Associated Press
The NASCAR notebook …
FLORENCE, S.C. ó Juan Pablo Montoya says his issues with Ryan Newman were settled on the track at Richmond last week.
Montoya and Newman were involved in two separate on-track incidents at Richmond International Raceway, and Newman talked of payback after the race. The two had no confrontation, however.
ěFor me, I think everything was settled on the race track,î Montoya said Thursday.
Montoya was playing in a golf tournament honoring late NASCAR executive and former Darlington Raceway President Jim Hunter.
Montoya, the pole-sitter at Richmond International Raceway, brushed the wall the first time he tangled with Newman and lost three laps in the pits as the damage was fixed.
Montoya said Newman couldíve lifted off the throttle and avoided contact. Newman wouldnít have lost much time, plus Montoya said he was ěletting everybody by because my car wasnít that great at the time. I felt (it was) totally unnecessary what he did.î
Later, Montoya ran into he back of Newman when Newman was in eighth place.
ěIíve been wrecked by him a lot of times,î Montoya said, ěand Iíve never done anything about it.î
Newman went to the NASCAR hauler after the race to complain about Montoya. ěTo retaliate the way he did just didnít show much class,î Newman said last weekend.
Thereís been some history between the two, including contact that led to a fiery crash for Montoya in his 2006 Cup debut at Homestead.
Montoya said it was pointless to discuss the incidents further. ěYou guys are looking for a story that is not there,î he said. ěAnd thatís it.î
The Sprint Cup series runs at Darlington on Saturday night with the Southern 500. Newman stands eighth in the points heading into the weekend and Montoya 12th.
BAYNE RELEASED
CHARLOTTEó Daytona 500 winner Trevor Bayne was released from the Mayo Clinic on Thursday after being treated for what doctors are calling an inflammatory condition.
Roush Fenway Racing said Bayne is expected to return to racing this season, although the team has not established a definite timeframe. He will not run Friday night’s Nationwide Series event at Darlington Raceway.
DARLINGTON
FLORENCE, S.C. ó If Jim Hunter wasn’t promoting stock cars, he was probably playing golf. So it made sense Thursday to bring Hunter’s loves together to begin a weekend when the memory of the late NASCAR executive will be celebrated.
Denny Hamlin, Juan Pablo Montoya and Brian Vickers were among the Sprint Cup drivers takinig part in “Racin’ to the 19th Hole: The Jim Hunter Memorial Golf Tournament” at Florence Country Club about 15 miles from Hunter’s cherished Darlington Raceway.
Hunter, the former Darlington president and chief spokesman of NASCAR, died of cancer last October.