JPM gets annoyed at being asked whether Monaco or Indy was a better win

[VilleneuveTracy]

I assume he thinks Monaco was bigger but doesn't want to diminish the importance of the premier race in the series his car owner runs in?

Q: Which victory did you prefer, Monaco or Indy?

JPM: Don't put me in that position.

Q: Why?

JPM: I am not going to answer that. You know what the answer is, so don't ask it.

Q: I don't know the answer. That's why I asked the question.

JPM: Next question.

Q: I've got nothing else.

JPM: Good.

http://canadianpress.google.com/arti...5aFOqDB9KauFtg

[johntt]

The only thing that Monaco and Indy have in common is that they are races that involve open wheelers.

Other than that they are completely different. Le Mans, Indy and Monaco take three different sets of skills, which have become increasingly specialised over the years. IMO winning the triple crown now is harder than it has ever been.

[fieldodreams79]

that triple and many other multiple race series wins are tougher than ever and never were easy.

so what is the answer?

[gomick]

win the daytona 500 & then ask again

[Dutton]

Win the Nordschleife/Nordschliefe 24hr (can anyone give the definitive answer? I know the Germans pronounce the latter letter of the ei/ie combination, but I have seen/heard it spelt and pronounced both ways a multitude of times), then come talk to me.

[chunterer]

Amusing, despite apparently turning his back on F1 in a bit of a huff, he still must hold it in very high esteem!

Wouldn't it be brill if he won Daytona 500 and then Le Mans in a few years time?!!

[StuiE]

Winning the Coke 600 would be nice, then he would have won all the big races on that day (since indy and monaco has ran on the same day recently)

[fieldodreams79]

Originally Posted by gomick

win the daytona 500 & then ask again

that was my intitial reaction as well. let him win a big stockcar race and see what it is, not that his win at Sonoma last year wasn't.

and you never know...having grown up appreciating and following other forms of motorsports and then winning the biggest prize in a different one that happens to be the biggest racing series in the US (at this time), may change his way of thinking....Brickyard 400 would be big, but comparing that to the Indy 500 would be....um, awkward?

has there been any talk of him getting in an LMP for Le Mans? that would not fit well into the Cup schedule at all and seems that he is committed to the series, at this time.

[Knowlesy]

No, he couldn't do Le Mans, he is committed to Cup. Furthermore, I'm not sure he'd be that bothered about it at this stage.

I think if JPM won a big stockcar event (Daytona, Brickyard, the 600) it would be personally his biggest achievement because of where he comes from in motorsport. Monaco and Indy were exciting days, but one of the big NASCAR events would be something else.

[Adam43]

These Canadian Journos know how to ask interesting questions
I wonder if Graham Hill had to put up with such insightful integration?

[Peter Mallett]

At least he had the qualifications to answer them.

And isn't it "interrogation"?

[Adam43]

Oops I was too rash with spell check. Perhaps there is a job for me in Canada?

[Peter Mallett]

I'm sure you can be integrated.

[Dutton]

I don't think Canada officially does integration, so to type. It's a "multi-cultural, bi-lingual, bi-nation state" (if remember rightly). I think you just get left to float about in the soup (rather than becoming of the soup), .

[Craig]

Originally Posted by Knowlesy

No, he couldn't do Le Mans, he is committed to Cup. Furthermore, I'm not sure he'd be that bothered about it at this stage.

I think if JPM won a big stockcar event (Daytona, Brickyard, the 600) it would be personally his biggest achievement because of where he comes from in motorsport. Monaco and Indy were exciting days, but one of the big NASCAR events would be something else.

Should/could have won the Daytona 500... season's kinda fallen apart since!

[Knowlesy]

He couldn't have beaten off the Gibbs and Penske's I don't think, the car was very loose. But it would have been nice to have at least found out, as it was he got bashed out of the way!

[fieldodreams79]

man....he was right there, tho.

a shame what a few months and some horrible results will make me forget how close he was then.

[Knowlesy]

It wasn't bad in fairness, up to and including Talladega the Daytona 500 was the only really bad result and only because of some unlucky damage.

The races since Talladega have been pretty bad though, because of a mixture of things. A good result was possible at Richmond but JPM made the mistake which meant he got wiped out in the midfield wreck later on. Darlington was tough. Lowe's was not too bad until Carpentier wiped him out.

It's a question of trying to get the momentum back now. With the season taking a downturn and the internal friction at Ganassi, can JPM hold his motivation?

I just wish they'd stop tinkering with the teams for five minutes, things were moving along quite nicely.

[VilleneuveTracy]

I don't think JPM could have won Daytona. The only reason he was up front at the end was because he made a 2 tire pit stop. He was mid-pack all race on merit. He just has not been fast at Daytona yet, which is odd since he has been strong at Talladega since his first race there.

[J-C]

JPM did have the same strategy at Daytona as race-winner Newman but the car was a real handful which was why he got hung out to dry - without the damage he would have probably finished mid-pack where he spent much of the race.

At least JPM has got that momentum back though after a mini-slump - 12th at Dover is his second best finish of the year, and was just what was needed after a horrible month of May with crew chief swaps and outside top-20 results. Hopefully now Chip can leave the #42 team alone and let them get on with it, of the next 9 races, 3 are realistically winnable...one of which is the Brickyard 400, although that might be a different kettle of fish with the CoT.

[MobileTradition1]

Yeah, Montoya should win again at Sonoma. It's what he does best. Heck, even Franchitti should do well there as a rookie.