There were a lot of acclaimed drivers to pick from, but fans voted for Juan Pablo Montoya as the greatest driver in Chip Ganassi Racing history.
Montoya who won the 2000 Indianapolis 500 and 2007 and 2008 Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona for Ganassi, as well as the 2003 Formula One Monaco Grand Prix for Williams. He joined Mario Andretti as the only driver to win in NASCAR, IndyCars and Formula One.
Fans were asked to vote through the team’s social media platforms.
“It’s great to see the fans get so involved with the contest and for them to pick me makes it that much better,” Montoya said. “I was up against some tough competition but my fans and Twitter followers pulled through for me. #TeamMontoya even ended up as a trending topic in Miami and Colombia. That’s pretty cool. Thank you to everyone for the votes!”
Montoya beat current Ganassi IndyCar driver Dario Franchitti, who won his third Indianapolis 500 last Sunday. Other of his top drivers included: former IndyCar champions Alex Zanardi, Scott Dixon, Jimmy Vasser and Dan Wheldon, sports car champion Scott Pruett and Daytona 500 and Brickyard 400 winner Jamie McMurray.
Wallace: Too many races in NASCAR
Rusty Wallace was voted into the NASCAR Hall of Fame last week, and he marked the occasion by saying there are too many races.
Wallace said he’d like the schedule to be reduced from 36 regular season races to 32. There also are two all-star events.
“It’s the classic case of supply and demand," Wallace told The Associated Press. “Too much supply and not enough demand.
The Sprint Cup Series schedule expanded to 36 weekly events in 2001. Although the Las Vegas Motor Speedway wants a second race and plans have been off and on for new tracks in Denver and New York, NASCAR officials repeatedly have said the season won’t get any longer.
Wallace said the sport is too watered down with its current schedule, which has created a declining demand for tickets and lower television ratings.
“I love NASCAR. It’s been good to me. It’s made me a lot of money,” Wallace said. “Maybe take four races off the schedule and increase that demand that means so much.”
