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RICHMOND, Va. - Juan Pablo Montoya stands out among his peers for many reasons: He is NASCAR's only successful Latino. The depth of his experience is international, not merely national.

And he doesn't like Richmond International Raceway, a track so universally beloved that its slogan -- featured on letterhead, web site and advertising - is "Racing Perfection."

"To be honest with you, I don't like this place," said Montoya. "I don't know why. It's hard because it's not like anything else we do. We practice and qualify the same day, and it's an impound race (i.e., no adjustments allowed after qualifying). I don't know; it just makes it really hard. You practice during the day, and you get no practice at all at night. Then you race at night, so that makes it always really tough."

Montoya, 34, has demonstrated his mettle at a variety of tracks, though his lone victory remains a 2007 race at Infineon Raceway, a road course. His Richmond record, however, is moribund. In this race - Saturday night's is known as the Heath Calhoun 400 - he finished 10th a year ago, which is by far his best RIR showing. He was 19th in 2009's latter visit here. His average finish here is 26.33.

The best that can be said is that Montoya is upwardly mobile. The chronological order of his finishes reflects improvement: in order, beginning in 2007, 26th, 41st, 32nd, 30th, 10th, 19th.

"I think it's pretty hard because we always suck here," he said. "We can qualify OK, but we've never been that good in the race here."

What also sets Montoya apart is his candor. He doesn't effect some false reverence when he discusses NASCAR tracks.

Of Talladega, where one commentator after another has advanced the "greatest race in history" theory for Kevin Harvick's victory last weekend, Montoya said, "You ride half the race."

Hallowed Darlington, just a week away? "It's always been a really tough place to run, but it's in the middle of nowhere.

"I haven't found that in Darlington yet, but if you ask (Earnhardt Ganassi Racing team manager) Tony Glover, he thinks it's the Holy Grail of NASCAR."

But Montoya, once 26th in the Sprint Cup standings, is making a drive for a second consecutive appearance in the Chase. He is now 20th and has finished in the top five in two of the past three races. He was third after "riding around" at Talladega.

"We've been pretty good all year," he said. "We've been very good every race. We've had very good race cars and just rough luck.

"We've been involved in wrecks, and all of them have happened and been completely out of our hands. It's not like I made a mistake and caused the wreck, you know what I mean?"

Those who watch Montoya closely say he could win anywhere. He just hasn't yet.