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Wrigley's Big Red Team Finishes 33rd After Early Pit Road Incident
FONTANA, CA (September 2, 2007)—The final Wrigley's Big Red race was definitely hot and spicy, but not in the way the team had hoped. With temperatures all weekend well over 100 degrees, the team had to deal with a blown engine in qualifying, a 42nd-starting spot and a pit road incident before finishing the 500-mile race at California Speedway in the 33rd position.
The Big Red Dodge had slipped out of gear during the final practice session on Friday, causing the engine to over-rev. The high level of RPMs overworked the engine and it gave out during Montoya’s qualifying run. The team was able to install a new engine for the two practice sessions Saturday morning, and despite a 42nd-place starting spot were optimistic heading into the 250-lap race.
Montoya was able to gain eight spots before the first caution waved on lap nine for a single-car incident. Crew Chief Donnie Wingo called Montoya down pit road on lap 10 for fresh tires. As Wingo counted Montoya into his pit stall, the No. 99 came blazing out of his pit directly behind Montoya's and drove into the left front fender of the Big Red Dodge. The car suffered extensive damage and took an additional stop under caution to repair it enough to get Montoya back out onto the track.
The damaged fender made the car difficult to drive for Montoya as it was extremely tight all night. Wingo and his crew continued to work on the car under caution periods to free up the car. Montoya and the team battled all evening on and off the track to finish the race in the 33rd position.
Montoya and the No. 42 team slipped one spot to 19th in the NASCAR NEXTEL Cup standings, but Montoya still leads the Raybestos Rookie standings by 23 points over David Ragan.
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