Juan Pablo Montoya crashed into Nascar series leader Kyle Busch - intentionally! - during Sunday’s Lenox Industrial Tools 301 (we won’t use any other undustrial tools). The fiery Colombian was hit with a two-lap penalty for “rough driving” and so relegated to a 32nd-place finish.
“Honestly, I have no idea (what happened). I got a run on him with 50 laps to go and got to his outside and he kept coming up a little bit,” Busch said after the race.
“I was just trying to get around (Dario Franchitti) who was in front of us, touched (Montoya) on the door and he turned left and spun me out. I don’t know what his beef is.”
J-P Montoya, currently competing in NASCAR, has slagged off F1 in an interview with The Times.
“Formula 1 drivers are convinced that they’re so much better than anyone else,” Montoya said. “When I was in F1, every week I was on the podium. It was cool, but is it satisfying? It wasn’t, because it was the most boring races.
“The guy who started in front of you would drive away from you, and the guy who was behind you would drop away from you, unless you [had] f***ed up in qualifying – and then you needed to have a different pit-stop strategy to beat them.”
On Saturday night, just 21 days after his 18th birthday, Joey Logano became the youngest winner in NASCAR Nationwide Series history when he won the Meijer 300 (gotta love those bland, corporate race names) at the Kentucky Speedway.
After the record-breaking win, Logano said: “I expected to win here. I have to win races. Losing is not an option for me.”
Losing is not an option? That’s one self-confident 18-year-old. When Grid Crasher was 18, its options included whether or not to buy Red or Blue Thunderbird from the local off licence.
Former F1 driver, not like other NASCAR drivers
Scott Speed never made it in F1, but then he was driving for Toro Rosso, so we’ll cut him some slack. The eccentric - by NASCAR standards, at least - Californian is currently working his way up through the NASCAR ranks with aim of driving in the series’ premier Sprint Cup. He won the most recent Craftsman Truck Series race, held last weekend at Dover International Speedway, in only his sixth start - which all bodes well for his future in the sport. But there was something you may not know about Speed’s victory:
He had the tips of his toenails painted blue. Yep, you heard right. Toenails. Painted. Blue.
“That’s going to become a tradition,” Speed, 25, said of his pedicure after winning in a Red Bull Toyota.
Nascar’s hottest property interested in Toyota trial
Meet Kyle Busch, the 23-year-old star of Nascar. There he is, standing atop his Toyota after a race win at the Darlington Speedway earlier this month. Being a classic American showman, he does that after each victory. But then he was born in Las Vegas - it figures.
Busch is a great stock-car driver, but is he talented enough to make the switch to F1? It could happen, whether he’s good enough or not. The Las Vegan has revealed that he will test drive Toyota’s F1 car at the end of 2008: “We’re working on a test session right now at the end of November or beginning of December sometime - going to Japan and doing a little exhibition sort of deal and see what it’s like,” he said.
Juan Pablo’s missus, a higher class of WAG altogether
Unlike their footballer counterparts, racing drivers tend to go for WAGs with beauty, brains and talent. Step forward Connie Montoya, who has been married to Juan Pablo since 2002. She studied law at college and co-founded the Formula Smiles charity, which helps underprivileged children in her native Colombia.
NFL star Randy Moss (pictured) plans to start his own Nascar Craftsman Truck team in 2009. At the moment he lacks a manufacturer, a driver and a sponsor. Apart from that, he’s good to go. [Jalopnik]
Herr Max Mosley has failed in his bid to prevent the French enjoying his “Nazi orgy” sex video. Merde! [ITV]
Scottish driver spins out at Talladega, breaks ankle
Dario Franchitti (we know him as Dario F) was extremely lucky to escape with just a busted ankle when his car lost its right rear tyre on the 10th lap of the Nationwide Series Nascar support race at Talladega on Saturday. The Scot’s Dodge bounced into the wall and spun down the track. Several cars avoided him, but when it seemed he might get away without a heavy impact, Larry Gunselman’s Chevy slammed into his driver side door.
Spanish prodigy wins maiden MotoGP in Portugal, and other scorchingly hot news
Move over Valentino Rossi, there’s a new genius in leathers. Jorge Lorenzo won his first senior MotoGP race, at Estoril on Sunday. It was only his third grand prix. The Spaniard now leads the championship, alongside compatriot Dani Pedrosa. As you can see from the photo above, young Jorge’s not afraid to spray his victory champagne prematurely, and all over a hotpants-wearing grid girl. Not the hair! This kid will go far. Crash.net has a more detailed race report.
