Juan Montoya did everything the way he should have at Talladega. Thanks to the rain that washed out qualifying, he was able to start up front. In ran in the lead pack pretty much all day. He led a lap and was up front ready to make a move, when he got caught up in a last lap accident that relegated him to a 19th place finish.

What else is there to say that is NASCAR restrictor plate racing, and it is what it is. For Montoya and his #42 team the day can be looked as a success, or a failure. Really it is the ultimate bottle half empty, bottle half filled argument.

Once again Montoya is proving that he belongs in NASCAR, that his team should be viewed as an elite team, and that he can handle himself on all the kinds of race tracks that NASCAR runs on. Of course he is also proving that it takes a few years to learn this kind of racing.

This is Juan’s third full year racing stock cars, and it seems that it takes that long to learn all the nuisances of this sport. Juan has learned them, and learned them well. However, as good as this team has run in the chase, they are still hopelessly behind in the points.

With his 19th place finish he is now 200 points behind leader Jimmie Johnson. While a championship is probably now out of reach, a top five finish in the points is an excellent step for both driver and team.

Remember owner Chip Ganassi has not exactly had a lot of success in the NASCAR world. In eight years of cup racing his team has scored only eight wins, and Sterling Marlin accounted for half of that number. It seems the merger with DEI is paying off.

For DEI, a team that could very well have become a museum following the departure of Dale Earnhardt Jr., it seems this partnership is paying off fairly well. This is an organization that is relevant again, instead of being an also ran.

Montoya and his team need to take this Chase run and build on it for the 2010 season. IF they can do that, and maintain this level of performance heading towards Daytona that elusive oval win is not that far off.