Montoya Displeased With Latest Move

A couple of days ago, Juan Pablo Montoya was given his third crew chief in the past month when Chip Ganassi Racing released Jimmy Elledge. Elledge was sent to Montoya’s team when Ganassi decided to swap he and Donnie Wingo between the no. 40 and 41 teams, mostly in an effort to try and save Reed Sorenson’s season, but now, just a few weeks later, he’s found himself out of work altogether.

Montoya stated yesterday that it was strictly a “management decision” and that he had nothing to do with it, and that he had been pleased with the direction of their team since bringing Elledge on board.

“They told me, ‘We are thinking of getting rid of Jimmy’, and I said ‘Don’t do it’,” Montoya stated in a recent interview. “Next thing I knew, they did. That’s what happened. You are going to have to ask somebody else about it, because I wasn’t involved in this.”

Montoya went onto describe his disappointment in the lack of progression within the no. 42 team since he first entered the Cup Series late in 2006, and though he has plenty of faith in his new Crew Chief, Brian Pattie, he’s vented his frustration to team owner, Chip Ganassi, several times since the release of Elledge.

“I don’t think frustration is the word for how I feel,” he said. “I think it’s more. There’s a lot of effort to put into it, and a lot of people working their butt off, and we’re not getting better. It’s annoying.”