Juan Pablo Montoya announced his much-anticipated return to NASCAR racing after an absence of more than a decade, selecting Watkins Glen as his comeback venue. Racing under the 23XI Racing banner, Montoya is set to drive the No. 50 Mobil 1 Toyota, a third entry for the team, in its final start of the season at the acclaimed “Go Bowling at The Glen” event next month.
Having last participated in the NASCAR Cup Series in 2014, Montoya’s resume boasts 278 starts across both the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series. With a noteworthy career spanning from 2007 to 2013 as a full-time NASCAR Cup Series driver, he garnered two wins—one each at Sonoma Raceway and Watkins Glen. Despite his brief stint in 2014 comprising only two starts, Montoya’s history with Watkins Glen includes a memorable win among seven Cup Series starts and a 33rd place finish in his only Xfinity Series start there.
The allure of a familiar track seems to have played a significant role in Montoya’s decision to rejoin the racing circuit. Opening up on his decision to make a return, Montoya commented, as quoted by Racer.com:
Steve Lauletta [the president of 23XI Racing] called me and said, ‘Hey, would you be interested in doing Watkins ?’ And I thought, ‘Oh, that would be fun.’
Honestly, it was pretty much that. I thought it would be pretty cool. I always enjoyed running at The Glen, to be honest. We always ran well there in Cup and since then, I’ve been to The Glen many times with IMSA and with IndyCar, and I know the track well. I thought it would be a fun thing to do, you know?
“I’m in the point in my career that, honestly, I’m not looking for a job. I’m not looking for anything. But an opportunity like this comes along, and I think I can still be really competitive and have a shot at it. So, why not?”
As for his expectations, Montoya stated enthusiastically:
“Honestly, it’s exciting,” Montoya said of being back in the NASCAR community. “One of the cool things in 23XI there is a lot of the folks that work there used to work at Ganassi back in the day, so it was really nice to see a lot of old faces. I’m really excited for the opportunity.
