Speeding ticket proves costly

The Target brand received tremendous exposure this weekend, as the number 42 Target Chevrolet was the fastest car in the field at the AllState 400 held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Perhaps too fast. After comfortably leading the race for much of the day in the bright red and white Target car, driver Juan Pablo Montoya was penalized for speeding on pit road after he pulled off the track for fresh tires and gas with 35 laps to go in the 160 lap race. The penalty meant Montoya had to pass through pit road again at less than 60 miles per hour on his next lap around. That caused him to drop back in the pack, and he finished the race in 11th place.

“I swear on my children and my wife, I was not speeding,” Montoya protested on the in car radio to his crew chief Brian Pattie. However, the radar doesn’t lie and NASCAR doesn’t tolerate speeding, not on pit road anyway. The Target Chevrolet was clocked at 60.06 mph and 60.11 mph at various checkpoints which exceeded the 55 mph pit road speed limit and the additional 5 mph grace buffer. Even though Montoya didn’t win the race, his sponsor was well served throughout the day and by the high profile manner in which he lost the race.