Montoya proves a quick student of NASCAR life

Though a clash of styles on paper, Juan Pablo Montoya and crew chief Donnie Wingo made for a quick-learning team in 2007. Jason Smith/Getty Images for NASCAR

A funny thing happened to Juan Pablo Montoya. On the way to a legendary Formula One career he found a home in NASCAR.

The Colombian-born driver, the son of an international go-kart champion, adapted so well that he was named the sport's Rookie of the Year, an accomplishment built first and foremost on adapting an attitude developed in F1 to NASCAR's more genial nature.

While the far-flung Formula One world may seem glamorous from the outside, it is a seething cauldron of politics and egos. Not much different from NASCAR, you say? You'd be wrong. When, and if, a new Formula One team owner or manager comes along, he's greeted with "Welcome to the Piranha's Club," with a sneer.

Sure there are rivalries in the NASCAR garage, from the newest crew guy to the most successful owners, but, they pale compared to the expensive global series.

In 2006 at the U.S. Grand Prix at Indianapolis, Montoya's former Formula One team, McLaren Mercedes, held a press conference in their hospitality area with a few American journalists. Even with Montoya seated a few tables away, and probably within earshot of the team bosses, management didn't hesitate to criticize him.

That's not the way it is today. Former boss Chip Ganassi contacted Montoya after he parted ways with McLaren Mercedes and the two have had a reunion that turned into a mutual admiration society. The meeting spurred the two, who had shared numerous successes in the CART and IndyCar Series, to team up again in Cup.

Montoya was paired with crew chief Donnie Wingo, who, despite being an old-school kind of guy, realized "we respect each other a lot, we're a team and it's very important to work together," Wingo said.

Just as important, the open-wheel ace came over carrying a good reputation among his peers where it counted most.

"I think first and foremost, he did a great job in the garage area," Ganassi said of Montoya, "If you look at his garage-area appeal, he started off real strong, started to go down real fast and just kept his game on. It was really amazing how other drivers reacted to him. He came in with a lot of respect, stepped on himself, but then got it back."

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