Going, Going, Juan

Juan Montoya’s farewell ride in a CART champ car today at California Speedway could be a historic one.

If the Colombian superstar wins the Marlboro 500, he will become only the second driver in open-wheel racing to win three 500-mile races in the same year.

Driving for Chip Ganassi, he has already won the Michigan 500 in a Lola-Toyota and the Indianapolis 500 in a G Force-Oldsmobile. He will be in the Lola-Toyota here.

Only Al Unser, who won at Indy, Ontario and Pocono, Pa., in 1978, has scored racing’s hat trick.

After running an eye-popping 242.253 mph lap in practice Friday, Montoya slowed a bit in Saturday’s time trials. His official speed of 237.688 mph gave him the fifth starting position for today’s race, which will begin at 11:30 a.m.

“‘I’m a bit disappointed since we were so fast yesterday,” he said. “My starting position is not critical since it is a 500-mile race, but it’s always nice to start up front. My strategy won’t change at all. I’m going to go out and try to win.”

Gil de Ferran captured the pole with a closed-course speed record of 241.428 mph, bettering the 240.942 mph set by Mauricio Gugelmin here in 1997. Michael Andretti, making his final start in a Newman-Haas car, will be alongside on the front row.

A near-capacity crowd of 100,000 is expected for Montoya’s race for history and the four-driver race among de Ferran, Adrian Fernandez, Paul Tracy and Kenny Brack for the CART championship.

It might seem sacrilegious to mention it around Rick Mears, Mario Andretti or Tom Sneva, but Montoya, off to seek his fortune with Frank Williams’ team next year in Formula One, can lay claim to being the greatest oval track driver in modern open-wheel racing. Since coming to CART from Formula 3000 two years ago, he has won seven times in 18 oval races.

What makes this record more remarkable is that before joining Ganassi’s Target team, he had driven in only one oval race, a Barber Saab event in 1984.

“I’m going to miss the ovals,” he said. “I got so I really enjoyed them, although the superspeedways like Fontana can be very dangerous.

“I’m going to miss my guys [crewmen] and the other drivers. Some of them, that is. There are some I won’t miss at all.”

One he will miss is Jimmy Vasser, his Ganassi teammate, who is also moving on next year. Vasser, who was told in midseason that he did not fit into Ganassi’s 2001 plans, broke out of a slump to win at Houston three weeks ago after a tense race with Montoya.

“I was glad to see Jimmy win--he’s been a great teammate, a great friend--but don’t get the idea I was letting him win,” Montoya said with a grin. “I was driving as hard as I could. He had the better car that day.

“Believe me, he has been a fantastic help for me. Jimmy helped me prepare for places I had never seen in 1999 [Montoya’s rookie CART season]. I hope that his win helps get him a good ride next year.”

Montoya’s two-year oval record includes more than just seven victories. He has sat on the pole seven times and has led 15 of the last 16 races.

He won the Michigan 500 earlier this year after a riveting wheel-to-wheel duel with Michael Andretti over the final 20 laps. His winning margin of 0.040 of a second was the third-closest in champ car history.

“I’ve always liked to go fast, and you can’t go much faster than on big ovals like Fontana and Michigan,” Montoya said. “Superspeedways are dangerous to learn but fun to drive--once you learn to tell your foot to keep it on the floor. Looking back on the 500s, they’ve all been pretty wild. I’ll miss them.”

In his only start at California Speedway, he finished fourth last year behind Fernandez, Max Papis and Christian Fittipaldi, 20 seconds back of the winner.

“I really want to win [today’s] race,” he said. “A third 500 would be great, and so would that million-dollar prize. Right now, the thought of [joining Al Unser] in the history books doesn’t mean much. Maybe when I’m an old man, I’ll look back on it.

“Today, though, my only thought is winning. It would be a nice going-away present for Chip if I won my last race.”

First prize is worth $1 million.

Montoya was a Formula One test driver for Williams in 1998 when he agreed to come to the United States to drive for Ganassi.

Said Montoya, “It was a three-year deal, but Frank said that I could come back earlier if I wanted to, so here I am, ready to go back after two years.”

In two years with CART, the former Colombian go-kart driver won 10 races, 14 poles and last year’s FedEx CART championship. It was the fourth in a row for Ganassi, who also had won in 1996 with Vasser and in 1997 and ’98 with Alex Zanardi. The team’s attempt to win a fifth ended when both drivers failed to finish a number of this season’s races.

Montoya is ninth in points, Vasser sixth.

De Ferran took one small step toward the championship when his track-record lap not only won him the pole, but one point in the tense battle for the $1-million prize for the series winner. The 33-year-old Brazilian, who drives a Honda-Reynard for Roger Penske, now holds a six-point lead over Fernandez, last year’s Marlboro 500 winner. Fernandez qualified a disappointing 14th at 233.659 mph.

“Obviously, we’re happy with that extra point,” de Ferran said. “You never know when you’ll need it.”

Tracy and Brack, with still a fading hope to win the championship, fell 19 points back. There are 21 points at stake today, 20 for the win and one for leading the most laps.

Even if Montoya were to win and de Ferran and Fernandez fail to score points, the highest place he could reach would be third.

“I feel bad that I couldn’t give the team one more championship,” Montoya said. “It would have been a great way to repay them for being so good to me these two years. We gave it our best shot, but it was frustrating.

“Maybe that’s been good for me. It made me realize that everything doesn’t always go my way. Some strange things happened, like at Nazareth [Pa.] and Motegi [Japan]”

At Nazareth, he led every green flag lap up to Lap 118, when he ran over debris from another car’s accident. At Motegi, he led 172 of the first 175 laps before a fluke pit accident sidelined him. An air jack hose wrapped around his turbo boost inlet, almost as if it had been unplugged, with only 26 laps remaining.

“I hope we avoid all that sort of thing [today],” Montoya said. “There will be a big following here from Colombia and I’d like to see them waving their Colombian flags in celebration. It would a good way to send them home happy for the last time from the United States.

“Wait, that’s not quite right. I’ll be back next year at Indianapolis for the Formula One race.”

Montoya spent the F1 weekend last month at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, visiting with his 2001 crew.

“It was sort of a get-acquainted time,” he said. “I was very impressed with the car Williams will have next year. It looks very competitive. Ralf [Schumacher] was running second for a time and Jenson Button looked very sharp. I can’t wait to get in the car and start testing myself.”

That will occur next month in Barcelona. Montoya will replace Button, who is moving to Benetton. Schumacher, younger brother of three-time world champion Michael, will be Montoya’s teammate.

First, though, are 250 times around the D-shaped oval today--Montoya’s last ride for Ganassi.

The Facts

* What: Marlboro 500

* Time: 11:30 a.m., today

* Where: California Speedway

* TV: ESPN

Rookie Magic

Kurt Busch won the Motorola 200 at Fontana in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck series. D17