The new wonder child of Nextel Cup, Juan Pablo Montoya, has achievedone of his goals in Nextel Cup – to win. His win came at the Toyota SaveMart 350 at Infineon. As this is one of the two Nextel Cup road races, you'd would expect an ex-Formula 1 driver to be at the front, and probably win. That being said, now Montoya has to win on an oval to show that he's truly arrived.

Montoya, who qualified a disappointing 32nd in the 43-car field, was the first driver to win on the Northern California road circuit starting further back than 13th.

"It's huge," Montoya said. "I would say right now it's the biggest thing I've done. In open-wheel, that's what I was meant to be winning in. In stock cars, I wasn't.” he added, continuing, "To get our first win in our first year is huge. We know we're a little bit behind on some of the ovals, but I think this is a big boost for everybody working in the shop."

Montoya, used every ounce of fuel as he nursed his mount to the finish line. Pit stop strategy

Juan Pablo Montoya won his first Nextel Cup race at Infineon. (Photo: Rusty Jarrett, Getty Images for NASCAR)

The other part that helped himcould be found in his qualifying position – 32nd. The team had the motor really leaned out. This really helps in the fuel mileage

Ron Fellows finished 15th at Infineon. (Photo: Rusty Jarrett, Getty Images for NASCAR)

So, Montoya had to struggle most of the day, then with the strategy coming his way, all he had to do was nurse it home – by saving as much fuel as possible.

Many will ask, “If he was saving fuel, how come he was smoking the tires under braking?” The answer is, if you really want to save the most fuel possible, you use full throttle, shift early, and when you would normally brake, you coast just a little, and then brakeas late as possible. Normally there is no coasting in racing, but when you are trying to save fuel, you coast as much as possible.

Road race specialist Ron Fellows was in the hunt for a top 10. He was using the same fuel strategy as Montoya, but clearly the Chevrolets had nothing

Jeff Gordon, like all the Chevrolets, didn't have the fuel mileage to stretch it to the end. (Photo: Rusty Jarrett, Getty Images for NASCAR)

2007 Unofficial Race Results : Toyota/Save Mart 350
FIN ST CAR DRIVER MAKE SPONSOR PTS/BNS LAPS STATUS
1 32 42 Juan Montoya * Dodge Texaco / Havoline 190/5 110 Running
2 22 29 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet Shell / Pennzoil 170/0 110 Running
3 6 31 Jeff Burton Chevrolet ATandT Mobility 165/0 110 Running
4 10 07 Clint Bowyer Chevrolet Jack Daniel's 160/0 110 Running
5 17 16 Greg BiffleFord Dish Network 155/0 110 Running
6 5 20 Tony Stewart Chevrolet The Home Depot 155/5 110 Running
7 41 24

Robby Gordon had probably the best car, but his strategy didn't pay off. (Photo: Rusty Jarrett, Getty Images for NASCAR)

Jamie McMurray paid the price for running out of fuel... the lead to 37th. (Photo: Rusty Jarrett, Getty Images for NASCAR)

The 24 and 48 were parked for failing tech on Friday... expect big fines for Hendrick Motorsports. (Photo: Rusty Jarrett, Getty Images for NASCAR)

Hendrick on the Hot Seat!

Be prepared for big news on Tuesday from NASCAR, as they more than likely will make history with the fines, points penalties and suspensions of personnel to Hendrick Motorsports.

At Infineon, the cars of Jeff Gordon and Jimmie Johnson failed pre-race tech, yet the cars of Kyle Busch and Casey Mears made it through – so much for all the equipment being equal.

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