Don’t Tell Juan Pablo Montoya He Should Retire

Some have suggested Juan Pablo Montoya should retire after the 2016 Verizon IndyCar Series season. Montoya is not one of them, and nixed the idea that he’s lost his desire to race.

Don’t tell Juan Pablo Montoya that he’s done.

With his Team Penske contract up for renewal, and Montoya having struggled this season, the rumors have begun to circle that he’s lost his desire to drive or should even consider retiring. Montoya made clear that he doesn’t want to hear any of that in a recent IndyCar.com interview.

“I would love to know who says that. I’ve heard it, too,” he told the website. “It’s kind of annoying because I feel like I’m driving better than I have since I came back. Things just haven’t gone my way.”

“It’s racing. You have good years and you have bad years,” Montoya continued. “It’s just a bad year. That’s what it is. How can you control blown engines or cautions? You can’t control that. Things outside my control, things have gone wrong, but things in my control, I think we’ve been OK.”

And then, in case you’re really not sure where he stands, the Colombian called out his critics quite clearly:

“Somebody is making up the rumors. I would love to know who it is because if he doesn’t think I’m trying, he’s not paying attention to the races.”

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Montoya is known for being blunt (remember when he called out Charlie Kimball earlier this season?), but he’s right – it’s absolutely ridiculous to be having this conversation.

It’s as if everyone forgot that last year he was all IndyCar could talk about.

Everyone raved about how he was one of the best, if not the best, as Montoya dominated the 2015 title hunt until his unfortunate mechanical blow-up at Iowa. That included a breathtaking win at the Indianapolis 500. He was an elite driver, and now just one year later we’re saying he has nothing left?

There’s no doubt that he’s struggled this season. Montoya has one win (St. Petersburg), one other podium finish (Detroit I) and two Top 5’s (Long Beach and Alabama). But he’s been bitten by the mechanical gremlin, which shouldn’t be held against him as a driver.

And he’s still just one spot in the championship hunt behind Alexander Rossi – whom fans have been raving about since his win at the 500 this year.

So 11th place is fantastic for Rossi, but 12th place means Montoya’s given up?

But the standard is different for Rossi. As a rookie, less is expected of him than an experienced driver like Montoya. Particularly when that driver is part of Team Penske, which has been eating the IndyCar field for breakfast throughout most of the 2016 season. And when that driver is the only Penske driver not at the top of the standings.

Montoya faces more pressure, more ways it’s easier to cast his difficulties in a negative light. Yet that doesn’t mean he doesn’t want to race, or that he doesn’t have anything left to contribute to the grid.

Just ask Josef Newgarden, who drove wheel-to-wheel with Montoya earlier this season. Or even new King of IndyCar Simon Pagenaud, whom Montoya popped on an impressive restart to nab that win at St. Pete.

“He’s having a season like I had last year. Bad luck,” Pagenaud told IndyCar.com. “He’s having a lot of bad luck. It has nothing to do with him, really.”

This year is Pagenaud’s year. It’s not Montoya’s. Next year, it will be someone else.

But until Montoya really starts bringing up the rear of the field, or decides that he wants to hang it up, there’s no need to be looking for the door.