Montoya gets first Cup win

SONOMA, Calif. - When team owner Chip Ganassi first came up with the thought of luring Juan Pablo Montoya back to America from Formula One, it was days like this that he had in mind.

Montoya used his wellhoned road-racing skill to save his tires and stretch his fuel Sunday, winning the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway for his first NASCAR Nextel Cup victory.

''One of the nice things, working with him again, is he's matured in a way as a race driver that you could not write in a movie,'' said Ganassi, for whom Montoya won the 1999 CART championship and the 2000 Indianapolis 500.

''He's a lot calmer, if you can imagine that. He actually came on the radio today and said, 'It's a little too early to race these guys.' I was looking at (crew chief Donnie) Wingo and he was looking at me. Juan's a changed man, all in a positive way.''

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

Montoya, who jumped from Formula One to the stock car circuit late last season, got his first Cup win in his 17th start and, more important, gave Ganassi his first win in NASCAR's top series since Jamie McMurray won in October 2002.