Montoya predicts steep learning curve

Montoya flew in from Daytona on Sunday after winning the Rolex 24 Hours and claimed the hectic schedule was getting the better of him. However, he was happy to be back in his Cup car.

"Yesterday afternoon I was really tired," Montoya said. "At  5:00 PM, every time we stopped in the car, I was nearly falling asleep. It was okay. It was a great experience actually to get back in the car."

The Colombian, who had set some impressive speeds during testing at Daytona International Speedway earlier this month, was unable to replicate his performance at the ultra-quick Las Vegas  1.5-mile oval.

"It's a pretty fast racetrack. I'm amazed how fast it is. I thought Homestead was fast, but this place, you know, you got to get back on the gas so fast, you are not even completely off the gas ever.

"I'm not even touching the brakes all the way around. I'm 4/10 tenths off or something, maybe 2 or 3/10 tenths off a top car in race trim. We're getting there, but still a long way to go."

A.J. Allmendinger, another NASCAR Nextel Cup rookie with open wheel background, showed how difficult the switch to this kind of ovals can be, after crashing twice in as many days of testing at the same track this week.

With only a few days to go before the season-opener, Montoya claims he will be happy with a top-fifteen finish in the Daytona 500.

"Is it going to be really hard? Yes, it's going to be really hard. Am I aiming to win? I'm more aiming to get the car to the end of the race to be realistic," he said.

"Do we have a shot at it? Am I going to try to win it? Yes. I would be really happy if we can get a top 20, top 15 out of that race."

Montoya will take part in one of the Gatorade Duels before taking on the season opener. He is also scheduled to race in the 300-mile Busch race on February 17, a day before the Daytona 500.