DEFENDING THE DEFENSIBLE?

Scott Pruett, having had a fair share of his own first-place-losing dust ups with Juan Pablo Montoya -- and having not at all forgotten them, either -- came to the defense of his Chip Ganassi Racing With Felix Sabates (GASR) teammate Friday while between Watkins Glen track time preparing for today’s Continental Tire 200 Presented By Dunn Tire at Watkins Glen International (6 p.m. EDT, live on Speed).

Heavily criticized for, well, heavy-handed driving at the July 27 Rolex Sports Car Series Brickyard Grand Prix at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, Montoya bulled his way around a number of cars, never mind the standing of those teams' in race position or championship points.

Most adversely affected was Peter Baron's Starworks Motorsport team's Ryan Dalziel and Enzo Potolicchio, who with their No. 8 Ford-Riley Daytona Prototype were in the thickest part of thick in two different but same-race means’ to an end.

The first, ending with Tani Miller's Brickyard Grand Prix's checkered flag, was the North American Endurance Championship, at the end of which the premier points-accumulating team would cash a $100,000 bonus check.

Then there was the season-long GARS Daytona Prototype driving championship, in the pursuit of which Dalziel and Potolicchio had departed the Sahlen's 6 Hours of The Glen in second place, going into Indy trailing Pruett and co-driver Memo Rojas by just five points.

Highly respected in many different racing paddocks for making much of little, Baron historically has nevertheless accomplished quality car preparation; recruited and retained talented personnel; and excellent race finishes with relatively little cash; fewer numbers of personnel; and, as importantly as anything, upgrading the look of paddocks everywhere with fake palm trees flanking the Starworks’ hauler doors.

Baron's also a pretty doggone smart cookie. So smart, he's a number-crunching savant (he was an economist by age 2).

Number-crunching savants also possess a better-than-average ancillary skill of entrails reading and, true to form, Baron's pre-Indy reading told him two things: a Starworks car would win, bringing with it that NAEC bonus check; and yet, warned Montoya's Grand-Am etiquette would also punt a contending Starworks DP.

Confused about the mixed signals, Baron was in "defense mode" before even leaving for Indy.

"You really don't exactly need to pull a Nostradamus to know Montoya's driving style, you know," Baron said , "But I still sent every single Grand-Am official an email predicting that Montoya's purpose for being there would only cause heartache and pain."

(Uh-oh, one can see a Country Western song coming on . . .

"Oh Montoya, Montoya

why must you punt

all your competitors

into a shunt?

"It's not hard to see you

handing out knocks

leaving your competitors

wishing upon you a pox.")

Sure 'nuff, having fewer than 20-minutes remaining after nearly three hours of racing, Dalziel was running second with his sights set on getting up front to claim that check and, more than likely, the DP championship points lead, when on a right-hander Montoya charged toward and bumped into Dalziel's No. 8 Starworks Ford-Riley's right side.

While it was little more than a garden-variety bump that caused little more than cosmetic damage that pushed the No. 8 DP to the left, off the asphalt and into a muddy morass disguised as grass, Dalziel, co-driver Potolicchio, Baron and the Starworks team suddenly saw defeat snatched from the jaws of victory, because even had Dalziel not taken first in the race he would have at least seized the points lead with a raggedly looking, beat-up GASR car somewhere behind.

The resultant full-course yellow shuffled the field, pushed GASR's No. 01 TELMEX BMW-Riley DP farther toward the field's front, ultimately finishing second, and the Dalziel/Potolicchio No. 8 Ford-Riley DP down the iconic Indy scoring pylon into a dismal 17th overall, 7th in DP and so far away from the Pruett/Rojas DP that a pre-race five-point deficit had more than doubled to 11 points in arrears.

Baron's pre-race Future Vision proved correct after all: Montoya punted a Starworks car and a Starworks car won, albeit "the other one," with Alex Popow and substitute-driver Sebastien Bourdais at the wheel of Starworks' No. 2 Ford-Riley DP.

"Juan Pablo (Montoya) was there for one thing and one thing, only," GASR teammate Pruett said Friday at The Glen.

"He was supposed to go to the front. That was his orders and, true to form, he was doing all he could to do that," said the driver who Montoya punted from the NASCAR Nationwide Series race lead -- with only a nine laps remaining -- at Mexico City's Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in 2007.

Despite plenty of love lost over that deal, Pruett still defended his GASR teammate's actions taken two weeks ago at Indy.

"Juan Pablo was paid by his sponsor (Chevron) to put the car in the spotlight," Pruett said. "In case anyone's missed it, the brightest spotlight shines on those who are leading the race. And that's what Montoya was trying to do.

"Yes, Juan Pablo isn't contending for the Rolex (Series) championship. Yes, he was wasn't contending for the NAEC championship (settled at the end of the Brickyard Grand Prix). But he was doing what he was told to do.

"Everyone in that race should know by now that Juan Pablo does his damndest to do what he's paid to do, that's all. And they should've just moved over and let him pass. That's all. Just let him by.

"Had (Montoya) won the race it wouldn't have had any bearing on either the DP championship or the North American Endurance Championship because for those two things the contenders would've been scored as if he (Montoya) hadn't been there at all.

"I'm just not inclined to blame anyone but those who hadn't considered that (aspect) before the deal went down," Pruett concluded.

Safe to say Baron likely won't change his mind even though the Starworks Motorsport team still left Indy with a fat check, inasmuch as the Starworks' No. 2 Ford-Riley of Alex Popow and Sebastien Bourdais did indeed win the Brickyard Grand Prix fair and square, having lead 24 laps (Popow 7 laps; Bourdais 17) when they -- as had Baron somewhat seen -- took Tani Miller's checkered flag.

LOSE ONE, GAIN TWO

Being announced at noon Saturday at Watkins Glen is a Team Sahlen's two-car Daytona Prototype effort for 2013.

The team has for the last couple-or-three seasons campaigned two-or-more Mazda RX-8’s in the Rolex Series' Grand Touring class.

After Mazda having this model year already ended the car's production for sale in dealer showrooms, the RX-8 after this season will go the same way as did the Volkswagen Karman Ghia -- into either junkyards or collector's hands.

Not being announced at noon Saturday is SunTrust ending its 9-year Wayne Taylor Racing sponsorship come the end of the 2012 season.

Nor, according to a mad-as-hell Wayne Taylor, owner of Wayne Taylor Racing, is such likely to be ever announced.

So, mark one more up for the Ol’ DC rumor mill that never seems to work, even when one would prefer it didn’t work. Or should that be, “even when one would prefer it did work?” Hell, who knows? Because if anything, one is damned if they do; damned if they don’t.

Whatever the case. Mr. Taylor insists, shall I note “vociferously” so, that SunTrust is assuredly, definitely not going anywhere with respect to SunTrust Racing being on the side of his No. 10 Corvette Daytona Prototype.

Well, there’s goes that final, end-of-driving-career interview he and I were going to otherwise soon undertake.

Later,

DC