Montoya ends up third in California

October 12, 12:16 AMDetroit NASCAR ExaminerJosh Lobdell

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Montoya has proven hat he can run with the big boys, but what does he need to do to win the 2009 Sprint Cup AP Photo/Mark J Terrill

Juan Montoya finished third, turning in his best performance at the Auto Club Speedway, but still finds himself 58 points behind point’s leader Jimmie Johnson. Right now it seems that Juan could finish the chase with a top five finishing average and lose the title to either Johnson or Mark Martin.

Right now, through four Chase races Juan has the best average finish among the chase drivers with a 3.25 average finish, however since Martin won the first chase race, and Jimmie has won two since then, Juan is going to have to win at least one race but really two races over the final six races.

The problem is, and will continue to be the fact that Juan is till coming into his own as a stock car driver. While I fully expect him to win a race before 2009 is over, that may not be enough to deliver a cup championship.

The simple fact here is Johnson and his #48 team are the masters of chase racing. They are so good at in fact that NASCAR may have to change the rules to take their advantage away.

For Juan and his #42 team they are doing all that they can; qualify up front, run up front, lead laps, and hope for the best. In the world of NASCAR one can only run up front for so long before they end up in Victory Lane.