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Indy 500 Winners & Results: Montoya Wins Race From Behind, Bags Second Indy Win

Juan Pablo Montoya took home his second Indianapolis 500 victory on Sunday, a second for the Colombian with a 15 year gap between the two victories.

Sunday's podium was a flashback to 15 years  earlier when Montoya first took home the honor. Montoya used the win as a stepping stone to Formula One, reported Mercury News. After multiple underwhelming seasons in NASCAR, Roger Penske recruited the driver in 2013 to return to the Indy race scene. 

While on the podium, Montoya was emotional when he said, "I'm glad I am proving them right, that they made the right choice. I'm loving racing now."

The  publication notes that Montoya was extremely confident entering the race as he confidently predicted to his teammates he would win the race. 

However, the two victories were nothing similar. In the year 2000, at the age of 24, Montoya led 167 out of the 200 laps but this Sunday's win was a different story. Over the weekend the racer met major challenges. The racer began was 15th overall and after a collision from behind from Simona de Silvestro, pit repairs led him to restart the race second-to-the-last.

His second setback was when he was penalized for running his air hose during a pit stop, requiring him to be set back a few places. However, these couldn't hold Montoya back, 

ESPN quoted the driver saying,  "It's exciting and each one is very special.

He adds, "The first one was cool, but it was weird because we had come from Japan and were running (a snow-delayed CART race) at Nazareth the day before. We didn't really experience everything. This year, we had the proper experience of the month, with the parade and everything. When you start to do everything you understand what it means to win here and it's pretty special."

This is also special for team owner Roger Penske, who bagged his 16th win in the Indianapolis 500.


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