Montoya relieved to make Cup field

With 56 cars fighting for 43 places in the field and only the top 35 cars in owners' points guaranteed a spot, Montoya had to qualify on speed.

Handling problems and some difficulty adapting from the Busch Series car that he is also racing this weekend added to the ex-Formula One driver's challenge, but he successfully made the field for the Ford 400 in 29th place.

"My Cup car was really tight. I got in the Busch car and it was so loose," said Montoya.

"It's really hard to switch from one to the other. The wheelbase is different. The whole car is really different.

"It's been crazy today, going from one car to another. I finished the Cup practice and I didn't think I was going to make the show. I knew I had to step it up a little bit. It's stressful - you don't get any second chances.

"It was a good lap, but the car was really tight. We've got two hours of practice tomorrow and we can make it better for the race.

"If we can run to the end we'll be doing pretty good."

Montoya's team boss Chip Ganassi played down the significance of the Colombian's early than expected move up from ARCA and Busch competition to NASCAR's major league.

"As I've said time and time again we've got about eight of 12 steps," said Ganassi. "Today was just another step.

"It was a big step, but it was just another step along the way. We've have six or eight more steps to take before we're ready for next year.

"We're going to be happy if we just run all the laps and run what I call the cycle - all the laps, all the pit stops.

"As stressful as this exercise was today, for him I think it will be invaluable when you look back on it."