Montoya sorry for 'no-good, nasty, dirty' move.

Juan Montoya insists that he feels bad about bumping Chip Ganassi Racing team-mate Scott Pruett out of the lead of the Busch Series Telcel Motorola Mexico 200 on Sunday, but admitted that it felt good to get a first NASCAR win under his belt.

The Colombian, who led through most of the event, closed on the rear of his team-mate's Juicy Fruit Dodge with eight laps to run, having had to haul himself back from 19th after making an extra pit-stop to top up a fuel shortfall, but the two cars made contact as Montoya made a move to the inside at turn one. Pruett spun down the order, but Montoya was able top continue with minor damage to his front left corner, eventually going on to take victory over Denny Hamlin.

Pruett, who himself battled back from 17th to fifth after the incident, was clearly displeased with JPM's move, claiming that he would have yielded to the Colombian had he been clearly faster.

"Of all the people to take you out.... your team-mate," he fumed, having given Montoya a retaliatory nudge on the slow-down lap, "That was just no-good, low, nasty, dirty driving. I can't even put it into words.

"It's just so disappointing. We talked about it in meetings, talked about it, talked about it, talked about it. If he's faster than me, we'll work it out, he can go, you know, but not take each other out. That's just bad driving."

Montoya, for his part, appeared contrite when questioned about the move.

"I felt really bad because we both needed a really good finish," he said, "We were both braking at about the same point, but he was slowing down a little more. He kind of stayed wide, so I went for the inside and, when I was there, he just turned and I had nowhere to go. I feel really sorry about it."

Controversy aside, however, Montoya's race was one to cherish, as he put his road racing skills to the fore on the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez. Passing polesitter Pruett on lap three, he went on to pace the field for more than half the race, before problems with a hose clamp on the fuel overflow meant the team could only get about six-and-a-half gallons in the Texaco Havoline Dodge at what should have been its final stop. Although he rejoined near the front, Montoya was forced to come back to the pits with 26 laps remaining to fix the problem and take on enough fuel to make the finish.

From 19th on the restart, he stormed back through the field to lie fifth just nine laps after pitting. However, he then despatched seasoned NASCAR runners Carl Edwards, and Hamlin, as well as road race specialists Boris Said and Pruett over the final 13 laps, before claiming victory in only his seventh Busch Series start.

"It's big," Montoya admitted after the race, "We've got this one out of the way now, and the next one is we need to win on an oval. I want to win on an oval. That's where we need to be good."