Montoya got his Chase off to a good start at New Hampshire, but will need to duplicate that performance this weekend at Dover AP Photo/Cheryl Senter
In the 2009 Chase for the Cup Juan Montoya got himself started on the right foot with an impressive run last week at New Hampshire. Now Montoya must continue his uphill battle towards a potential first championship. Montoya’s average finish at the week’s track, Dover, is a less than impressive 24th. For him to have a real shot at a cup title, he will have to duplicate his New Hampshire race each week of this chase season.
While his average finish is something less than desired, that number does not accurately say how Juan has run at the Monster Mile. A closer look shows that he has finished 10th and 12th here in recent years, and in the spring race here he qualified 3rd and led three laps.
That seems to suggest that Juan has the ability, and the race team to run well here, he will need to manage the race much like he did last week. In fact that should be the strategy for Juan and his race team through the next nine weeks.
He knows, sits 55 points behind leader Mark Martin, If Juan can keep that number low, he has a chance. However, if Juan cannot manage the Monster this weekend, then his Cup title hopes will see a significant drop off.
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