MIAMI -- This is not your father's NASCAR.

“

It's great that the Latin community pays attention to what I'm doing [but] I didn't come to NASCAR to create that. I came to NASCAR because I wanted to race in NASCAR.

”

-- JUAN MONTOYA

A luxury condominium tower on tony Brickell Avenue, overlooking the Miami River, lit by swirling spotlights. A red carpet overrun by starlets and television reporters, all of them dressed in short skirts and stiletto heels, to the point where it's difficult to tell which is which. A fashion show runway jutting into a sparkling swimming pool, ceviche and scallops on the half-shell, Spanish flowing as freely as the vodka and gin. It's difficult to imagine men like David Pearson and Cale Yarborough in an atmosphere so glamorous, so aristocratic, and so exotic all at the same time.

But not Juan Montoya. This is his event, a charity gala put on by the driver and his wife, Connie, to benefit a number of causes in his native Colombia. And this is his city; his multi-story residence is in a similar condo tower not too far away. The entire evening is a merging of the two halves of Montoya's life -- on one side, drivers like Jeff Gordon and Kasey Kahne, on the other, Latin singers and actresses and beauty queens. On the track, he's one of 42 others chasing Jimmie Johnson for the Cup title. But in Miami, Montoya is a rock star. You get the distinct impression that in South Florida, NASCAR's most popular driver may not be who you think.

That certainly appeared to be the case earlier in the day, when Montoya appeared at a press event in nearby Coral Gables to kick off NASCAR's championship weekend. The horde of media crowding around Montoya was downright Dale Jr.-esque, dwarfing even those querying title contenders Jimmie Johnson and Mark Martin. NASCAR had hoped that Montoya's arrival would help the series tap into the Hispanic market. Judging by the attention he's receiving this week, which concludes with the season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway, the sport is getting its wish. (Continued)