Montoya won’t defend Mexico City victory

Juan Pablo Montoya won’t defend his crown when the Nationwide Series visits Mexico City in two weeks, instead opting for the rare weekend off with his family.

While the Chip Ganassi Racing driver won’t be there, several road-course veterans will be, including Sam Hornish for Penske Racing. Hornish is a rookie in the Sprint Cup Series and has run select Nationwide Series races the last two years.

“Obviously I haven’t ran one of these cars on a road course before competitively in a race so it’s a good idea for us to go down there and get a race in before we go out to Infineon in June [for Cup] and just try to do it without having any of that experience," Hornish said Thursday. “While I’d enjoy the weekend off, we’re not going to get it so we’ll make the best of it in Mexico."

Mexico native Michel Jourdain is in negotiations to drive the No. 32 car for Braun Racing.

“We’re looking at him," team owner Todd Braun said. “The conversation has been had but nothing has been finalized yet." Scenedaily.com