Juan Pablo Montoya started racing as a child in Colombia. From 1984 to 1991, he captured many local and national titles in karting. He continued to race in several different series from 1992 to 1996 until 1997, when he landed his first major break after finishing second in the FIA International Formula 3000 Championship – a test with Williams F1 Team. Although nothing would come out of the test initially, Montoya was able to show that he was more than capable of driving – winning the Formula 3000 championship the next season, scoring a record points total of 65 points.
Instead of getting into Formula One, Montoya headed to North America where he joined Target Chip Ganassi Racing in the CART Championship Series. In 1999 he won the CART Championship, as well as Rookie of the Year, making him the youngest champion in the history of the series. The following year in 2000, he won the IRL IndyCar Series' Indianapolis 500 on his first attempt.
Succeeding in America, Juan Pablo Montoya went to Formula One's BMW Williams in 2001 with a question mark on his forehead. Would he make the transition from dominating the CART Series in 1999 and 2000 and do the same in F1? Doubts were plentiful early, but then came his stunning performance in the third race of the season – where he challenged Michael Schumacher at the Grand Prix of Brazil and literally pushed the defending champion off the road for the lead. Montoya led 33 laps in Sao Paulo before Jos Verstappen ran into the back of him, bringing a disappointing DNF. Montoya finished his first F1 race in Spain later that same month, earning his first podium finish with a second-place run.
In his first year in the sport, he finished sixth in the Championship. He continued driving for BMW Williams until the end of the 2004 season, when he departed to join Team McLaren Mercedes. During his time with Williams, the Colombian scored four victories, including the prestigious Grand Prix of Monte Carlo in 2003, and 23 podium finishes. Also, he scored a career best finish of third in the championship following both the 2002 and 2003 season.
Despite offering high levels of potential at McLaren, Montoya was never able to replicate his success at Williams.
After starting out the 2005 season relatively strong, Montoya suffered an injury while playing tennis and had to sit out two races. He came back from his injury with little success until he captured the win and his first podium of the season in Great Britain. He had mixed results the rest of the season, with two more wins and two additional podium finishes, to finish fourth in the standings.
While staying healthy throughout the 2006 campaign, Montoya failed to impress at McLaren. In the first 10 races of the season, Montoya scored just two podium finishes (third in San Marino and second in Monaco) yet incurred an unexpectedly high amount of retirements (five total). Following his fifth early retirement, at the United States Grand Prix, Montoya shocked the motorsports world when he announced that he would be leaving Formula One following the 2006 season to reunite with his friend Chip Ganassi and drive the No. 42 Texaco Havoline Dodge for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, becoming the first Formula One driver to drive in NASCAR full time. That announcement was the final straw for McLaren, who promptly axed him in the days following the press conference – despite eight races remaining on the Formula One calendar.
Montoya was allowed to begin his stock car career in earnest following an ABC program that consisted of two races in the ARCA RE/MAX Series (Talladega and Iowa Speedway), four races in the Nationwide Series and his debut in the Sprint Cup Series (Homestead).
In 2007, he competed full time in the Sprint Cup Series and won the Raybestos Rookie of the Year award, going up against drivers David Ragan and Willie Allen. He was the fourth driver of the Texaco-Havoline car to win rookie of the year honors, joining the late Davey Allison (1987), the late Kenny Irwin (1998) and Jamie McMurray (2003), and he's the second to drive the No. 42 for Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates(McMurray).
Montoya also scored his first career Cup victory in 2007 and three top-fives and six top-10s.
Montoya's sophomore season didn't go as well as his rookie season and he only managed to score two top-five finishes and three top 10s en route to a 25th-place finish in the standings.
