CUP: Sonoma Friday Notebook
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}Ganassi Adds Car For Indy Grand-Am – The July Indianapolis Motor Speedway weekend just got a lot busier for Sprint Cup drivers Juan Pablo Montoya and Jamie McMurray.
Chip Ganassi Racing announced Friday that Montoya and McMurray will co-drive a second team Daytona Prototype in the Grand-Am Series’ inaugural race at IMS July 27.
The second entry will run alongside the season-long effort (No.01 Telmex Dinan-prepared BMW Riley) driven by Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas, who own 23 race wins.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}In its last race, the team’s No. 02 car led a total of 52 laps in this year’s Rolex 24 At Daytona with drivers Montoya, McMurray, Dario Franchitti and Scott Dixon.
Chevron will sponsor the second entry.
Aggression And More Aggression – Recent Sprint Cup road races have seen new levels of aggressive driving, and that sometimes audacious driving often leads to conflict. More might arrive in Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350.
{{#rendered}} {{/rendered}}“It has been pretty heavy the last couple years here,” Marcos Ambrose said. “We saw Tony Stewart up in the tire wall, and a lot of people are aggressive trying to make passes. I think the double-file restarts keep everyone bunched up more than it used to. I think the point system has changed a lot, as well, and you know that every point is critical.
“People are taking chances. I expect to see a similar race (Sunday).”
Mike Hembree is NASCAR Editor for SPEED.com and has been covering motorsports for 30 years. He is a six-time winner of the National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year Award.