. It is more of an acceleration, braking, and cornering motorsports contest...more similiar to rallying than racing. MY idea of racing is SPEED......pedal-to-the-metal all the way around the track like Indy, Daytona, and Charlotte.
Now if they will just get rid of those damn restrictor plates.

Montoya isn't the first driver to convert and do double-duty either...A.J. Foyt did decades ago; so did Bobby Rahal.

Also, while I'm generally not a big fan of so-called " diversity " programs, I WOULD like to see a little more diversity in NASCAR.....it has been almost totally dominated by white males too long, especially those of Southern origin, and that's getting a little old hat now.