Mingling with fans a nice job benefit
Montoya enjoys interaction with common folks, a perk not experienced in Formula 1
By RICK MINTER Cox News Service

WORTH CANOY / VPS Motorimages NASCAR driver Juan Pablo Montoya shares racing stories with Paul "Cowboy" Holloway before the Kobalt Tools 500 March 9 at Atlanta Motor Speedway.

Juan Pablo Montoya and Paul "Cowboy" Holloway have vastly different racing experience. Montoya has won Formula One races, the Indianapolis 500 and roadcourse events in NASCAR's Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series.

Holloway has raced mostly on the dirt tracks around North Georgia and Eastern Alabama.

But the two found some common ground in the infield at Atlanta Motor Speedway earlier this month.

As part of his Sunday morning routine, Montoya likes to drop in on fans who are flying the colors of his No. 42 Dodge or of one of his sponsors,Wrigley's. The morning of March 9 found him in a group that included Holloway, who lives in Hampton, Ga.

As Montoya mingled with the crowd, he learned that Holloway drives Late Model dirt cars, the same type of vehicle that Montoya drove for the first time last year in the "Prelude to the Dream" at Tony Stewart's Eldora Speedway in Ohio.

"Those Late Models are hard to drive," Montoya told Holloway, who nodded in knowing agreement.

Holloway, like many NASCAR fans, has come to admire Montoya, a driver he knew little about before the Colombian joined NASCAR.

"I like him," Holloway said. "He's a good driver, and he holds his ground."

And he was impressed by the way Montoya mingled with fans at AMS.

"He's a lot nicer than a lot of drivers," he said.

Montoya said he's not surprised someone like Holloway pulls for him.

"If the guy is a hard-core racer ... most of the people like that like me because I don't take [baloney] from anybody," he said. "I'm all about business here. When it comes down to business, I don't go for second to anybody. That's the difference between me and other people."

Montoya said the interaction with everyday folks like Holloway and his friends is something he never experienced in his days in Formula One, where only the well-connected ever get to meet the stars of the show.

"This is so different," he said. It's a shame. F1 is not done for the fans. They are so used to not having any contact [with drivers], and they can't see the cars."

He said he really has come to like the NASCAR way of doing things, and he admits to being a much more relaxed driver, at least off the track.

"I love it," he said. "I wouldn't change it for anything. I did my great things in Formula One, great things in open-wheel in my career, but I still drive hard.

"I drive the wheels off the car every time I'm out there."