Racing legend could make NASCAR Cup Series return in 2024

Juan Pablo Montoya could find himself back in a NASCAR Cup Series car before the end of 2024.

In a video posted to 23XI Racing's X account, the team announced that its part-time No. 50 car will make one more start during the 2024 season. While the team didn't explicitly name the driver for its final race of the year, it appears to be legendary driver Juan Pablo Montoya, who made 255 Cup Series starts from 2006 to 2014.

Montoya won two Cup Series races, winning at Sonoma and Watkins Glen, respectively, along with a NASCAR Busch Series race in 2007 in Mexico City. Montoya made the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup in 2009 and earned a career-best Cup Series points finish of eighth that same year.

Montoya's specialty in racing has always been open-wheel cars, as he won the 1999 CART championship, along with 10 CART races and five races in IndyCar. In 94 Formula 1 starts, Montoya won seven races and finished on the podium 30 times.

He is a two-time winner of the Indianapolis 500 (2000, 2015) and has also won the 24 Hours of Daytona three times in 2007, 2008 and 2013. Montoya won the IMSA championship in 2019, becoming a household name in the world of sports car racing.

The 48-year-old would certainly be the most accomplished driver that 23XI Racing has had drive its third car. Travis Pastrana piloted a third entry for the team in the 2023 Daytona 500, and Japanese driver Kamui Kobayashi drove for 23XI at Indianapolis in 2023 and COTA in 2024. The most recent race for 23XI's third team was at Nashville on June 30, where Toyota prospect Corey Heim drove the No. 50 car to a 29th-place finish.

Montoya would likely drive the car at one of the two remaining road courses on the schedule of Watkins Glen (N.Y.) or Charlotte (N.C.). With it being the final race for 23XI's part-time entry in 2024, putting Montoya in the car would certainly drum up excitement and give him the best car he's ever had at the Cup Series level.