Grapevine: Montoya to race on dirt oval event

The former Formula One driver will be among other NASCAR drivers competing in the Nextel Prelude to the Dream presented by Old Spice, staged by two-time Nextel Cup champion Tony Stewart.

Jeff Gordon, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick, Matt Kenseth, Mark Martin, Denny Hamlin and Bobby Labonte are part of the 25-driver field who will race 2,300-pound dirt late model stock cars capable of pulling out over 800 horsepower.

It will be Montoya's first taste of the kind of racing that most of his current rivals experienced for years before getting to NASCAR. In fact, some of them like Jeff Gordon return to Eldora after many years of success in the Nextel Cup.

"Nextel has returned to partner with us, and with some of the best race car drivers in the world competing on the hallowed dirt of Eldora," said Stewart. "It promises to be another memorable night."

Stewart owns the Eldora Speedway since 2004 and won the event last year. This year marks the third consecutive running of the charity event which will be televised live in the US by HBO on Pay-Per-View.