Juan Pablo Montoya is sixth in NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points. (Photo: LAT Photographic)

NO COMPARISON — Juan Pablo Montoya, the driver with the most versatility in NASCAR, on Friday brushed off comparing the relative difficulty of winning championships in different series. But he did agree that the Chase for the Sprint Cup format adds a different wrinkle to NASCAR.

“I think all of them are hard,” said Montoya, who has raced in Formula 1, CART, Grand Am and several other series. “I don't think there's one where you say, ‘This one is a little easier.’ This one (NASCAR), it's a little different because, you know, it doesn't matter how good you run the first 26 races. You look at Tony (Stewart), Tony killed everybody in the pre-season or whatever you want to call it, pre-Chase. During the normal season, he had everybody covered in points. The Chase started, and he's what, fifth in points or something? Fourth? I don't know where he is, but he's completely out of the championship. It's crazy, but it's what it is. You know, this is a little different from anything I've done before. But I think it's great for the fans.”

TOYOTA GETS TECH PARTNER — ExxonMobil and Toyota Racing Development on Friday announced a new technological partnership in which ExxonMobil will provide its Mobil 1 racing oil technology and products to TRD-supported NASCAR teams. Next year, TRD-supplied NASCAR engines will be filled with specially modified motor oil. TRD, Toyota’s U.S. racing arm, supplies the engines for Red Bull Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing.

The opinions reflected herein are solely those of the above commentator and are not necessarily those of SPEEDtv.com, FOX, NewsCorp, or Speed Channel

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of ?Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,? and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to