LOUDON, N.H. - Juan Pablo Montoya has a bottle of French wine at home that was given to him as a gift from a friend in Malaysia, who told the driver to save it for a very special occasion.

One problem: Montoya doesn't drink alcohol.

Should he become the first foreign-born driver to win a NASCAR championship, Montoya is willing to make an exception.

"It's a beautiful French wine," he explained. "I don't like wine. But I would drink that wine if we win."

Don't pull the bottle opener out just yet - Montoya still has a long way to go in his quest for a Sprint Cup Series title. But the competition considers the Colombian the darkhorse of the 12-driver Chase for the championship field.

The 10-race title Chase begins today at New Hampshire Motor Speedway, where Montoya will make the 100th start of his Cup career. It falls on his 34th birthday, and Montoya will start from the pole, which he won with a record-breaking lap. He also paced all three practice sessions, putting his No. 42 Earnhardt Ganassi Chevrolet on top of the leaderboard all weekend.

Could the stars be aligning to send Montoya to Victory Lane for just the second time in the Cup Series since his stunning decision to leave Formula One?

He isn't saying.

But after crew chief Brian Pattie convinced him to spend the summer racing toward their goal of making their first Chase, Montoya is ready to run free and fast for wins.

Montoya left F1

midway through the 2006 season to reunite with former boss Chip Ganassi.

"I think Juan is the exception to the rule," said two-time NASCAR champion Tony Stewart, who won an IRL title before moving to stock cars. "Juan has done a great job, I have said that from day one. There are others that have come in that haven't done a very good job - takes people a long time to get used to these cars when you come from open wheel.

"He is the guy that it doesn't matter what kind of car you throw him in, he is going to figure it out. But I'm not sure that everybody has the talent level that he has."

Now, Montoya wants a chance to prove it.

NASCAR Trucks

LOUDON, N.H. - Kyle Busch held off Ron Hornaday and Kevin Harvick to win the NASCAR Camping World Truck Series race at New Hampshire Motor Speedway on Saturday.

Busch had just enough fuel to survive, running out of gas as he made his way to Victory Lane. The NASCAR star has now won a Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Truck race at the 1.058-mile oval.

The real intrigue came behind Busch, where series leader Hornaday spent the last 50 laps battling with Harvick, his boss.

Harvick appeared to be agitated that Hornaday would not let him pass, at one point bumping into the back of Hornaday under caution.

Hornaday finished second to extend his lead in the season points race to 217 over Matt Crafton.

Immediately after the race Harvick, who owns Hornaday's No. 33 Chevrolet, stomped over to Hornaday's truck and exchanged a few words with his friend and employee.

"It was poor communication," Harvick said. "I felt like we had the two best trucks today."

NHRA

CONCORD, N.C. - Two-time champion Larry Dixon handled the Top Fuel field to earn the No. 1 qualifying position for today's NHRA Carolinas Nationals, the first race in NHRA's six-race playoff.

The other provisional No. 1 qualifiers at the 19th of 24 races in the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series were Cruz Pedregon (Funny Car), Mike Edwards (Pro Stock) and Hector Arana (Pro Stock Motorcycle).

The NHRA Carolinas Nationals is the first race in NHRA's six-race playoff.

The Associated Press