Watkins Glen Cup chance was a ‘why not’ moment for Montoya

Juan Pablo Montoya has a simple answer to why he’s rejoining the NASCAR field for the first time in over a decade next month at Watkins Glen.

Why not?

Montoya was called upon by 23XI Racing to race its third entry, the No. 50 Mobil 1 Toyota. It will be the final start for the car this season, and Montoya was a bit of a surprise driver choice. The 48-year-old last competed in a NASCAR Cup Series race in 2014.

“Steve Lauletta (the president of 23XI Racing) called me and said, ‘Hey, would you be interested in doing Watkins [Glen]?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, that would be fun,’” Montoya said. “Honestly, it was pretty much that. I thought it would be pretty cool. I always enjoyed running at The Glen, to be honest. We always ran well there in Cup and since then, I’ve been to The Glen many times with IMSA and with IndyCar, and I know the track well. I thought it would be a fun thing to do, you know?

“I’m in the point in my career that, honestly, I’m not looking for a job. I’m not looking for anything. But an opportunity like this comes along, and I think I can still be really competitive and have a shot at it. So, why not?”

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Montoya earned one win in seven Cup Series starts at Watkins Glen. He finished 33rd at Watkins Glen in his only Xfinity Series start at the track. But Montoya has made 12 starts at the road course across four different series.

Admittedly, however, the Colombian didn’t think he would be back in NASCAR after so many years away. Montoya has spent the last few years running sports cars and made a few IndyCar starts in 2021 and ’22. But he’s mostly been alongside son Sebastian as his racing career blossoms.

Montoya made 278 starts between the NASCAR Cup Series and Xfinity Series, including as a full-time Cup Series driver from 2007 through 2013. He won two races during that tenure, one at Sonoma Raceway and one at Watkins Glen. Montoya also made two starts in 2014 before leaving the stock car world.

Not since he was a driver has Montoya been in a NASCAR garage. And to come back driving a car co-owned by Denny Hamlin, whom Montoya once competed against, made him laugh.

“Honestly, it’s exciting,” Montoya said of being back in the NASCAR community. “One of the cool things in 23XI there is a lot of the folks that work there used to work at Ganassi [Racing] back in the day, so it was really nice to see a lot of old faces. I’m really excited for the opportunity.

“I’m just looking forward to a fun day. I want to race the hell out of the car, and I want everybody at 23XI and Mobil 1 and everyone who has supported this program that when we come out of there on Sunday night, we’re going to go, ‘Man that was awesome.’ Whatever the result is.”

The Go Bowling at the Glen is the weekend of Sept. 14-15.