Juan Montoya To Winston Cup

No doubt this one came out of left field.

Chip Ganassi has tabbed Juan Montoya to drive his #42 Dodge in Winston Cup in 2007, a driver move that potentially changes some of the dynamic of NASCAR. Montoya, who's spent the last several years in F1, is no stranger to American racing, having won in CART and in the 2000 Indianapolis 500 in Ganassi Indycars; his near-photo finish battle with Michael Andretti in the 2000 Michigan 500 remains one of the great races in American superspeedway history.

The choice of Montoya for NASCAR, though, has considerable implications, notably in the sport's international marketing, which NASCAR brass has taken a mild obession with the last few years. It also has a less-than-desirable implication for the sport's American angle, as a greater focus on international marketing is coming at the expense of the sport's American core - best shown in BGN's Mexican race and its potential Montreal race next year, coming despite suitable and less expensive American raceways that are available for NASCAR dates. And one can speculate about Montoya and his past ties with Toyota.

It's easy to see NASCAR using Montoya as a big international promotional tool, and his familiarity with American racing is a plus for him, but the sport has not been on enough of the right track the last number of years and part of the problem has been a growing concern for international markets instead of the American core; this is the track that helped ruin American open-wheel racing and is why F1 has no American audience, despite the presence of American driver Scott Speed, and is also a reason why soccer can never become popular in the US.

For Montoya himself, the challenge is potentially more than he can chew because of the lack of NASCAR success for CART veterans over the years - only John Andretti and Robby Gordon among CART veterans ever succeeded in Winston Cup, and Casey Mears only recently broke through in BGN, winning at Chicagoland (and putting a deliberately ironic period to Chip Ganassi's announcement). Montoya is going to be the small fish in a big pond, with a team that can win races but hasn't at the Winston Cup level since October 2002, so he's definately got his work cut out for him.

Montoya is a superb racer with charm and will represent himself and his team well, so as far as that goes there's nothing to be concerned with. The sport, though, may want to puase if it hopes to extend Montoya's marketability beyond what's really for the sport's best interest.