Two weeks, two problems and frustrations again boiled over on the radio between Juan Pablo Montoya and his crew chief Brian Pattie.
With the four tire stop that cost them the race at the Brickyard still fresh in their minds, Montoya entered the pits for a late race stop at Pocono. As he pulled in his box he rolled just ever slightly forward screwing up the teams rhythm and costing them time and positions.
What resulted was a 17 second pit stop and a profanity laced tirade that included Pattie telling Montoya he needed to go to Charlotte and practice pit stops, and Montoya telling Pattie, “Screw you!” He further blamed Pattie for making a bad call.
On the surface this appears to be the beginning of the end for the Pattie, Montoya relationship. Tension is building and that is evident in these select interactions between the two. Still, despite all the trouble the two have had this season I don’t think things aren’t quite as bad as they seem.
Juan Pablo Montoya is known for his temper, and his spectacular (I say sarcastically) ability to express his opinion and frustration – normally it involves an ‘f’ and a ‘you’.
Brian Pattie on the other hand is about as cool, calm and collected as they come. The difference in their personalities is one of the reasons I believe they have had such a productive (though not as successful as they would have liked) relationship.
It can’t be denied this hasn’t been a great season for team #42. They’ve had just four top-fives and sit 21st in the points. Most damaging of all, Montoya has had seven DNFs. On top of that it doesn’t look very good that his teammate Jamie McMurray has already had two wins in his inaugural season with EGR.
This was Montoya’s season to shine. Now he’s being outshined. Add that to some missed opportunities because of what turned out to be wrong decisions and Montoya is not very happy with his racing – and that’s translating to frustration with Pattie.
That brings us to the million dollar question: what does that mean for Brian Pattie and JPM going down the road? Is this the beginning of the end?
I don’t think so. No doubt this is a rough patch in their relationship. But I think the progress that has been made and the relationship that has been built is too valuable to give up on.
Fortunately for Pattie and Montoya, Chip Ganassi isn’t Jack Roush. And through the rough spots there have been moments of near triumph. It’s a matter of consistency and good luck, and right now the #42 team is struggling.
Given the right circumstances this is a team and combination that can be successful – I think outside the fleeting moments of anger all parties involved know that.
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Filed under: Carl Edwards, Greg Biffle, Jeff Gordon, Jimmie Johnson, Kyle Busch, Sprint Cup, NASCAR
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To use the words of the late David Poole, Dale Earnhardt saved Elliott Sadler’s life on Sunday.
What happened to Elliott Sadler on the backstretch (between turns one and two) late in the race at Pocono isn’t exactly clear to those of us who didn’t happen to be in a car and on the backstretch at the time (thanks Kurt Busch and ESPN). What we do know though is Pocono needs to make safety upgrades, like yesterday, and the COT and HANS Device saved Elliott Sadler from serious injury or death.
From what I saw of that wreck, it was one of the worst in recent memory. After hitting the inside Armco barrier, Sadler was propelled back out onto the track – a distance that’s probably a good 50 feet. In the slow motion replay on ESPN, Sadler’s whole body can be seen lurching forward. That tremendous amount of force ripped the car apart. See the engine being towed back to the garage. Sadler was luckily able to walk away with nothing but the wind knocked out of him.
For all of the criticism its gotten and complaining that’s been done about it, the COT has been a wonderful safety innovation. It has no doubt saved lives. Ask Micheal McDowell. Now ask Elliott Sadler.
Add to that the proliferation of the HANS Device and the SAFER barriers and NASCAR has become a much safer place to compete.
In the days leading up to the race, Pocono President Brandon Igdalsky, grandson of the Drs. Mattioli, addressed plans for some much needed safety features, including SAFER barriers between turns 1 and 2, and 2 and 3, and a much needed catch fence. It’s about time.
Looking around on the net Sunday night some were suggesting Pocono shouldn’t be on the schedule. I couldn’t disagree more. It’s a unique facility with great fans (though two races seven weeks apart is ridiculous). I do think though the track needed to have made these upgrades before other things were done – say for instance a $16 million solar farm.
It’s certainly easy to play Monday morning quarterback on this – but I think anyone who has ever seen the facility can see there are a lot of upgrades that need be done. As usual I digress.
Who knows what would have happened to Sadler had he not had the benefit of the current safety features. I shutter to think. Through all the complaining about ESPN missing the moment (big deal), the biggest story here is what didn’t happen and what we fortunately didn’t see.
What NASCAR has done since February 2001 truly has made the sport safer. There have been no serious injuries and no deaths. And thankfully on Sunday we were able to keep that record intact.
Filed under: Greg Biffle, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Sprint Cup, NASCAR
Filed under: Greg Biffle, Sprint Cup, NASCAR
Filed under: Kyle Busch, Tony Stewart, Sprint Cup
Sprint Cup N's & Q's: Pocono 500 originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Tue, 09 Jun 2009 00:27:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Filed under: Kasey Kahne, Tony Stewart, Sprint Cup
FanHouse Warmup: Pocono 500 originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Sun, 07 Jun 2009 11:15:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.
Filed under: Sprint Cup
Double-File Restarts to Start at Pocono originally appeared on Motorsports FanHouse on Thu, 04 Jun 2009 18:20:00 EST . Please see our terms for use of feeds.