"How successful will Juan Montoya be in NASCAR?"
My Take: I believe after a good amount of testing and a complete season under his belt, Juan Montoya can be successfull in NASCAR, with that said, I think he should run the Busch Series first for a year or two for the experience then jump to the Nextel Cup Series. I will be watching to see how he does in the first half of the 2007 season and later this year in the Busch Series, so just like Toyota coming into the Cup Series in 2007, it will be a wait and see.Now, in case you missed the announcement from yesterday morning, Juan Montoya has signed a multi-year deal to drive the #42 Dodge for Chip Ganassi Racing in the Nextel Cup Series starting in 2007 and he will also run all of the Busch Series races that are in conjunction with the Cup Series. After Montoya finishes with his Formula One contract, he will begin testing later this year and running a couple of race in the Busch Series to get him ready and qualifyied (NASCAR Approval) for the 2007 Daytona 500.
From Formula1.com: De la Rosa to replace Montoya
Tuesday Morning, McLaren have announced current race driver Juan Pablo Montoya will not drive for the rest of the 2006 season and test driver Pedro de la Rosa will race alongside Kimi Raikkonen for this weekend’s French Grand Prix. Montoya is free to get ready for his Busch Series and Nextel Cup series Debut.
As for the press release from McLaren on releasing Montoya, that was a good move for them, bring in there test driver to show what he can do, who is one of the fasted drivers on friday in Formula One practice. This gives Montoya more time to get ready for the 2007 season.
