Montoya: Villeneuve debut too early

Montoya made his stock car debut nearly a year ago in the ARCA event at Talladega, before moving on to make some Busch Series races. He then entered his first Nextel Cup race in the final event of the season at Homestead.

The Colombian said at Kansas on Friday that he is surprised by how early his former Formula One colleague will attempt to make his Cup debut, and although he expects the Canadian to be fine, he anticipates it will be something completely new to him.

"I'm surprised they do it so early, especially at a place like Talladega," Montoya said. "But, hey, it's not my problem. I think he has that experience level. I think he'll be fine.

"When you go four-wide around him it's a very different experience from anything he's experienced, because what he will experience he hasn't before. The Car of Tomorrow is probably easier than these [current] cars."

Villeneuve's preparation for his Nextel Cup debut has been shorter and different to Montoya's. If he qualifies at Talladega next week, he would be making his Cup debut in only his third NASCAR race.

However the former Formula One champion has already tested successfully at Talladega with the Car of Tomorrow and will benefit from racing in the Craftsman Truck Series race before that at the same track.

Montoya says he would have been surprised if Chip Ganassi Racing had entered him for the Cup race at Talladega a year ago, but admitted that Villeneuve's approach to his Cup debut doesn't necessarily have to follow the same path as his.

"I would have been surprised that they would have taken me to Talladega that early," Montoya added. "But what we did is what we did, what they want to do is what they want to do. If they feel they're comfortable enough to take him there then they should do it."

Montoya competed in five stock car races before taking on his Nextel Cup debut in November last year, successfully making the field before being taken out of the race by Ryan Newman.