Juan Pablo Montoya says he is open to the idea of attempting the Indianapolis 500/Charlotte 600 IndyCar/NASCAR double next year if team owner Roger Penske gives him the opportunity.
The Colombian returned to IndyCar for 2014 as part of Penske’s three-car line-up after his six-year stint in NASCAR with Ganassi came to an end last year. He has since contested two Sprint Cup races for Penske in conjunction with his IndyCar campaign, and said that he is open to the idea of racing in both series on the same day next year.
“I wouldn’t mind,” he said when questioned about the idea . “Physically I don’t think it would be that hard, to be honest with you. If you want to do it properly, it would be a lot of fun.
“Their [Penske’s] [Cup] cars on a mile-and-a-half track run really, really good. If you could have a test day on a mile-and-a-half to get the car close to what I want, it would be a fun experience. There are a lot of possibilities if you think about it.”
Montoya, whose win at Pocono last month was his first in an open-wheel car since he left Formula 1 in mid-2006, is currently on a one-year contract with Penske, although both he and the team have indicated that he is expected to continue on in ’15.
Kurt Busch attempted to become the fourth driver to complete the double this year. The Cup star finished sixth on his IndyCar debut at Indianapolis with Andretti Autosport, but retired just over halfway into the Charlotte race after suffering an engine failure.
Comments