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Home | Motorsports | Juan Pablo Montoya
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The highlights of his career include winning the International F3000 championship in 1998, and the CART Championship Series in 1999, as well as victories in some of the most prestigious races in the world. He is the only driver to have won the premier North American open-wheel CART title, the Indianapolis 500 and the 24 Hours of Daytona, all at the first attempt. Montoya is one of two drivers to have won the CART title in his rookie year, the first being Formula One World Champion Nigel Mansell in 1993. He has also equalled Graham Hill's feat of being a Monaco Grand Prix and Indianapolis 500 race winner; Montoya is currently one of only two active drivers (along with Jacques Villeneuve) who has won two legs of the Triple Crown of Motorsport. Montoya has also become a crossover race winner by winning races (starting in each case in his rookie year) in Formula One, CART, IndyCar, Grand-AM and NASCAR equalling in that respect Mario Andretti's caliber of success (except for the F1 World Championship); And shares honors as well with Dan Gurney in being IndyCar/F1/NASCAR race winner. Montoya is also the only driver to have competed in all three major events at Indianapolis, finishing fourth or better in each event. He finished 1st in the Indianapolis 500, 2nd in the Brickyard 400, and 4th in the US Grand Prix. In October 2009, Montoya was ranked 30th in a list of the top 50 Formula One drivers of all time by Times Online. |
