Juan Pablo Montoya to Get NASCAR Cup Series Start at Watkins Glen

Juan Pablo Montoya is back—and in a stock car.

Montoya, an internationally celebrated driver who has raced in NASCAR, IndyCar, Formula 1 and top sports car series, is scheduled to drive again in the Cup Series at Watkins Glen International Sept. 15.

Montoya will drive a Toyota for 23XI Racing as part of sponsor Mobil 1’s 50th anniversary celebration. He will be a teammate of 23XI Cup regulars Tyler Reddick and Bubba Wallace. 23XI’s No. 50 car also has been driven this season by Kamui Kobayashi and Corey Heim. Kobayashi finished 29th at Circuit of the Americas in March, and Heim was 29th after crashing late in the race at Nashville Superspeedway in June.

Montoya, 48, hasn’t raced in the Cup Series since driving at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in 2014. He was a NASCAR regular from 2007 to 2013 and won Cup races at Sonoma (2007) and Watkins Glen (2010). Montoya, who made two Cup starts in 2014, surprised many in the motorsports world by leaving Formula 1 in 2006 to jump to NASCAR with Chip Ganassi’s team. In 255 Cup races, Montoya had two wins, 24 top fives and 59 top 10s. His best points finish was eighth in 2009.

“I’m looking forward to getting back in a Cup car and racing at Watkins Glen, a track I really enjoy and had the chance to experience earlier in my career,” Montoya said.

23XI Racing president Steve Lauletta called Montoya “a world-class driver who has won in everything he’s driven, and he will be a great closer to the 50th-anniversary celebration we’ve had in NASCAR with the No. 50 Mobil 1 Toyota.”

Montoya ran a pair of IndyCar races in 2022 and one race in IMSA in 2023.