09 July 2006
Juan Pablo Montoya is to leave Formula One at the end of this season for a drive in the American NASCAR series with Chip Ganassi Racing. Ganassi announced that Montoya has signed a multi-year deal with his team.
Montoya's future in F1 has been the focus of much speculation over the past few months and when it appeared that McLaren had not taken up its option on his services, the Colombian looked set to return to the US.
Announcing the move on Sunday Ganassi said, "We are thrilled to be getting a driver of this caliber. Juan Pablo is one of the best race car drivers in the world. He is a former CART Champion, Indy 500 winner and Formula 1 driver that will bring a much needed veteran presence to our team."
Montoya will become the first regular F1 driver to move directly to the Nextel Cup when he contests his first race next year. The Colombian and Chip Ganassi are no strangers. Montoya drove for Ganassi's open-wheel team during the 1999 and 2000 CART seasons. Following his two years with Ganassi, Montoya made the jump to
Formula 1.
Until now Montoya has started 94 F1 Grand Prix, winning seven and finishing on the podium 30 times.