Talladega Turns Into Montoya's Moment

It all seemed to line up for Dodge Boys Racing's Juan Pablo Montoya. He sat on leader's bumper with a lap to go in Sunday's NASCAR Sprint Cup Aaron's 500 at Talladega Superspeedway. But just as Montoya began to pass in an attempt to win his second career NASCAR race, a yellow flag forced him follow the leader across the finish line. "I didn't want to finish second,'" Montoya said. "It's hard. I would think I would have tried to make a move coming out of (turn) 4."

Montoya's second-place finish after starting in the No. 26 position was a breakthrough. It marked his first top-10 finish on a superspeedway. His previous best Talladega finish was 15th a year ago.

Montoya added, "I've loved restrictor-plate racing since the first time I came to Talladega. The bumping, it's tough. You can finish 20th in a heartbeat. It's pretty exciting because it takes a lot of strategy and you always have to pick the right lane.

He was in the top 15 for most of the last half of the race, and he led briefly on lap 53. He held the second position twice, the final time after dropping back to fifth. With his performance this weekend, Montoya has moved into the top 12 in the Cup points standings, 318 points behind leader Jeff Burton. The top 12 drivers at the end of the season qualify for the Chase for the Championship.

Ryan Newman and the No. 12 Penske Racing Alltel Dodge scored an eighth place finish, the team's second top-ten finish at a restrictor plate track this season and fourth top-ten of 2008.

"I think we had a top-five car, but we were just at the wrong place at the wrong time there at the end," said Newman, who was up to third place with two laps to go in the race and poised for a win. "I knew the move I wanted to make, but when I made it no one went with me. We just didn't get the chance to try it again because of the caution on the final lap.

It's not the finish we wanted, but overall it was a good points day for the Alltel Dodge." With nine races completed in the 2008 NASCAR Cup Series season, the 2008 Daytona 500 champion is 11th in the 2008 NASCAR Cup driver point standings, 285 points behind leader Jeff Burton.

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