Juan Pablo Montoya (42) drives past Ryan Newman (12) as he pits during the Goody's Cool Orange 500 at Martinsville Speedway.
MARTINSVILLE, Va. -- Former Formula One star Juan Pablo Montoya managed a respectable finish in Sunday's Nextel Cup race at Martinsville, on a track where many expected him to struggle.
He did, however, look right at home at short track racing, trading paint with Ryan Newman at one point and also racing hard with Tony Raines before Montoya hit Raines' No. 96 Chevrolet from behind and sent him into the wall.
"I thought I raced him (Montoya) clean for 10 to 15 laps. I got by him coming off of (Turn) 4 and cleared him and he just dove under me entering (Turn) 1," Raines said.
"We made contact and I backed into the wall."
After the race, Newman went in search of Montoya, found him at his team hauler and asked him over to his car, where the two were engaged in a brief animated discussion.
"I just wanted to ask him a question. I wanted to know if he had turned down on my me on the straightaway and he said he didn't," Newman said later.
Also, on the first round of pit stops in Sunday's race, Montoya hit Newman's front tire carrier, Scott Reiniger when Montoya entered his pit. Reiniger did not suffer serious injuries and returned to his duties.
