Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán (born September 20, 1975) is a Colombian
race car driver known internationally for participating in and winning
Formula One and
CART race competitions. Currently, he competes in
NASCAR, driving the #42
Target Chevrolet Impala for
Earnhardt Ganassi Racing in the
Sprint Cup Series. He and wife Connie have three children: son Sebastian and daughters Paulina and Manuela.
The highlights of his career include winning the
International F3000 championship in 1998, and the
CART Championship Series in 1999, as well as victories in some of the most prestigious races in the world. He is the only driver to have won the premier North American open-wheel
CART title, the
Indianapolis 500 and the
24 Hours of Daytona, all at the first attempt. Montoya is one of two drivers to have won the CART title in his
rookie year, the first being
Formula One World Champion Nigel Mansell in
1993. He has also equalled
Graham Hill's feat of being a
Monaco Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500 race winner; Montoya is currently one of only two active drivers (along with
Jacques Villeneuve) who has won two legs of the
Triple Crown of Motorsport.
Montoya has also become a crossover race winner by winning races (starting in each case in his rookie year) in
Formula One,
CART,
IndyCar,
Grand-AM and
NASCAR equalling in that respect
Mario Andretti's caliber of success (except for the F1 World Championship); And shares honors as well with
Dan Gurney in being IndyCar/F1/NASCAR race winner. Montoya is also the only driver to have competed in all three major events at
Indianapolis, finishing fourth or better in each event. He finished 1st in the
Indianapolis 500, 2nd in the
Brickyard 400, and 4th in the
US Grand Prix.
In October 2009, Montoya was ranked 30th in a list of the top 50
Formula One drivers of all time by
Times Online.
Category:Sports
Subcategory:Motor Sports
Subcategory Detail:NASCAR
Keywords:Ganassi, Juan Pablo Montoya, Target
© Action Sports Photography, Inc.