Juan Pablo Montoya to Defend Indy 500 title at Centennial Race

CHARLOTTE, NC (WCCB Charlotte) — Juan Pablo Montoya doesn’t like milk — but he would not mind drinking it on Sunday.

“If it was chocolate milk, I’d take chocolate milk over regular milk.”

Montoya had the ceremonial sip for the second time in his career after winning last year’s Indy 500; he previously won in 15-years earlier at the 2000 race. The fanfare surrounding the Indy 500 is always large, but given that its the 100th running of the Indy 500 on Sunday, Montoya said there’s even more hoopla.

“Every seat has been sold out and sold out for awhile,” Montoya said. “It’s also the 50th year of Penske and we are the defending champions so there are a lot of things going on. It’s pretty cool.”

Montoya held a media luncheon on Wednesday in Charlotte ahead of his trip to the IRL’s signature event. Montoya’s season has been solid–three top fives in five races including a win in the first event of the season in St. Petersburg, Florida.

“The season has been going good,” Montoya said. “I made a mistake in the last race and it cost us a little bit. Overall, I’m third in points and feel we have a strong shot at the championship. You got to keep at it and take advantage when you can.”

Montoya returned to Indy Car Racing in 2014 after competing for six seasons in Formula One Racing and seven in NASCAR.

A conversation with Juan Pablo Montoya will be featured on WCCB Charlotte’s Got Game on Saturday night. The show begins at 10:35.

His racing profile can be found here.