WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — He was trailed by a documentary crew, answered several questions in Spanish in his media blitz, and was called a racing hero by drivers still in their teens the last time Juan Pablo Montoya ran a NASCAR race.

Ten years after his last Cup Series start, it was indeed “Juan’s World” again for the blunt Colombian, who never had the elite level of success in NASCAR as he did in his IndyCar, sports cars and Formula One days.

He’s back with Michael Jordan’s team for a one-off race Sunday at Watkins Glen International, without the hype and high expectations that followed him when he made his NASCAR debut 18 years ago.

“It’s either gonna be, ‘oh, it’s not too bad,’ ” Montoya said, “or I’m gonna, go, ‘oh (shoot!)’ We’ll see.”

That kind of described Montoya’s career arc over the bulk of his seven full Cup seasons, spent driving for Chip Ganassi. There were flashes of greatness – like a win at The Glen in 2010 or seven top-five finishes in 2009 when he was eighth in the season standings – but just not enough consistency inside the organization to ever stamp him a true NASCAR championship contender.

Montoya these days is a podcaster, still races sports cars, and is a mentor to his teenage son, Sebastián, who is following in his father’s tire tracks and chasing his own racing career.

Sliding back into a Cup car wasn’t in his plans.

“He must have got really bored or something,” cracked driver Martin Truex Jr.

Montoya had pretty much shut the door on any more NASCAR races until 23XI Racing reached out about having him drive the No. 50 Toyota in support of Mobil 1’s 50th anniversary. The team owned by Jordan and Denny Hamlin has run the third car two other times this season as part of the collaboration. Montoya also had a long friendship with 23XI Racing’s president, Steve Lauletta, an executive with Chip Ganassi Racing back in Montoya’s tenure with the team.

Montoya qualified 34th for the race on Saturday.

“I don’t really have any expectations, I just want him to have fun,” Hamlin said. “I think he’s going to get better as the race weekend goes on, as he gets more reps. I can’t tell you how hard it is to do what he’s doing.”

Those who remember Montoya, who turns 49 next week, as one of the more talented, brash and successful drivers of his generation were thrilled to have him make a cameo at The Glen.

“He was the man when I was growing up,” 26-year-old Hendrick Motorsports driver William Bryon said.

Mexican driver Daniel Suarez said Montoya “broke the mold” and helped show foreign drivers there was a career path toward NASCAR.

“A lot has changed since he was here,” Suarez said. “A lot.”

The field is largely happy to see him – just as long as Montoya kind of stays out of the way.

Watkins Glen is the second playoff race, and the stakes and emotions are raised for drivers chasing a championship. There isn’t a title contender out there that wants to crash out of the race in any circumstance, much less by a road-course ringer such as Montoya.

“Hopefully he’s nice and respectful of the playoff guys,” Byron said.

Montoya said respectful racing “is not that hard.”

“I will be nice and respectful of everyone that is nice and respectful for me,” he said, laughing.

The two-time Indianapolis 500 winner competed full-time in Formula One, CART, IndyCar and IMSA. He won the CART championship in 1999, the IMSA championship in 2019, and is a three-time winner of the Rolex 24 at Daytona.

Montoya has 12 starts at Watkins Glen in four different series. He won the Cup race on the road course in 2010 and has three top-fives and five top-10 in his seven starts there in NASCAR.

His NASCAR record shows two wins in 255 starts – both victories on road courses. Montoya – who could never solve ovals – was ultimately remembered for the explosive fireball created when he crashed into a jet dryer during the 2012 Daytona 500.

Sunday’s race isn’t necessarily the final one in his NASCAR career. Montoya said he wouldn’t rule out another one-off with 23XI.

“I would probably say yes,” Montoya said, “but it is Saturday morning, so we will see.”

QUALIFYING: Martin Truex Jr. was the highest-qualifying playoff driver (second) for Sunday’s race, a needed boost for the 2017 NASCAR champion who is looking for a win to guarantee himself a spot in the next round.

Truex was one of only five playoff drivers to crack the top 10 in qualifying on the 2.45-mile road course. Alex Bowman was fourth and Austin Cindric fifth. Joey Logano, who is assured of advancing to the next round after last weekend’s win at Atlanta, was seventh, and Daniel Suarez eighth.

Ross Chastain posted a top speed of 122.279 mph to win the pole, leading a top 10 that includes road-course aces Shane Van Gisbergen and AJ Allmendinger.

Truex is winless in his final full season in NASCAR, and the Joe Gibbs Racing driver understood the challenges ahead as he entered Sunday in 15th place in the playoff field – 19 points below the cutoff.

“You call it a slump. Great players get in slumps in other sports, and that is what I feel like it is,” Truex said. “I feel like we are doing a lot of good things We have lot of speed and put ourselves in position, we just have to put it all together. Some days I make mistakes, some days the team makes mistakes, some days, last week, we got caught up in an accident. There has been a lot of that. Just have to put it together on one day and hopefully that is this weekend.”