Juan Pablo Montoya Roldán (Spanish pronunciation: [ˈxwam ˈpaβlo monˈtoʝa rolˈdan]; born 20 September 1975) is a Colombian racing driver, who competed in Formula One from 2001 to 2006, IndyCar between 1999 and 2022,[b] and the NASCAR Cup Series between 2006 and 2024.

[2][10] Montoya got funding working as a delivery boy for his father, learnt racecraft and mechanical engineering from him,[10][11] and was inspired by drivers Roberto Guerrero and Ayrton Senna.

[16][22] He also raced for the Osaka team in Mexico, finishing third overall in the local sports car prototype division and earning three wins and four pole positions in the Nissan-powered single seater Formula N support category.

In October 1995, he finished ninth in the International Formula 3 Cup at Donington Park,[27] and won the 6 Hours of Bogotá endurance race with co-drivers Jorge Cortés and Diego Guzmán in Spice's No.

[12][28][21] Montoya advanced to the British Formula 3 Championship in 1996, driving a Fortec Motorsport-entered Dallara F396-Mitsubishi car after South American sponsorship was obtained when driver Cristiano da Matta had funding problems and PWR's plans to run three vehicles fell through due to structural and competitiveness concerns.

[1][29] Despite feeling uncomfortable in the underpowered car and making mistakes,[19] he took two wins, five podium finishes and a pole position to end the 16-race season fifth in the Drivers' Championship with 137 points.

[30] He replaced Jan Magnussen in the International Touring Car Championship's double header round at Silverstone, driving Mercedes-AMG's Mercedes-Benz C-Klasse and retired from both races.

[36] Marko advised Montoya to eat healthily and exercise more in order to boost his performance and handle heavier cars better, but he was hesitant and occasionally fell behind owing to a lack of mental fortitude.

[1][38][37] Montoya made errors that lost him two race victories,[19] and was mathematically eliminated from championship contention after finishing third in the season's penultimate round at Mugello Circuit, which Ricardo Zonta won.

[19][38] During a season-long rivalry with West Competition Team driver Nick Heidfeld, he won four races (at Catalunya, Silverstone, Pau and the Autodromo di Pergusa), took nine podium finishes and seven pole positions.

[43] Montoya then won the Grand Prix of Cleveland at Burke Lakefront Airport from pole position,[44] but reliability issues and accidents over the next four races lost him the championship lead to Dario Franchitti.

[43] He won the next three races at Mid-Ohio, Chicago and Vancouver to retake the championship lead, but two more accidents and Franchitti's better performance over the next three events put him nine points behind going into the season-ending Marlboro 500 at California Speedway.

[26][57][58] He led the Brazilian Grand Prix (the season's third round) after passing Ferrari's Michael Schumacher until a rear-end collision with Arrows' Jos Verstappen (whom he had just lapped) forced him to retire.

[61][62] Montoya scored points in the first six races, including podiums in Australia, Malaysia, Spain and Austria and qualified on pole position in Brazil, where he collided with Michael Schumacher on the first lap.

[70] His relationship with Williams worsened when he verbally abused their engineers over the radio, believing that pit stop tactics during the 2003 French Grand Prix allowed his teammate Ralf Schumacher to win.

[76] Montoya spent time during the off-season losing weight and raising his fitness levels by switching to a new training regimen and a low-carbohydrate diet to improve his performance after encouragement from Dennis.

[79][80] After scoring points in the first two races, he missed the Bahrain and San Marino Grands Prix due to a hairline fracture in his left scapula, and was replaced by Pedro de la Rosa and Alexander Wurz, respectively.

[f][79][81] Montoya was not fully recovered when he returned, and scored points in three of the next six races before being disqualified from the Canadian Grand Prix for passing a red light at the end of the pit lane.

[96] Montoya made his stock car racing debut in the Food World 250 (part of the ARCA Re/Max Series developmental championship) at Talladega Superspeedway as preparation for his first full-time NASCAR season,[87][94][97] starting second and finishing third.

[130][131] He took pole position for the Camping World RV 400 at Kansas Speedway, but his lap was disallowed due to excessive gas pressure in his rear shock absorbers.

[139] In the Aaron's 499 at Talladega, he qualified on pole for the first time in his Cup Series career before finishing second in the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway.

[h][142] A pole position in the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway along with six top-ten finishes put him as high as third place in the standings but was eliminated from title contention after a series of accidents.

[185] Montoya started fourth and led the final 27 laps of the season-opening Firestone Grand Prix of St. Petersburg, holding off Penske teammate Will Power to win the race and take the points lead.

[186] He qualified on pole for the Indy Grand Prix of Louisiana at NOLA Motorsports Park and led 31 laps before pit stops and two caution periods dropped him to fifth place.

[188] Following that, he continuously finished in the top ten in the next six rounds as he drove conservatively until an accident at Iowa caused by suspension failure dropped him to 24th, although he retained the points lead due to other drivers' issues.

1 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates (CGRFS) Riley MkXI-Lexus Daytona Prototype (DP) car he shared with Salvador Durán and Pruett.

[210][216] Montoya was invited by Porsche to participate in the post-season FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) rookie test in a 919 Hybrid at the Bahrain International Circuit in November 2015.

[218] To prepare for the 2018 IMSA SportsCar Championship in an Acura ARX-05 car in the Daytona Prototype International (DPi) category, Montoya drove the final round of the 2017 season, the Petit Le Mans, in the No.

[252] He was eliminated by Kristensen in the Race of Champions quarterfinals, and he and Castroneves finished second against Team Germany's Timo Bernhard and René Rast in the Nations Cup at the King Fahd International Stadium in Riyadh in 2018.

[259] Montoya was made a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations (UN) in October 2001 and helped to raise funding for the World Food Programme to feed children displaced by the Colombian conflict.