Juan Pablo Montoya appeared to be cruising to victory at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Sunday, easily pulling away from the rest of the field as the laps trickled down in the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard.

But it was Montoya’s speed that cost him the victory.

Montoya was caught going too fast on pit road with just 35 laps to go, conceding the lead to Mark Martin, who was soon overtaken by Jimmie Johnson. Johnson held off a late charge from Martin to win his second straight Brickyard 400, while Montoya took home the 11th position.

But after the race, it was all about the speeding penalty that decided the fate of Montoya, who led a race high 116 of 160 laps.
“I swear on my children and my wife that I was not speeding!” Montoya shouted over his radio following the penalty. “There is no way! Thank you NASCAR for screwing my day!”

Montoya appeared to be calmer, but understandably frustrated following the race.

"Ah, it kind of sucks," he said after the race. "But it is what it is. Everybody on the Target Chevy did an amazing job. I thought I was on the speed. We got lights. I was on the lights every time. I was where I was on the previous one, and they say I was speeding. It is what it is. We had a deal like that before and once it happens, you can't change it, so it is pretty frustrating."
Martin, who took the second position after being passed by teammate Johnson with 24 laps to go, was all smiles following his sixth top-five of 2009.

“Jimmie was better than I was off of Turn four; I was better than he was off Turn two,” he said. “I asked for a chance to be in the fray and the team gave me a chance. That’s all I asked for. I would have liked to win; I just got beat by Superman.”

Points leader Tony Stewart claimed his 12th top-five of the season, finishing third. He was followed by Greg Biffle in fourth and Brian Vickers in fifth.

Kyle Busch, who entered the race 10th in points, cut a tire early and finished 38th, dropping him four spots to 14th in the standings, 82 points out of the 12th and final Chase for the Sprint Cup spot with only six races left until the Chase begins.
Nationwide Series

Carl Edwards started 42nd at O’Reilly Raceway Park in Indianapolis, but that didn’t stop him from charging through the field to claim his second Nationwide victory of 2009. Kyle Busch was second, followed by Matt Kenseth in third, Brad Keselowski in fourth, and Steve Wallace in fifth.

Camping World Truck Series

Ron Hornaday made history last Friday night at O’Reilly Raceway Park, winning his fourth straight CWTS race. He led a race-high 67 laps, to claim his fifth series victory of 2009. Mike Skinner was second, followed by Aric Almirola in third, Dennis Setzer in fourth, and Colin Braun in fifth.

Formula 1

While we don’t usually cover Formula 1 racing, two separate news stories from the international circuit are worth noting. Formula 2 Series, the F1 equivalent of the Nationwide Series, suffered a fatality this week when 18 year-old driver Henry Surtees was struck in the head with a loose tire, then slammed hard into a retaining wall.

Then, during the Formula 1 qualifying session for the Grand Prix of Hungary last Saturday, driver Felipe Massa was struck in the head by debris, causing him to loose control of his car and slam hard into a tire barrier.

Massa was extracted from his car and airlifted to AEK Hospital in Budapest where he underwent several surgeries. He has been listed in critical but stable condition since the incident.

The NASCAR Nation blog on www.cmcherald.com will continue to follow Massa’ condition. Be sure to check for updates.

Coming Up

The Sprint Cup Series heads back to Pocono Raceway, while the Nationwide Series heads to the Iowa Speedway and the Camping World Truck Series makes a stop at the Nashville Superspeedway.

Bruce Knoll, 17, of Eldora, can be contacted by email at bknoll jr4cmcherald@yahoo.