Martinsville, VA October 19, 2008
Juan Pablo Montoya drove his No. 42 Big Red® Slim Pack™ Dodge to a 14th-place finish at Martinsville Speedway on Sunday. Montoya has finished in the top 20 in each of his four starts at the Virginia short track and averages a 13th-place finish. He remains 23rd in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, but has gained ground on the cars in front of him. He sits just 124 points out of 20th.

Rain canceled qualifying for the 10th time this season, so the Big Red Slim Pack Dodge lined up 24th on the starting grid. Montoya was quick in Saturday's practice sessions, but would be marred in traffic at the start of the race. The team worked on the car during a pit stop on lap 30 that helped the handling on the No. 42 Dodge and Montoya began to work his way through the field from the 24th position. When the yellow flag waved at lap 60, he was up to the 17th spot.

Montoya broke into the top 10 on lap 131 and would continue to run in the top 20 as different pit strategies shuffled the field through the first half of the race. Montoya began to complain about the brakes around lap 231 and dropped back to 27th. The leader was just two cars back at the midpoint of the race, but the caution waved six laps later keeping Montoya on the lead lap. Racing resumed on lap 267 and Montoya again drove up through the field from 24th. By lap 363, Montoya was running 17th with the leader in his rear view mirror. Eventual race winner Jimmie Johnson got around Montoya five laps later to put the No. 42 Dodge down a lap.

Despite being in position to get his lap back on several occasions, the caution flag never waved in Montoya's favor. Montoya was still running in the top 20 in the Big Red Slim Pack Dodge, and was 16th with 50 laps to go. There were just 13 cars remaining on the lead lap when the final caution waved on lap 497 setting up a green-white-checkered finish. Montoya was able to overtake the No. 10 car in the final two laps to bring his car home in the 14th position.

Montoya and the crew head to Atlanta Motor Speedway next weekend for the Pep Boys Auto 500 on Sunday, Oct. 26 at 1 p.m. ET on ABC.

CGRFS Quoteboard

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA: "We were really good on short runs. On long runs, we struggled just a bit with all the traffic. That's what really hurt us. The car was fast at times; other times it was just really tough to pass. Not a bad day for our Big Red Slim Pack Dodge though."
TOP-20 FINISH FOR FIRST RUN IN JUICY FRUIT DODGE
ANOTHER TOP-20 FINISH FOR MONTOYA AND BIG RED TEAM
SECOND STRAIGHT TOP-15 FINISH FOR BIG RED TEAM
MONTOYA AND NO. 42 TEAM EARN ANOTHER TOP-20 FINISH
MONTOYA AND NO. 42 TEAM FINISH SECOND AT TALLADEGA
MONTOYA LEAVES THE 'LADY IN BLACK' IN 23RD
MONTOYA MAKES FIRST APPEARANCE IN ALL-STAR RACE, FINISHED 14TH
MONTOYA TAKES THE CHECKERED IN 38TH AT MICHIGAN
LAP 70 INCIDENT RELEGATES MONTOYA TO A 38TH-PLACE FINISH
TOP-20 FINISH FOR MONTOYA AND NO. 42 TEAM AT CHICAGOLAND
TIRES AN ISSUE FOR MONTOYA AND NO. 42 TEAM AT THE BRICKYARD
TOP-FIVE FINISH FOR MONTOYA AT THE GLEN
TOP-20 FINISH FOR MONTOYA AT BRISTOL MOTOR SPEEDWAY
MONTOYA COMES OUT 30TH AT RIR
MONTOYA FINISHES 17TH AT NEW HAMPSHIRE MOTOR SPEEDWAY
BLOWN TIRE "CUTS" DAY SHORT FOR MONTOYA AT DOVER
CUT TIRE ENDS MONTOYA'S TOP-20 RUN AT LOWE'S MOTOR SPEEDWAY
MONTOYA LEADS DODGE CHARGE AT MARTINSVILLE, FINISHES 14TH
  
   
 
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