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Insider: Montoya appreciates the Indy 500 this time

Curt Cavin
curt.cavin@indystar.com
Juan Pablo Montoya, the winner of the Indianapolis 500, shows the prize watch his children in the victory circle, Sunday, May 24, 2015, in Indianapolis, Ind.

This time, Juan Pablo Montoya's victory smile was real, raw and beaming for all the right reasons.

That wasn't the case in 2000 when he won the Indianapolis 500 for the first time. He was fearless and brash, a 24-year-old CART champion with little use for the Indy Racing League's signature event.

Forgive him for that. He was 24 and didn't care what people thought. Winning at Indianapolis Motor Speedway was cool and all, especially after leading 167 of the 200 laps, but it was just a stop on the road to Formula One.

Sunday wasn't a stop, it was an arrival at appreciation. Montoya had won the right way, in a late-race battle with a teammate after nearly a month soaking in the event. He had savored evenings in the city, dined with his boss, rode in the parade and hugged his three children before climbing in Roger Penske's car.

Montoya did none of those things the first time.

"(This) is the proper experience of the month," he said Sunday with a winning smile as big as Team Penske's trophy case. "When you go through everything, you start to understand what it means to win here."

Having a family helps. Last time, Montoya was smug and single; now he's nearly 40, a doting husband with children experiencing his open-wheel success for the first time. The sight of Montoya searching for his wife in victory lane was symbolic of how far he's traveled off the track.

"I think he smiled more today than he did (in 2000)," Team Penske President Tim Cindric said in the post-race news conference.

About that time, Montoya's oldest son, Sebastian, approached from behind and delivered a cub's bear hug. Pop's eyes swelled up.

Montoya's emotion had been just as strong on Sunday's final lap upon realizing Will Power wasn't going to catch him. On the team's radio, the reaction befitted the moment.

"Ha ha ha, I've got this!" Montoya recalled saying. "I was screaming; I was so happy."

The winning move had actually come two laps earlier when Will Power was pinned to the inside entering Turn 1. Montoya executed a similar move on pole winner Scott Dixon for second place two corners prior as the 500 swapped hands five times in the final 15 laps.

Montoya led only nine laps — third-fewest by a winner — as Dixon (84), Simon Pagenaud (35), Tony Kanaan (30) and Power (23) dominated most of the way. But lead swapping was so frequent — 37 times — it was the second-most competitive race in history, with the fourth-closest finishing margin (0.1042 seconds).

Montoya started 15th, second-lowest by a Penske winner, but he fell deeper in the 33-car field on Lap 8 by pitting for rear wing damage caused by Simona De Silvestro's contact under caution. Montoya was furious with the Swiss driver, but he fought back to calm and figured 30th was just a number. Back to work he went.

The No. 2 Chevrolet never felt strong enough to contend for the win, but the crew kept working on it, and by the time it was time to charge, it was charged. Montoya got the lead out of strength on Lap 165, and the fight was on until Power pushed up the track in Turn 3 of the final lap and lifted off the gas. That's when Montoya screamed.

"You're older, you're wiser, you understand where the races are won, where they're lost," he said.

Montoya became the 11th driver to win the 500 for Team Penske, boosting the overall total to 16 wins. He also became the only driver to have won one for Chip Ganassi, another for Penske.

The 15 years between victories broke the event record by five years, and A.J. Foyt had two other wins squeezed in between his. Montoya has now gone first, fifth and first in three 500s.

Montoya obviously loves IMS, having led 203 laps over eight Brickyard 400s and scoring points in two of his five F-1 races here.

But this drive resonates the most.

"When you have to work for it that hard, it's exciting," he said. "When you come out on top of races like this ..."

Montoya didn't need to finish the sentence.

Said Cindric: "To see his kids here I think was really what brought the whole thing full circle for him."

Follow Star reporter Curt Cavin on Twitter: @curtcavin.