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Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán
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Nationality
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Colombia
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Date of Birth
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September 20, 1975
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Place of Birth
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Bogotá, Colombia
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Date of Death
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Years Active
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2000
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Starts
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1
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Wins
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1
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Poles
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0
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Best Finish
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25th (2000)
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Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán is a former IndyCar Series driver and Indianapolis 500 winner. He only competed in one IRL race, the 2000 Indianapolis 500, where he started second and won, leading 167 laps along the way.
2000[]
Montoya and teammate Jimmy Vasser were the first CART drivers to break ranks and compete in the Indianapolis 500 since the IRL took over the race in 1996. While his entry was accepted with much fanfare, many drivers resented Montoya's presence at the storied speedway, feeling he was too reckless and would fall out of the race early. Al Unser Jr., a two-time winner of the race, publicly warned that if a driver does not respect Indianapolis, it "will bite you - hard." Montoya countered by saying that all four corners were the same, and thus the speedway required less attention than the road courses of Europe.
Ganassi cars proceeded to lead 172 laps that day - only 5 of which were led by Vasser. With an amazing 167 laps led in the race, the most ever by a driver in the IRL era, Montoya was generally unchallenged all day. In the midst of a frustrating CART campaign, which saw two separate stretches where he failed to finish three races in a row, the Indianapolis win was the crown jewel of Montoya's year.
Outside the IRL[]
Montoya, a development driver for the Williams Formula One team, was "traded" to CART's Chip Ganassi Racing in 1999, where he won the series' championship. He also competed for the team in 2000, winning three races despite the power of an unreliable Toyota engine. Following the 2000 season, he left CART to spend time with Williams and McLaren in Formula One. He returned to American soil in 2006, reuniting with Ganassi, albeit in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Montoya won that series' Rookie of the Year award in 2007, winning the event at Infineon Raceway. He has not competed in any open-wheel events since returning to America.