Colombia native Sebastian Arias looks to emulate Juan Pablo Montoya throughout NASCAR journey

In Colombia, every aspiring racer dreams to be like Juan Pablo Montoya.

Widely regarded as one of the greatest drivers of all time with accomplishments that include two Indianapolis 500 victories and three wins in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Montoya continues to captivate thousands of people inside his home country of Colombia even as he enters the twilight of his career.

Montoya is the reason why Bogotá, Colombia, native Sebastian Arias is competing in the ARCA Menards Series West today. Arias has done everything possible to model himself around Montoya‘s principles, and he intends to reach the NASCAR Cup Series one day just like his childhood hero.

“My dad and I use to watch Juan Pablo Montoya when we still lived in Colombia, and I wanted to be just like him and get to NASCAR,” Arias said. “My dad wanted me to pursue my dream, so here I am right now.”

RACING REFERENCE: Career NASCAR stats for Sebastian Arias

Determined to make that dream a reality, Arias knew his best opportunity at doing so would be to move to the United States, which he did at the age of 16.

Settling into his new environment was far from an easy experience. Along with trying to acclimate himself to U.S. culture, Arias also had to adapt to the compact, aggressive nature of oval racing in Legends cars after primarily competing in go-kart events around Colombia‘s road courses.

Legends races were only possible for Arias after his father Nestor sold the family home in Colombia to purchase the necessary cars and equipment. Once Arias got settled in, Nestor encouraged him to make connections so he could keep his racing career alive.

Following a couple of years developing his skills and securing funding in Late Model Stocks, Arias‘ big break came in 2021, when he signed to drive for Bill McAnally Racing. He would officially become the second Colombia-born driver to compete in a NASCAR-sanctioned race after Montoya during the season finale at Phoenix Raceway that year.

For his ARCA Menards Series West debut, Arias gained the support of several sponsors such as Rubbermaid Commercial Products and Brady IFS. Just about all of them followed Arias when he signed a deal with Eric Nascimento to contest the 2022 West Series season.

Arias has treated his time with Nascimento as a learning experience. Through his six starts in 2022, Arias has recorded two top-10 finishes, both of which were eighth-place runs at California’s Irwindale Speedway.

While Arias wants to find more consistency going forward, he has been satisfied with his first part-time West Series campaign. He does not intend to rush his development and hopes the experience tackling a diverse set of tracks on the West Coast will help him be more prepared for whatever 2023 brings.

“Believing in myself has been a key factor for me,” Arias said. “Patience has also been important, because I know nothing comes overnight, so I‘m trying to train myself on that end while also believing that I can reach my goals.”

RELATED: Follow the ARCA Menards Series West on FloRacing

The long-term goal for Arias is to earn a ride in either the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series or Xfinity Series before one day racing in the Cup Series. Despite this, Arias knows the process toward earning a top-tier national series ride is one that will take a significant amount of time and resources.

But Arias is not letting adversity deter his dreams of racing in the U.S. He added that Montoya had to deal with plenty of obstacles in his own career that included separate transitions into Formula One and NASCAR.

The fact that Montoya was able to find success in NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula One and now endurance racing is why Arias and so many other Colombian drivers see him as an inspiration. All of them know any dream can be accomplished with the necessary amount of persistence and dedication.

While Arias does not currently see himself becoming an IndyCar or Formula One driver, he is confident a successful stock car career is ahead of him if he emulates the qualities that made Montoya such a dominant force at every track.

“I‘ve tried to copy [Montoya‘s] aggressiveness, his consistency and also the patience he has when he races,” Arias said. “I had the opportunity to meet him in Florida a couple of years ago. It was a great experience, and he gave me some helpful tips. Hopefully I can be just like him at some point.”

Meeting Montoya remains a highlight of Arias‘ life, but he looks forward to having many more on the track so he can one day inspire the next generation of drivers in the U.S. and Colombia.