By alley - Dec 11, 2015, 2:09 PM ET

IndyCar season review: Juan Pablo Montoya

What will you remember the 2015 IndyCar season for? Juan Pablo Montoya's teflon coating wearing off right at the time he needed it most? The introduction of the aero kits, several years after they were first mooted? Rocky Moran Jr.'s inspiring hour of track time at Long Beach?

To try to make sense of it all, RACER's Marshall Pruett, Robin Miller and Mark Glendenning asked each other some searching questions about all of 2015's regulars, which for the purpose of this review, includes anyone who started a minimum of half the races. Look for the final installment on Monday.

JUAN PABLO MONTOYA
2015 starts: 16
2015 best finish: 1st (St Petersburg, Indianapolis 500)
2015 championship position: second; 556pts

Should we have been surprised that JPM established himself as the top dog among the four Penskes?

MARK GLENDENNING: Why do I end up with all of the

'top dog' questions

? Anyway. Should we have been surprised? Yes, and no. Mostly yes, if I try to answer without the benefit of hindsight.

Montoya showed enough in his comeback season last year to make me think he'd be more consistently competitive in 2015, but I'm not sure that anyone would have tipped him to lead the championship from St Petersburg all the way through to the final couple of stints at Sonoma. OK, he rode his luck a few times. Two sub-par qualifying performances were converted into poles due to grids being set by championship points. He was annoyed to be derailed by the late yellow at Mid-Ohio, but needed an earlier yellow to be in contention in the first place. And when he finally did have a really crap day – Iowa, where he vanished early with a mechanical failure – most of the other title contenders had too many problems of their own to capitalize. On the other hand, his assured performance at St Petersburg and those thrilling final laps at Indy were resounding vindications of Penske's gamble on bringing the Colombian back to open-wheelers. Montoya's still one of the fastest guys in the field, and this year he proved that he's a contender at every track.

And his status within the team? It was clear early on that at Montoya wasn't conceding any ground to his colleagues in terms of speed, and he's too wily and experienced to be an easy mark for psychological needling. (At least, not from those around him – whether he started to rattle himself toward the end of the season is a different question that I thankfully don't have to try to answer). So returning to the question that I do have to answer: Montoya creating an authoritative presence within Penske? Not a surprise. Montoya being a more rounded threat than he was in 2014? Not a surprise. Montoya leading the championship for the entire year, barring a few laps right at the end? Didn't see that coming.

How much did Montoya rely on luck or circumstances during his championship run?

MARSHALL PRUETT: I look at Juan’s season and think of all the races where he drove within himself, did nothing wrong, made few mistakes, and benefitted from the errors or off days by the opposition. I can’t say he relied on luck - that’s far too intangible to base one’s strategy on - but he did shine throughout most of the 16-race calendar by going with the flow.

We’ve seen the days when JPM decides every car will be behind him at the checkered flag. Hell, that’s what made him so popular when he burst onto the scene in 1999. I saw glimpses of that guy in 2015, but only on rare occasion.

I’d characterize his near-title as a 'strategy championship'. It was a case of: Don’t do anything dumb, don’t lose points, be there at the end at most races to score quality points, and if you can win, do so, but don’t take crazy risks to get it done.

The season opener at St. Pete was a snapshot of JPM’s approach. Penske teammate Will Power was on pole, led 75 laps, lost the lead to JPM in the pits after a slow stop, and then had to settle for second. It was a popular win for JPM, and it also required some unintended help from a teammate to make it possible.

Eventual series champion Scott Dixon was on pole at Indy, dominated the race, and thanks to a plastic bag that flew into his sidepod, it blocked most of the water radiator, and caused his engine to overheat with the checkered flag just minutes away. The Kiwi fell back and watched as JPM, Power, and Charlie Kimball took the top three positions. It’s impossible to say whether Dixon would have won without the overheating issue, but we do know the strongest car was impaired and JPM drove like a star to ensure he won his second 500. I can't blame JPM for being in the right place at the right time on more than one occasion, but he didn't have the same kind of luck after the 500. And when he needed to mash the throttle to keep his rivals at bay from June-August, something was slightly off.

It’s telling when you look at the results from JPM’s season and notice he won twice and earned four podiums from the first six races, and then realize he failed to win again during the 10 remaining races, and only found the podium once after Indy. He was still a regular finisher inside the top-5, or top-10, but rarely looked like he was going for broke.

His title challengers, on the other hand, were taking chances to catch him, and from the two approaches, JPM’s take-the-hand-I’m-dealt outlook backfired. He drove smart all year, but with the incredibly high level of competition in IndyCar these days, more than intelligence is needed to win a championship. JPM didn't scare anybody in 2015, and if he's going to win next year's title, we'll need more sightings of the wildman--the terror--who refuses to be beaten.

Was Montoya too conservative after Indy?

ROBIN MILLER: It's hard to put the words 'Montoya' and 'conservative' in the same sentence so I prefer another approach. The Pit Bull we loved in 1999 has matured into a Boston Terrier. In other words, this old dog can still hunt and run fast but he drives more measured than anyone could have ever imagined when he was sideways every lap in CART. He's just smarter and it showed at Fontana when he opted to retreat to fifth instead of diving into Rollerball. But, as he showed in the closing laps at Indianapolis, the 40-year-old can still be a thrill when the situation calls for it. The irony is that he threw away the title with an over-aggressive move early in the last race. He fought back and lost out on a tie-breaker but his sensible style served him well all season.