Stuck in the back half of the pack for much of the afternoon because of handling problems with his No. 42 car, Montoya's highly anticipated Daytona 500 debut turned out to be a shoulder-shrugging disappointment.

The former Formula One star complained to his crew about his car's handling all afternoon, and they weren't able to fix it with adjustments during pit stops. Montoya ran outside the top 20 for most of the day and finished 19th.

So much for Montoya mania - this week, anyway.

''It started really bad,'' Montoya said. ''We were really tight, and we were struggling. The car was so bad, and I don't know what happened.''

The Colombian star left the prestigious McLaren Formula One team late last year to make the switch to NASCAR. He reunited with team owner Chip Ganassi, who once fielded cars for Montoya in open-wheel racing.

The Ganassi team, which has not won a race since the 2002 season, is looking for a spark from its new star. NASCAR officials are hoping Montoya's arrival will provide diversity and star power that will help the series draw in more mainstream sports fans.

Montoya proved to be a quick study once NASCAR hit the track, too.

Montoya led 18 laps in a qualifying race Thursday before his right-front wheel hub broke, putting him out after 24 laps. And Montoya ran competitively in Saturday's Busch Series race, but he again completed just 24 laps before his engine failed.

With such limited on-track time in the draft, Montoya came into Sunday without much of an idea what he was going to face. But the way his car was handling Sunday, all the track time in the world might not have made a difference.

On lap 51, Montoya radioed his crew to complain about the car being tight, meaning it wouldn't turn as easily as Montoya wanted it to. Crew chief Donnie Wingo replied, ''Long, long way to go. We'll get it fixed up.''

They tried to make a suspension adjustment on the next stop, but it didn't seem to help.

''Tight again!'' Montoya radioed on lap 82. ''So tight again. Crazy.''