Juan Montoya is paying it backward.
During the first two race weekends of the season, Montoya has reached out to IndyCar star Danica Patrick, offering advice from the perspective of a driver who has made a successful transition from open-wheel racing to stock cars.
Montoya's motivation to help Patrick is driven from the reception he got when he began racing full-time in the Cup Series in 2007.
"People were very open to me when I got here," Montoya said Friday at Las Vegas Motor Speedway. "They were coming to me every week, helping me, giving me tips. It's really hard at the beginning, as an open-wheel guy, to have, basically, the [courage] to go to somebody and say 'Can you help me.'
"I know how hard that is, so that's why I've been trying to help her, and I know what she's going through. I just talk to her about the tracks -- you've got to be careful of this, you've got to be careful of that, you want to do this, you want to do that."
A portion of Montoya's advice involves understanding what realistic expectations should be.
"You shouldn't expect great things right at the beginning," he said. "In open wheel, if you run bad, you run 10th. Here, if you run bad, you run 30th, and to put that in your mind is really, really hard."
Biffle adds to his resume
Greg Biffle has never forgotten his early days of racing across the Northwest, where the path to NASCAR is bumpy at best.
In a nod to his roots, Biffle announced Friday he has become part owner of an Oregon dirt track and has formed a late model series to help budding racers across the Northwest.
"It's more about bringing some recognition to these race tracks and kind of giving back to that series and providing a good platform for guys to come out and race on Friday and Saturday night," Biffle said. "Both of the race tracks I won championships at are gone now. Portland Speedway and Tri Cities Raceway are both extinct."
Biffle is now part owner of Sunset Speedway in Banks, Oregon, a 0.75-mile clay dirt track located outside Portland. The track will host 35 events this season, which begins April 10.
He also announced the formation of the DAA Spec Motor Series, which will run 22 events on six tracks with a $25,000 season points fund.
"A lot of great things are happening for the guys out in the Northwest," Biffle said. "I really felt like I wanted to get involved in grassroots racing and it's important because that's where all of our feeder guys come from -- mechanics and drivers -- for the Camping World Truck, Nationwide and Cup Series.
"It was important for me to get back to where I grew up and support this series."
High praise for Jake Elder
Legendary crew chief "Suitcase" Jake Elder, who guided Dale Earnhardt and Darrell Waltrip to their first Cup victories, made a lasting impression on those who raced against him.
"He was one of those unbelievable people," six-time champion car owner Junior Johnson said of Elder, who died Wednesday at age 73."I think he had a real low education, but you couldn't outrun the rascal because he had more common sense than most people.
"He was so gifted on what he was doing on the car that I'd put him ahead of about 99 percent of the mechanics who've come along since I've been in racing."
Nicknamed "Suitcase Jake" because of his propensity for changing jobs, Elder was crew chief for David Pearson during two of the driver's three championship seasons (1968 and 1969).
The Associated Press contributed to this report