Juan Pablo Montoya reveals the truth about his return to Nascar: ‘I don’t want to do something full-time, I’ve already made my career’

On Friday morning the bombshell of the return of Juan Pablo Montoya to the Nascar. The 23XI Racing team announced him as one of the drivers for the race The Watkins Glen International which will take place on September 15th.

Juan Pablo will return to the Nascar Cup Series, to the place where he was happy after 10 years of absence. The last time the experienced Colombian driver was behind a wheel in the category was in Indianapolis 2014 with the Penske Ford.

Montoya excited about his return to Nascar

TIME spoke with Juan Pablo Montoya what will be your return to the Nascar. His voice sounded very excited about the opportunity to sit in a top-class car again. USA.

“It’s going to be fun and I’m really excited, I like the opportunity and since I’m not racing full time, this seemed like a pretty fun thing to do because it’s just one race, one weekend,” said the 48-year-old runner.

In the midst of the excitement, Montoya He explained how the approach with the 23XI Racing team to run the The Watkins Glen International“My return to Nascar came with a call… They asked me if I was interested in doing the Watkins Glen race with Mobil, for the 50th anniversary,” he began by saying.

“I thought it was cool because I have history with Mobil-1, it was my first sponsor in Colombia, it sponsored me when I was in McLaren, So they were looking for drivers who had already been with them before to celebrate the 50th anniversary and everything fit together and aligned very well,” he added. Juan Pablo who will take advantage of the long break in Formula 3, the category in which his son competes Sebastian Montoya.

For Juan Pablo, this opportunity is special because it is a circuit he knows well, having triumphed there. “I won in NASCAR there, I did very well when I raced in Indy Car, when I was in prototypes. I have raced everything, but the difference is that prototypes and Indy are raced on the big circuit, NASCAR is on the small one, but I am very happy.”

Juan Pablo Montoya rules out competing full-time

The former pilot of Formula 1 He was clear in responding that it will only be a race, that was what encouraged him and his family, but that he is not thinking about returning full-time to professional competition.

On possible proposals to run with a team for a full season, he said: “I would say no, thank you very much,” and added: “I am focused on Sebastian (Montoya) And the truth is I want to be in a race or something like that, that seems cool to me. I don’t want to do something full-time.”

Juan Pablo said that his plan is to support Sebastián Montoya in his sports career, to be close to him as a father and manager. “My focus has changed a little, right now it is different. Right now the focus is on getting Sebastián ahead, not my career, I already made it and I don’t have to prove anything to anyone… One has to be very conscious of that and very calm about what is happening.”

On the other hand, Juan Pablo Montoya He spoke about the tough competition he will face and detailed what this month and a half of preparation will be like. “It is a very good opportunity, the races are fun and it is very hard because you only have 20 minutes of practice and 10 minutes of qualifying and that’s it. That part is going to be complicated.”

“I’m going to do a specific preparation. I usually go to the gym, but I have to intensify it and I’ve been doing it for a while. I’ve lost weight and I have to get organized because the race is tough,” he said.

He added: “I’m just doing one session. I’m doing a lot of weight loss work, so that’s the opposite of hard gym work. I’m focusing a lot on arms and shoulders, which is what I really need for the car. Right now I was in the gym in the morning, then I did the simulator and then I’m going to ride my bike. You have to do a little bit of everything.”

He said about the car: “I have done a lot of simulator work to prepare myself and I am going to do a day of testing to get used to the car a little because it is different from when I drove it. I was in an older car before, this is a newer version. It is different because it brakes better, has less power, the tires are different.”

HAROLD YEPES

SPORT