Trip Down Victory Lane: Life at the top fits Juan Pablo Montoya
Tenth in a series of former Indianapolis 500 winners.
MIAMI — Lofty digs come with lofty status, and there might not be anyone in motor sports at Juan Pablo Montoya’s level over the past two decades.
The winner of iconic races from Indianapolis to Daytona to Monaco lives here, near downtown Miami, on the 46th, 47th and 48th floors of a high-riser with unmatched views of Key Biscayne and the water surrounding it.
Montoya and his wife, Connie, bought the place in 2002 with early Formula One earnings, which means he has stacked millions on millions since. It's roughly 10,000 square feet, he says, including six bedrooms.
One-bedroom units of 1,730 square feet within the building have recently sold for $1.25 million, part of the reason Montoya said his investment “has done really well.”
So has Montoya, who enters this weekend’s season-opening IndyCar Series race in St. Petersburg as a driver to beat not only now but for the ages.
The driver, now 40, has been so good for so long across so many disciplines – Indy cars, stock cars, European single-seat formula cars, sports cars – that it’s difficult to judge others against him. The best of his generation? One can make that argument, but Montoya doesn’t.
“I don’t know, and I don’t care,” he said from a couch in a high-ceiling living room the family of five seldom uses. “The problem is, if you do racing to show people how good you are, you’re doing it for the wrong reasons.
“Put it this way: I think I can beat anybody, but not because I think I’m better than them. But if they can do it, I can do it, and nowadays I’m way better and way smarter. I see the big picture a lot sooner than other people.”
Montoya won his second Indianapolis 500 last year – in his third attempt – in an era when drivers his age aren’t claiming titles. Since 1990, only Eddie Cheever won the 500 later in life, and that was by just eight months. Montoya will be the popular pick to win again this year and probably next year because his talent and Team Penske are a stellar combination. He has no plans to retire given how well he's performing.
Montoya led last season virtually start to finish, denied the championship only because teammate Will Power bumped into him late in the final race, a double-points-paying event that tipped the standings Scott Dixon’s way.
Similar contact came from Simona De Silvestro early in last year's 500, too, but Montoya had the time and know-how to recover. There was no fret when he was on pit road for repairs in 30th place. He considers it the drive of his life.
Download the IndyStar Motor Sports XTRA App
“From a mental point of view, toughness, patience and (then) kicked their (rears) when it really mattered; yeah, that’s as good as it gets,” he said.
Montoya has long been described as someone who doesn’t care about situations and people, but that’s not who he is. He concerns himself only with what matters, not what doesn’t. His life away from the track reflects that.
For all the beauty of this home and its view, normalcy reigns. Three children live here, and they are free to live. Pictures they have drawn or colored hang as they do in most American homes. Toys need not be kept out of sight. Tables can host glasses without coasters. Two dogs and a bird are part of the family, and aside from a pair of racing paintings and the replica Borg-Warner Trophy recently delivered, there are no signs daddy is something special at work.
In other words, this is as normal of a home as one gets given the 46-floor ride in an elevator to reach the living room.
“You’ve been to Helio’s house, right?” Montoya said of Castroneves, a three-time Indy 500 winner. “That’s a museum. We’re a lot more relaxed here. There's no, 'Don't do that, don't do that,' here. It's their home, too, and they'd rather play here than anywhere."
Montoya also leads a life not that different from most of us. He drives his children to school and tries to have his work done in time to pick them up. He rides bikes with his oldest son, Sebastian, a racer on the rise. He attends daughter Paulina’s dance recitals. He goes with Connie to Pilates classes, although he concedes the workout is more physical than he desires. But he is active.
Montoya isn’t Tony Kanaan on a road bike, but he holds his own, often riding with fellow Colombian IndyCar driver Carlos Munoz. Some days they journey beyond Homestead-Miami Speedway, which is 50 miles round trip. Montoya loves an afternoon on a mountain bike, and his pastime is windsurfing in the bay.
Does the IndyCar edge still belong to Chevy?
Lunch on this day is chicken and rice. He is a stocky IndyCar driver, but he considers himself a healthy eater.
“The only jelly I like is blackberry,” he said.
Professionally, Montoya is doing well off the track, too. Nearly three years ago, he and a friend started a consumer electronics distribution business, Icon Networks, which has exclusive distribution rights in Latin America for more than 10 brands. The company also has non-exclusive distribution rights for Apple, Samsung and LG, among others.
“It’s really, really cool and growing a lot,” he said. “When I say ‘a lot,’ it’s a lot.”
Montoya still makes more money from racing, but Icon is his future.
Icon is a fitting name for a driver at this level.
Follow IndyStar reporter Curt Cavin on Facebook and Twitter: @curtcavin
PREVIOUS TRIPS DOWN VICTORY LANE
• Scott Dixon a Hoosier at heart and home
• Eddie Cheever still outspoken
• Sam Hornish's life vastly different
• 'Champion Cave' tells Bobby Rahal's story
• Gordon Johncock prefers talking lumber
• Tony Kanaan may be moving into a neighborhood near you
• Helio Castroneves racing toward future
• Ryan Hunter-Reay at home on the water
JUAN PABLO MONTOYA
Indy 500 wins: 2000 for Ganassi Racing, 2015 for Team Penske.
Race facts: Montoya has used Indianapolis Motor Speedway as his personal playground, with finishes of first, fifth and first in three 500s and three front-row starts and a pole in NASCAR's Brickyard 400. After Greg Ray led the first 26 laps of the 2000 500, Montoya led 167 of the final 174 to become the first rookie winner since Graham Hill in 1966 (but Montoya was only 24; Hill arrived as a 37-year-old former Formula One champion). Montoya’s second Indy win was more dramatic as he worked back from 30th place following contact from Simona De Silvestro under the first caution. Montoya and Will Power exchanged the lead three times in the final nine laps, with the Colombian leading the final four.
Margin of victories: 7.184 seconds over Buddy Lazier in 2000, 0.1406 over Will Power in 2015.
Winner’s take: $1.235 million and $2.449 million.
Career: Call Montoya's experience diverse. He won 10 races and a season championship in CART, seven races in Formula One, two races in NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series, another in the Xfinity Series, three Rolex 24s at Daytona (in eight starts) and has two Indianapolis 500 wins among his four IndyCar victories. In addition to reaching victory lane at Indianapolis and Daytona, he has won at Monaco, Monza (Italy), Silverstone (England), Hockenheim (Germany) and Interlagos (Brazil). In CART, five of his wins came on ovals, the other five on non-ovals. Until NASCAR expanded its Chase grid to 16 drivers last year, Montoya was the only Ganassi driver to reach the Sprint Cup Series playoffs.
– Curt Cavin