Juan Pablo Montoya wins the Toyota/Save Mart 350

The former Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya won the NASCAR Nextel Cup race on Sunday.

Juan Pablo Montoya wins the Toyota/Save Mart 350 The Columbian driver started the race 32nd to win the Toyota/Save Mart 350 in California this Sunday. With his Nextel win, Montoya joined Mario Andretti and Dan Gurney as the only drivers to win races in both NASCAR and Formula One.

Montoya took the Nextel Cup victory running on fumes, using the familiar fuel strategy which seems to become a very useful tool for NASCAR racing. Within the past month, both Casey Mears and Jeff Gordon won a race by fuel management. Mears at Lowe's and Gordon at the Pocono 500.

But Jamie McMurray proved that the fuel-conserving tactic could easily turn against you, if improperly executed. McMurray, who took the pole position for the Toyota/Save Mart 350, was heading for a victory, but ran out of fuel for a 37th-place finish. Carl Edwards, who won last week in Michigan, also ran out of gas a little more than two laps from the checkered flag and finished 18th.

Toyota/Save Mart 350 results, top ten:

1. (42) Juan Pablo Montoya
2. (29) Kevin Harvick
3. (31) Jeff Burton
4. (07) Clint Bowyer
5. (16) Greg Biffle
6. (20) Tony Stewart
7. (24) Jeff Gordon
8. (5) Kyle Busch
9. (160) Boris Said
10. (11) Denny Hamlin

Published on 06/25/2007