Montoya: Vegas Indy run unlikely

The Colombian, who races full-time in Cup for multiple IndyCar title winning team owner Chip Ganassi, has been tipped as one of the favourites to run for the prize that IndyCar is offering for any driver from outside its series who can win the season finale. The series is hoping to attract big names from other racing categories to the final event of the 2011 season.

Montoya won the 1999 Champ Car title and was victorious on his only IndyCar appearance when he triumphed in the 2000 Indianapolis 500 in a one-off Indy Racing League outing with Ganassi. Since the 2000 Champ Car season ended at Fontana, Montoya has not raced a single-seater on an oval.

Speaking at Phoenix, where he competes in the year's second NASCAR Cup round this weekend, Montoya did not close the door completely on the possibility of running for the prize, but said "initially" it seems impossible that he would be able to compete properly in both the NASCAR Chase for the Sprint Cup round at Charlotte on October 15 and then in the IndyCar season finale at Las Vegas the day after.

"Let's not even talk about if I would like to do it or not, it's just impossible logistics-wise," said Montoya. "If you really were going to go to try to win the $5 million bucks, you would have to get all the practices down and do it right. And I think we are racing that weekend, aren't we?

"Initially I would say no [to Vegas]. It's intriguing and I think it's intriguing for a lot of people. I think a lot of people are going 'ohhhh!' But being realistic, it's impossible. Are you going to show up on Sunday and race without practice and hope for the best? Who the heck is going to win that?"

Although the logistics would allow him to compete in both races, Montoya says practice and qualifying for either event would necessarily be compromised due to flying times and time differences between Las Vegas and Charlotte, which are located at opposite ends of the United States.

"Okay, let's try to even analyse it, I haven't even gone that deep," Montoya said. "It's a three-hour difference [between Charlotte and Las Vegas] and it's about a four to five-hour flight. Is it feasible at all?

"So let's say you practice Saturday morning in Vegas, you've got to be done practicing at what time because it's going to be in a five-hour flight to Charlotte plus a three-hour time difference, it's eight hours! What time does the Charlotte race start...?

"So it means I would have to start in the back of the field at Charlotte even if I made it to the race. Because if you think about eight hours, if the race is at 6:00 [pm] I need to be in the plane at 10:00 [in Vegas] in the morning. Ain't going to happen. It means I will have to leave the track at 9:00 or 9:15 if we go in a helicopter.

"It's true, the proposal is pretty freaking cool. Who is going to say no to $5 million bucks that easy? But it's just [impractical]..."

Montoya has tipped Sam Hornish Jr and Robby Gordon, both ex-single-seater racers, as favourites to go for the IndyCar bonus. Hornish is currently competing in NASCAR's second-tier Nationwide series, while Gordon races for his own team in Cup.

"Being realistic I think Hornish would be a guy that could do it," said Montoya. "He's still involved with Penske and he runs Nationwide, so he would have Saturday and Sunday to be there. He would run Friday night. I don't even know if he has a full schedule in Nationwide.

"Him or Robby Gordon would be the two names you would throw out there on the table that actually have time to do it and not the commitment here.

"I think Formula 1 are probably racing that weekend, I think they are in Korea or something, very close. Short flight as well [laughter]."

Montoya topped a poll done by America's USA Today to find out which leading NASCAR driver fans would most like to see run for the $5 million IndyCar bonus.