Juan Pablo Montoya won’t risk Chase berth for retaliation against Kasey Kahne

Montoya baffled by on-track incidents with Kahne

BRISTOL, Tenn. — After run-ins with Kasey Kahne in two of the last three races, Juan Pablo Montoya could be considering some sort of retaliation.

Not going to happen.

Not with the stakes so high.

Montoya is seventh in the standings with three races remaining until the 12-driver Chase for the championship field is set. He’s used a conservative approach to put himself in contention for his first Chase, and he won’t allow a potential feud with Kahne jeopardize his hard work.

“The position that we’re in, I think we’ve got to be smart about not wrecking each other and get into the Chase,” Montoya said Friday at Bristol Motor Speedway. “I’m OK. It’s just frustrating. You just want to have nice, quiet days.”

Kahne is eighth in the standings, three points behind Montoya.

The two had late-race contact at Pocono, which Montoya recovered from and finished second. Kahne apologized afterward. Then they had a run-in last weekend at Michigan, and that contact caused Montoya to get a flat tire. He had to pit to repair the damage and finished 19th.

In between the two races, Kahne triggered a nasty six-car accident at Watkins Glen when he ran Sam Hornish Jr. off the course.

“He nearly wrecked us in Pocono, he wrecked (Hornish) the week after, and he wrecked us the week after,” Montoya said. “I don’t get what he’s trying to do.”

Kahne was surprised there might be any sort of issue with Montoya.

“It’s racing stuff,” he said. “Everybody made a big deal about it, but I barely touched him (at Michigan). It looked so bad because his tire went flat, but you can’t aim for somebody’s tire. I like Juan. I get along with him fine. It’s just racing.”

Montoya isn’t known as the most patient or tolerant drivers, and he’s participated in his share of on-track retaliation in different racing series. Because there’s been no conversation between the two about the incidents, Kahne doesn’t think there are any lingering issues.

“I think he knows it’s racing, otherwise he’d probably say something to me,” Kahne said.