On the surface, one would think that Juan Pablo Montoya would not have very much in common with the drivers from one of racing's most famous groups of drivers, The Alabama Gang.
While Montoya used a successful open-wheel career to help put himself in line for a ride in the Sprint Cup Series, the drivers in the Alabama Gang, which included Neil Bonnett in addition to Bobby, Donnie and Davey Allison, advanced themselves the hard way, by racing at short tracks throughout the South in an effort to catch the eye of a NASCAR team owner.
Bonnett and the Allisons were generally well-liked by fans. Montoya? He's greeted with jeers during driver introductions comparable with those heaped on Jeff Gordon and Kyle and Kurt Busch.
But there is, believe it or not, a common thread between Montoya and one the Alabama Gang's drivers. Montoya lives by the same mantra of one of Bonnett's most-famous quotes: "We ain't out there to make friends."
Montoya, to put it simply, is a throwback driver in some ways. He wants to win and doesn't appear to be very concerned about saying all the right things or avoiding making other people upset.
Montoya has certainly not cared about becoming Mr. Congeniality since coming into NASCAR. Last year, he had separate run-ins with two of NASCAR's most popular drivers, Tony Stewart and Kevin Harvick.
That was obvious last Sunday at New Hampshire during the closing laps, when Montoya and Kyle Busch traded paint under caution. Montoya had enough of dealing with another driver who is also far from a fan favorite, so he ran into Kyle Busch's car under caution, hitting it so that it would spin around.
To be clear, Montoya shouldn't be applauded for spinning Kyle Busch out under caution. He could have easily caused a bigger wreck had another car been in the path of Kyle Busch's car. But what was good to see was Montoya's reaction when asked about the incident. While some drivers would have claimed that they didn't mean to wreck anyone or chalked it up as a racing incident, Montoya went the other way.
"He hit me under caution, he hit me under green, and I retaliated," Montoya told the Charlotte Observer after the race.
Montoya could have very easily said something else. But he didn't. He admitted to spinning Kyle Busch out on purpose. And that's why having a driver like Montoya is great for NASCAR. Montoya is a throwback in some ways to an earlier time, when drivers didn't care if what they said or did offended anyone. Remember, this is the same Montoya who publicly questioned his crew chief being replaced in May instead of dropping subtle hints that he wasn't happy with the decision.
Who knows? Montoya might have picked up a few allies in the grandstands after wrecking Kyle Busch. Every good story needs a bad guy. And right now, NASCAR has a couple of pretty good ones.
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