Transitioning Montoya enjoys role, appreciates Indy opportunity

INDIANAPOLIS - This, Juan Pablo Monoyta says, is the right way to do the Indianapolis 500.

“It’s been nice,” the two-time winner said Thursday of his newfound part-time role in racing. “There’s no stress.”

Amid what he calls a “transition year,” the 41-year-old Colombian has flitted in for a two-race return engagement with Team Penske at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

He finished 10th on the road course May 13, but Montoya really has only one job here: win a third Indy for himself and a 17th for team owner Roger Penske.

“There was no stress about qualifying,” Montoya said. “There’s no stress about, you know, we’ve still got to have a good day because of points.”

For the first time in some 25 years, Montoya is a part-time driver, awaiting a move into sports cars after two stints in Indy cars, one in Formula One and one in NASCAR. He remains engaged in racing, though, spending more time than ever with his karting team, mentoring hopefuls as young as 7 and others far older.

A big focus this summer — as the Verizon IndyCar Series rolls from Texas to Wisconsin to Iowa and Toronto — will be on the budding career of Montoya’s 11-year-old son, Sebastian.

“You never know how things are going to go,” Montoya said of this latest turn in his career.

“Sebastian is to the point now that I feel we need to go to Europe to bring his driving to the next level and make him an even better racer. . . . Make sure we do everything we need to and he understands what needs to be done, how hard you need to try.

“He trains. He does triathlons now.”

For this month, though, the focus shifts back from son to dad.

Montoya has won two of his four Indy 500 starts (2000 and 2015). He never felt comfortable through practice and qualifying last May and crashed out in 33rd place.

This year has been smoother, even after some time away.

“Running five cars is a new experience, without a doubt,” team President Tim Cindric said. “But when you look at Montoya being here, what have we raced, five races this year? So he’s sat out four races.

“At the end of the day, he ran full seasons the past two years, so he’s sat out maybe two months relative to the others. . . . So he was right back up to speed once we got here.”

Although the team hired young American Josef Newgarden to take Montoya’s place on the team full-time, Penske made a place for Montoya for the 500. One more chance with a proven winner can’t hurt, right?

And Montoya and his teammates say he dropped in seamlessly, the way they’d expect. He qualified 18th for Sunday.

“Juan is an incredible talent,” said Helio Castroneves, a three-time Indy winner. “Every time he comes in, it brings a lot.

“It’s just like that food that you have and something’s missing. You put something spicy . . . Tabasco . . . that’s Juan Pablo. Spice it up, turn things around, but in a good way.

“Obviously I’m a big fan of this guy. I know what a talent he is. It’s great to have him back.”