About Juan Pablo Montoya
Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈxwam ˈpaβlo monˈtoʝa rolˈdan]; born 20 September 1975) is a Colombian former racing driver who competed in Formula One from 2001 to 2006, IndyCar between 1999 and 2022, and the NASCAR Cup Series between 2006 and 2024. Montoya won seven Formula One Grands Prix across six seasons. In American open-wheel racing, Montoya won the CART Championship Series in 1999 with Chip Ganassi Racing (CGR) and is a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500. In endurance racing, Montoya won the IMSA SportsCar Championship in 2019 with Team Penske and is a three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Daytona with CGR. Montoya began kart racing at the age of five, progressing to car racing in Colombia and Mexico at age 17, finishing runner-up in the Copa Formula Renault and winning the Nationale Tournement Swift GTI Championship. He also competed in the Barber Saab Pro Series, the Formula Vauxhall Lotus Championship and the British Formula 3 Championship. In 1997 and 1998, Montoya raced in the International Formula 3000 for RSM Marko and then Super Nova Racing, winning seven races and the 1998 Drivers' Championship. He debuted in CART in 1999 with CGR, winning the series championship as a rookie in 1999. During the 2000 CART season, Montoya's car suffered from unreliability, but he still won three races for ninth in the Drivers' Championship. That year also saw him win the Indianapolis 500 in his first attempt. Montoya first drove in Formula One with the Williams team in the 2001 season and won his first race in that year's Italian Grand Prix. Montoya qualified on pole position seven times in the 2002 championship and won two races in the 2003 season that put him third in the World Drivers' Championship in both years. He fell to fifth in the 2004 World Drivers' Championship, but won the season-ending Brazilian Grand Prix. At the start of the 2005 season, Montoya moved to McLaren and finished fourth with three victories. Montoya subsequently left F1 in the 2006 season, after that year's United States Grand Prix, and began competing in NASCAR for CGR in late 2006. During his seven-year NASCAR career, Montoya won the 2007 Telcel-Motorola Mexico 200, the 2007 Toyota/Save Mart 350 and the 2010 Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at the Glen. He qualified for the Chase for the Sprint Cup in 2009 and finished a career-high eighth in that season's points standings. Montoya would later make one-off NASCAR appearances: twice in 2014 for Team Penske and once in 2024 for 23XI Racing. For the 2014 season, Montoya moved to the IndyCar Series with Team Penske, winning once. In 2015. he won two races (including the Indianapolis 500) and finished second in the championship to Scott Dixon. His final series victory came in 2016. He made his IMSA debut for Team Penske at the 2017 Petit Le Mans, competing full-time from 2018 to 2020. Paired with Dane Cameron, Montoya won the IMSA championship in the Prototype class in 2019. Montoya has also won the 6 Hours of Bogotá three times as well as the individual event of the Race of Champions in 2017. During the 2000 CART season, Montoya's car suffered from unreliability, but still won three races for ninth in the Drivers' Championship.
Biography source: Wikipedia. The profile adds birthday-specific historical context from the Celebs Birthday Today editorial database.