Outside the United States, Dale Earnhardt Jr. is slipping.
While Earnhardt fans are holding off buying more of the star’s memorabilia because his number and sponsor are up in the air for next year, sales for anything involving Juan Pablo Montoya are soaring.
Earnhardt is America’s driver, but Montoya could be the world’s top auto racer.
Montoya’s victory in Sunday’s road-course race in northern California probably wasn’t a big win for traditional NASCAR fans. But NASCAR no doubt likes what it did for Hispanic fans and those who appreciate winners in all facets of elite-level racing.
Montoya, from Colombia, now owns victories in Champ Car, the Indy Racing League, Formula One and NASCAR’s Busch and Nextel Cup series.
In 1999 he became Champ Car’s youngest champion, and in 2000 he won the Indianapolis 500 in his first and only IRL race. He won the 2003 Monaco Grand Prix at a time when Michael Schumacher was racing’s king of the world, and now he has won in America’s top series in just his 17th career Cup start.
Montoya, 31, won a Busch race earlier this season in Mexico.
Mario Andretti and Dan Gurney have also captured victories in Champ Car, F1 and NASCAR’s top series. The IRL wasn’t around when Andretti and Gurney were racing, so Montoya is in a class of his own.
Opportunities exist for every great racer, but one thing is for certain – Montoya has taken advantage of his in extraordinary fashion.
Sonoma slows Red Bull
Teammates Brian Vickers and A.J. Allmendinger – who as rookies are clients of first-year Toyota – thought they had turned around their season, but then came Sonoma. Both failed to qualify for the first road course of the season. Vickers missed the 43-car cut by 1.826 seconds, Allmendinger by 1.949.
Before Sonoma, the Red Bull drivers had each qualified for the past five races; six for Allmendinger. They were racing as though fueled by Red Bull, consistently outrunning other Toyota teams from Bill Davis Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing.
“The Red Bull guys, considering where they started from, they’ve pushed themselves to the top of the Toyota heap,” Lee White, vice president of Toyota Racing Development, told The Associated Press.
Vickers, who joined Red Bull after driving the No. 25 car for Hendrick Motorsports the previous three seasons, missed six of the first 10 races. Allmendinger, a rookie, missed eight of the first 10.
“It’s the most horrible thing I’ve ever had to go through,” Allmendinger told AP about the first 10 races of his Cup career. “By far the toughest thing in my life, both personally and professionally.”
It had to be even more frustrating for Vickers, who watched his former Hendrick teammates win 10 of the first 15 races.
“It was pretty frustrating, very disappointing, and hard to deal with,” Vickers said.
Hendrick teams hit hard
Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson were docked 100 points each Tuesday, and their crew chiefs were fined $100,000 and suspended for six races for violations at Infineon Raceway.
The two Hendrick Motorsports cars failed an initial inspection Friday in Sonoma, Calif., when NASCAR officials found unapproved modifications to the fenders on their Chevrolets.
NASCAR refused to let either driver on the track the entire day, and neither was allowed to qualify.
But the fenders were fixed, the cars passed inspection Saturday and the two were allowed to race Sunday. Gordon, the four-time series champion, finished seventh, while defending Nextel Cup champion Johnson was 17th.
Gordon remains the Nextel Cup points leader after the deduction, but his margin was cut to 171 points over Denny Hamlin. Johnson dropped from third to fifth.
But both will have to race through the summer without their crew chiefs. Chad Knaus and Steve Letarte are not eligible to return to the track until Aug. 15.
Furniture Row update
Driver Kenny Wallace and Denver-based Furniture Row Racing have failed to qualify for the past four races.
After missing the season-opening Daytona 500, Wallace put the No. 78 Chevrolet in the field in eight of the next 10 races.
The team’s bad fortunes began May 27 at the Coca-Cola 600, where Wallace retired with a blown engine.
SPOTLIGHT: JAMIE McMURRAY
No gas, no victory
McMurray was running second in the closing laps Sunday at Sonoma, Calif., before running out of gas. He finished 37th, one lap down, ending what was shaping up to be a terrific weekend and his first Cup win since 2002. McMurray won the pole and led 30 laps, and ran in the top 10 for 100 of 110 laps. But he will remember this race for losing the lead with seven laps to go to Juan Pablo Montoya – who was driving his former car at Chip Ganassi Racing – and then running out of fuel and finishing his final lap going an average speed of just 33 mph.
ON THE MOVE: JEFF GORDON
Impressive under pressure
Despite starting 41st in Sunday’s 43-car field at Sonoma, Gordon managed a seventh-place finish and increased his lead in the standings over Denny Hamlin. After being kicked out of qualifying for failing tech inspection and being relegated to the back of the field, Gordon methodically made his way to the front. That’s not unusual for the four-time champ, as everything seems to go his way, particularly this year. But making that many passes on a road course is extraordinary. Gordon once again proved, at least this season, he is the best at all disciplines of Cup racing.
THIS WEEK’S RACE: LENOX INDUSTRIAL TOOLS 300
New Hampshire on tap
11 a.m. Sunday, TNT
Where: New Hampshire International Speedway, Loudon, N.H. (1.058-mile oval, 12 degrees banking in corners, 2-degree straights)
Distance: 317.4 miles, 300 laps
Qualifying: Friday, 5 p.m., Speed Channel
Last year: Ryan Newman won the pole, but Kyle Busch won the race. Carl Edwards was the runner-up in an event marred by 11 caution flags. In the fall race, the Sylvania 300, Kevin Harvick won from the pole and Tony Stewart was runner-up. Harvick dominated the race, leading 196 of the 300 laps. He took over the points lead for the first time in his career.
POINTS LEADERS
After 16 races. Ten races remain before the cut to 12, who will vie for the Nextel Cup.
(Driver | Pts.)
1. Jeff Gordon 2,438
2. Denny Hamlin 2,267
3. Matt Kenseth 2,105
4. Jeff Burton 2,084
5. Jimmie Johnson 2,072
6. Tony Stewart 2,058
7. Carl Edwards 2,019
8. Kevin Harvick 1,964
9. Clint Bowyer 1,934
10. Kyle Busch 1,905
11. Martin Truex Jr. 1,863
12. Dale Earnhardt Jr. 1,815
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Staff writer Mike Chambers can be reached at 303-954-1357 or mchambers@denverpost.com.
