Johnson, Montoya still in dispute over New Hampshire contact
SPEEDWAY, Ind. — Juan Pablo Montoya and Jimmie Johnson aren't teammates, but they apparently share some sort of close relationship — a relationship close enough for Montoya to apologize to Johnson while the five-time defending champ is showering.
That's apparently what happened earlier this season at Darlington after the pair had contact on track that sent Johnson spinning early in the race.
"At Darlington [after] he spun me out there, I'm in my motorhome showering," Johnson said Friday at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. "He walked into my bus, into my shower, to apologize. Then, he told me I'm naked. Of course I am, I'm in the shower!"
Funny stories aside, Johnson reiterated his post-race comments from New Hampshire two weeks ago. In short, Johnson has had enough of Montoya's contact and apologies.
"Juan and I have a friendship, we get along great," Johnson said. "After three times of me getting turned around, hearing apologies, I'm tired of hearing apologies. I don't want the contact, I don't want to be raced that way."
Johnson said Montoya has yet to talk to him about the New Hampshire incident, but that he expects they'll talk this weekend at Indianapolis. Montoya, for his part, traveled to his native Colombia during the Sprint Cup off-week and returned Tuesday.
The former Formula 1 and IndyCar driver also met with the media Friday at Indianapolis, but wasn't in lockstep agreement that Johnson deserved an apology. Montoya did say he apologized to Johnson's crew chief Chad Knaus.
"If you really look at it, he had plenty of the race track at the bottom, so do I have apologize after the race? No," Montoya said. "I think the other time that I hit him, he actually ran into the wall and I decided not to hit the wall and hit him, so it all depends on how you see it."
Why then did Montoya apologize?
"Because you don't want to have problems with people here that you don't need to," Montoya said. "It's to avoid future confrontations. It's being smart."
Regardless of how Montoya saw it, Johnson has seen enough.
"I've certainly had my share," Johnson said. "It certainly can't happen again."
