Juan Pablo Montoya was slowed by a flat tire early in an April 15 bike ride. Though a perturbing start to the day, he maintained a glass-half-full outlook. A flat tire in the Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach two days earlier would have been more upsetting to the Miami resident.

In his second Verizon IndyCar Series race, Montoya placed fourth in the 40th annual race in the No. 2 Verizon Team Penske car. Overall, the Miami resident was pleased with the result after starting 16th and restarting 20th following a Lap 27 caution. He worked his way up the running order and was scored in sixth place on the restart following the multi-car incident in Turn 4 on Lap 56.

Montoya was fifth on a Lap 71 restart -- the final one in the 80-lap race -- and moved up one position when race leader Scott Dixon had to pit for fuel with only two laps left.

Click it: Toyota Grand Prix of Long Beach tire usage

"What an amazing team and I really have to thank Verizon and Chevy," said Montoya, who won the 1999 Long Beach race. "I could've been a little more aggressive at the end, but I really wanted to make sure we didn't get in any trouble and got a decent finish in the Verizon car. We had some close calls out there but we kept pushing and to come out of Long Beach with a top-five finish is pretty good."

The tens of thousands of spectators and fans around the globe have wondered how Montoya would fare after 14 years out of Indy car racing. He had burst onto the scene as a 23 year old in the '99 season, during which the Long Beach win was among seven en route to the CART championship. The next May, he won the Indianapolis 500 in his first attempt. That further pushed open the gateway to a Formula One ride.

"I know I can drive the heck out of the car, and that's what I want to do and that's why Roger (Penske) hired me," Montoya re-iterated the day before the initial practice on the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit. "That's what I'm going to do, and I'm going to work as hard as I can to make it happen as quickly as possible. I've got good cars, good teammates."

After joining those teammates, Helio Castroneves and series championship points leader Will Power, for an April 16 test at Texas Motor Speedway, Montoya and Co. will prepare for the Honda Indy Grand Prix of Alabama at Barber Motorsports Park on April 25-27. Unlike the first two events of the season, Montoya at least is familiar with the 2.38-mile, 17-turn road course in Birmingham after three days of testing.

Both Power and Castroneves have won and started from the pole at Barber.