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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Montoya Blazing Fast At NH
Juan Pablo Montoya has been the man in the first two days at New Hampshire Motor Speedway...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted September 19, 2009   Loudon, NH
Juan Pablo Montoya won the pole and led all three practice sessions for Sunday's Sylvania 300 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway. (Photo: Getty Images)

Juan Pablo Montoya came into New Hampshire Motor Speedway with the least impressive 2009 results of any of the 12 drivers in the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

But based on his performance Friday and Saturday at the 1.058-mile oval, the Colombian-born driver and his Earnhardt Ganassi Racing crew may have pulled a fast one on the Chase field.

Through 26 races in NASCAR’s regular season, Montoya posted no victories and just two top-five finishes, far and away the fewest of any of the Chasers.

So far in New Hampshire, though, Montoya has been untouchable, winning the pole and leading all three practice sessions.

Montoya insisted, however, that he’s not the favorite to win it all. In fact, no one is, he claimed. “Right now, there's not a clear guy that you can say, ‘Man, this guy is just going to dominate every week.’ So, I think you've got to be very smart about it,” said Montoya. “Most of the cars in the Chase are going to be up there. To gain points on them is going to be really hard. To lose points to them is going to be very easy. I think you've got to be very smart on that aspect, but you've got to go for wins. You’ve got to go for broke here.”

Here’s how Montoya and all 12 Chase drivers look heading into Sunday’s Sylvania 300 at NHMS:

1. MARK MARTIN, Hendrick Motorsports, 5,040 points — Martin, who has an average finish of 11.080 here, qualified a disappointing 14th. However, he was fast in practice, running between third and fifth in each of the three sessions. On Friday, the team announced that Martin had signed a contract extension through 2011, with GoDaddy.com as his primary sponsor in 20 races per year.

2. TONY STEWART, Stewart-Haas Racing, 5,030 — Stewart, who has two previous victories here, qualified on the outside of Row 1 and finished 10th in Happy Hour, so he should be in decent shape on race day. He’ll be looking to re-establish momentum after four consecutive sub-par finishes.

3. JIMMIE JOHNSON, Hendrick Motorsports, 5,030 —
Like his teammate Martin, Johnson will start surprisingly deep in the field — 16th. But in both Saturday practices, he was fifth. He has plenty of speed, but track position could be an issue. The three-time defending series champ has a finishing average of 9.867 at NHMS, where he has two victories, four top-five and 10 top-10 finishes in 15 starts.

4. DENNY HAMLIN, Joe Gibbs Racing, 5,020 — If Montoya doesn’t win on Sunday, Hamlin just might. He loves flat tracks and has been red hot lately. He qualified fourth at NHMS and was sixth and seventh in the two practices Saturday. In seven starts here , he has one win, two top fives, five top 10s and an average finish of 8.286, best in the field.


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