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Another Andretti looking for a Pocono win

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<p>Juan Pablo Montoya&#8217;s return to Pocono Raceway in the Verizon IndyCar Series was a triumphant one in last year&#8217;s 500-mile race at Pocono Raceway. Montoya assumed the lead with four laps to go when Tony Kanaan pitted for fuel, en route to victory lane.</p><p>This time around, the Colombia native holds the points lead in the 2015 IndyCar standings heading into Sunday&#8217;s ABC Supply 500.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;ve had a good year,&#8221; Montoya said in a teleconference Wednesday. &#8220;I think the beginning of the year was great, opened the season with a win there. I felt that beating Will [Power] was huge, having a good car on a street course showed the hard work we put in, in the off-season, because we felt that was the weakest link was the street courses and that&#8217;s where we put most of our focus and it paid off. &#8220;</p><p>Montoya has two wins on the season including a victory in May in the 99th running of the Indianapolis 500. Since then, his best finish is fourth three times, most recently coming July 12 at the Milwaukee Mile.</p><p>&#8220;I think I&#8217;m really good at setting up the car at the ovals,&#8221; Montoya said. &#8220;I know exactly what a car needs to be good and I think that makes a big difference. If we can find what I want out of the car, then we&#8217;ll definitely going to be strong.&#8221;</p><p>Pocono and the famed Indianapolis Motor Speedway make up two of the three IndyCar Series superspeedway races, with California&#8217;s Auto Club Speedway being the other. All three tracks measure two miles or more in length.</p><p>June&#8217;s MavTV 500 at Auto Club saw a series-record 80 lead changes throughout the event and was won by a red-hot Graham Rahal. The Ohio driver sat 73 points behind Montoya following the race, but has been on a tear as of late. Rahal won the series&#8217; last race on Aug. 2 at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in front of the home-state fans and in the three races since Fontana, Rahal cut Montoya&#8217;s point lead down to nine.</p><p>&#8220;I think it&#8217;s right there,&#8221; Rahal said about the championship. &#8220;We&#8217;re close and we feel like we&#8217;re close. We feel like we&#8217;re capable and I think everybody on the Rahal Letterman Lanigan team is ready to capitalize on it. We know certainly that we&#8217;re riding a bit of a wave here lately.&#8221;</p><p>&#8220;Things have definitely gone right. I think the guys are doing a tremendous job for us and we&#8217;re excited by that.&#8221;</p><p>Rahal&#8217;s day at Pocono ended short last year when he lost control of his No. 15 machine coming out of Turn 2 for the race&#8217;s only caution. Despite his recent struggles at the Tricky Triangle, he is more than ready to tackle the 2.5-mile track.</p><p>&#8220;I&#8217;m looking forward to Pocono,&#8221; Rahal said. &#8220;It hasn&#8217;t been the best for us in the past, but, with that being said, we&#8217;re in a great spot looking forward and I think we&#8217;re definitely capable of having a great race this weekend.&#8221;</p><p>His week leading Pocono got even better, as restaurant chain Steak &#8216;n Shake agreed to be on the car for the final two races.</p><p>&#8220;It&#8217;s been exciting for us to have Steak &#8216;n Shake continue in that way and grow and expand their partnership with our team,&#8221; Rahal said. &#8220;I think they&#8217;ve probably been the favorite sponsor of everybody all season long. The fans have really taken it by storm have been just amazing and we appreciate them and everything they&#8217;ve done.&#8221;</p><p>There hasn&#8217;t been an American driver in contention for the championship since Florida driver Ryan-Hunter Reay took home the 2012 IndyCar Series title leapfrogging Australian-born Will Power for the top spot in points at the series&#8217; final race at Auto Club Speedway. Power went on to win his first IndyCar title last season after leading the series points going into the final race from 2010 to 2012.</p><p>The stars and cars of the Verizon IndyCar Series take to Pocono Raceway for the first time this season with a rookie practice at 8:30 a.m. on Saturday morning, followed by the rest of the drivers to practice at 9:30 a.m. and goes until 11.</p><style>
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<div class="neCaption">Juan Pablo Montoya (2) pumps his fist as the takes the checkered flag to win the Pocono IndyCar 500 auto race July 6, 2014 in Long Pond. Montoya returns this weekend to defend his title at the ABC Supply 500 on Sunday. </div></div><div class="metaInfo"><photo0>https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/08/web1_7-7pocono2.jpg</photo0><caption0>Juan Pablo Montoya (2) pumps his fist as the takes the checkered flag to win the Pocono IndyCar 500 auto race July 6, 2014 in Long Pond. Montoya returns this weekend to defend his title at the ABC Supply 500 on Sunday. </caption0><photoCredit0></photoCredit0></div></div>
<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta><p>By Kyle Magda</p><p>For Times Leader</p></bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><factboxMeta><p style="text-align: center;"><strong>IRL Schedule</strong></p><p><strong>ABC Supply 500</strong></p><p><strong>Saturday, August 22</strong></p><p>8:30-9:30 a.m. &#8211; Rookie Practice</p><p>9:30-11 a.m. &#8211; Practice</p><p>2 p.m. &#8211; Qualifying</p><p>5:30-6 p.m. &#8211; Final Practice</p><p><strong>Sunday, August 23</strong></p><p>2:46 p.m. &#8211; Green flag for ABC Supply 500</p></factboxMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta><p>Reach Times Leader sports at 570-829-7143 or on Twitter @tlsports.</p></shirttailMeta></div>

Juan Pablo Montoya, Graham Rahal set to battle at Pocono Raceway