Juan Pablo Montoya was on top of the world when he won the Indianapolis 500 last year.
But after this year’s 500 – the 100th running of the iconic race – Montoya was lower than low.
He wrecked about one-third of the way through the Greatest Spectacle In Racing, ending his day prematurely – and finishing an ignominious 33rd in the 33-driver field.
As in last place.
But Montoya won’t let what happened in Indy keep him down. He’s already put Indianapolis in his rearview mirror and is looking forward to not one, but two chances to redeem himself this weekend in the Chevrolet Dual of Detroit.
“It’s good to get right back at it after Indianapolis,” Montoya said. “We certainly didn’t have the best of luck during the month of May.
“That’s why I think it’s good to get after it again. It’s time to move on from Indy.”
Montoya and the rest of the Verizon IndyCar Series now head to Detroit for back-to-back, points paying races on Saturday and Sunday.
Montoya has made four starts at Belle Isle. He finished 12th and 13th in 2014 and 10th in both races in 2015 (he also started from the pole in one of the those races and from third position in the other race).
“We had good starts last year in the Verizon Chevy in the Belle Isle races,” Montoya said. “The finishes weren’t where we’d like.
“We were able to lead some laps in the Sunday race (led 35 of the race’s 68 laps), so maybe we can build off that.”
Montoya dropped from third to 10th in the IndyCar standings after his dismal finish at Indianapolis, his worst finish of 2016 – and his only showing outside the top-10 in the first six races.
“We just need to get some positive momentum going,” Montoya said. “It’s really been an up-and-down season, which gets frustrating.”
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