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Juan Pablo Montoya took the checkered flag on the road at Infineon in June after winning in Mexico City on the Nationwide Series in March.

Luckily, the rookie from Colombia did not have to spin out one of his Ganassi teammates to cross the line first at the Cup level, which he did on the junior circuit to teammate Scott Pruett. It was a shot below the belt, or south of the border.

In his second Cup season, Montoya will once again be a threat on the road courses, as will the latest crop of open wheel imports — namely rookies Patrick Carpentier and Jacques Villeneuve — who have experience turning right and left.

The new accents add an element of surprise to the race, but the battle-tested road warriors remain the same. Jeff Gordon and Tony Stewart are the kings of the road, and will continue to be.

Gordon has five career wins at Sonoma, which is more than any driver since the Cup’s annual trip to wine country started in 1989. He also cruised to a runner-up in ’03, a third in ’01 and a seventh last year. Stewart ran away with wins in ’05 and ’01, while also registering a runner-up finish in ’02, a sixth in 2007 and a 10th in 2000.

Robby Gordon won here in ’03 and led 48 laps on his way to 16th place last year after fuel mileage ruined his shot at a win. The “other” Gordon is always a threat on the road.

As usual, road ringer Boris Said (sixth in ’03 and ’04, ninth in ’06 and ’07) will get plenty of pub.

FANTASY STALL

Looking at Checkers
Stick with the usual suspects: Gordon and Stewart.
Pretty Solid Pick
Juan Pablo Montoya
Good Sleeper Pick
Jamie McMurray is worth a look.

Runs on Seven Cylinders
Dave Blaney, Kyle Petty
Insider Tip
Take a flyer on one of the open wheelers.

KEEP AN EYE ON...
Greg Biffle Surprisingly, Biffle has three top-10 runs at Infineon and Watkins Glen in the last four races. His last two at Infineon have gone for fifth- and fourth-place showings.

Carl Edwards He hasn’t set the road ablaze, but Edwards does have three top 10s in his last four road course starts.

Jamie McMurray A look at the 2007 result sheet can be deceiving. McMurray is credited with a 37th-place finish but actually won the pole and led 30 laps. He was on point late when Juan Pablo Montoya passed him, and McMurray promptly ran out of gas on the final lap, plunging 35 spots as a result.

The Old Guard Retired or semi-retired drivers have made one-off starts on the road courses over the last few seasons with modestly successful results. Terry Labonte drove Hall of Fame Racing’s No. 96 to a third-place run in 2006. If Labonte or a guy like Ricky Rudd suits up, their experience and smarts could go a long way for a struggling operation in need of some camera time.


RACE RESULTS FOR Toyota/Save Mart 350 (Jun 22nd, 2008)
DRIVER MANUFACTURER START FINISH POINTS EARNINGS
Kyle Busch (#18) Toyota 30 1 195 $309,925
David Gilliland (#38) Ford 31 2 170 $207,658
Jeff Gordon (#24) Chevrolet 5 3 165 $191,736
Clint Bowyer (#07) Chevrolet 19 4 160 $143,725
Casey Mears (#5) Chevrolet 23 5 155 $123,075
Juan Pablo Montoya (#42) Dodge 21 6 150 $130,533
Ryan Newman (#12) Dodge 9 7 146 $140,025
Matt Kenseth (#17) Ford 33 8 142 $142,841
Carl Edwards (#99) Ford 12 9 143 $134,725
Tony Stewart (#20) Toyota 39 10 134 $136,261
Greg Biffle (#16) Ford 10 11 135 $95,600
Dale Earnhardt Jr. (#88) Chevrolet 15 12 127 $94,050
Jeff Burton (#31) Chevrolet 20 13 124 $128,508
Brian Vickers (#83) Toyota 26 14 121 $84,200
Jimmie Johnson (#48) Chevrolet 2 15 123 $135,336
Martin Truex Jr. (#1) Chevrolet 25 16 115 $113,433
Terry Labonte (#45) Dodge 11 17 112 $97,883
Jamie McMurray (#26) Ford 18 18 109 $89,375
Elliott Sadler (#19) Dodge 6 19 106 $106,695
Dave Blaney (#22) Toyota 16 20 103 $96,233
Michael McDowell (#00) Toyota 34 21 100 $92,233
Travis Kvapil (#28) Ford 41 22 97 $105,639
Patrick Carpentier (#10) Dodge 37 23 94 $75,350
David Ragan (#6) Ford 38 24 91 $85,250
Michael Waltrip (#55) Toyota 35 25 88 $86,672
Joe Nemechek (#78) Chevrolet 24 26 85 $72,800
Denny Hamlin (#11) Toyota 13 27 82 $110,441
Aric Almirola (#8) Chevrolet 40 28 79 $108,933
Ron Fellows (#01) Chevrolet 22 29 76 $82,550
Kevin Harvick (#29) Chevrolet 32 30 73 $118,861
Sam Hornish Jr (#77) Dodge 17 31 70 $116,825
Kurt Busch (#2) Dodge 3 32 67 $74,605
Kasey Kahne (#9) Dodge 1 33 69 $110,936
Paul Menard (#15) Chevrolet 29 34 61 $78,880
Max Papis (#70) Chevrolet 28 35 58 $70,745
Robby Gordon (#7) Dodge 8 36 55 $78,635
A.J. Allmendinger (#84) Toyota 36 37 52 $70,500
Scott Pruett (#40) Dodge 27 38 49 $97,599
Bobby Labonte (#43) Dodge 4 39 46 $107,511
David Reutimann (#44) Toyota 42 40 43 $70,125
Boris Said (#45) Dodge 14 41 40 $70,000
Marcos Ambrose (#47) Ford 7 42 37 $88,250
Brian Simo (#24) Chevrolet 43 43 34 $70,164

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