ESPN Sprint Cup

SONOMA, Calif. -- Chip Ganassi was giddy, if not a bit arrogant, after Juan Pablo Montoya won his first Sprint Cup race last season at Infineon Raceway. He sounded almost vindicated for all the criticism he and his organization had been taking, some even questioning his decision to bring a Formula One driver into NASCAR.

"We all knew we had it in us," Ganassi said after the victory. "We've all won races and know how to win. And we have a guy that pushed the pedal now. That sure helps."

A year later, though, Ganassi finds himself back under attack. His drivers -- Montoya, Dario Franchitti and Reed Sorenson -- are winless in 15 events with only one finish in the top 10 heading into Sunday's race at Infineon. They've led a combined seven laps, or 794 fewer than points leader Kyle Busch.

Montoya is 22nd in points and fading fast from Chase contention less than a month after being in the top 12 that will make the 10-race playoff. The other two cars are fighting for spots in the top 35 guaranteed a position in the field each week.

The No. 40 car driven by Franchitti is 39th in owner points and Sorenson's No. 41, which will be driven by road course specialist Scott Pruett this weekend, is 32nd.

The lack of success is magnified because Ganassi's Indy Racing League and Grand-Am programs are so strong. The IRL teams have four wins in seven races, including Scott Dixon's victory in the Indianapolis 500.

The Grand-Am program has four wins in five events, including an unprecedented third straight 24 Hours of Daytona.

The Cup team has won only once since Jamie McMurray replaced Sterling Marlin in the Coca-Cola 600 in 2002 and only five times since Ganassi partnered with Felix Sabates in 2001.

"Don't ask me why our Sprint Cup program isn't as good as our IndyCar program," Ganassi said defensively before the question could be asked.

He paused and then added, "Why don't you go ask Jeff Gordon why he hasn't won any races this year? Haven't we beaten this horse enough?"

If Ganassi sounds a bit on edge, it's because he is.

"He's a little on edge because he wants results," said Mike Hull, the managing director for the Indianapolis shop that works closely with competition director Steve Hmiel on the Cup side in Concord, N.C.

"I just know Chip. He knows what those guys are doing, what those guys are working on. He wants the results to come just like the rest of us would."

Exactly why the IndyCar program is so much stronger than Cup is open for debate. Some will say it's easier to compete in the IndyCar series because there are only five or six good teams, compared to 20 or more in NASCAR's premier series.

Some will say it's because Ganassi puts more resources and money into his Indy program. Some will say it's because Ganassi fell so far behind in developing the new car.

Some will say it's because of the constant change in drivers, particularly with Montoya and Franchitti coming from open wheel with no stock car experience.

Hull says it's unfair to compare the two, reminding the IndyCar program has been in existence for more than 20 years and that Ganassi has been involved in NASCAR for eight years.

He reminded that in 2004 and 2005 the IndyCar program had as many question marks as the Cup program.

"They are a young team even though they bought into somebody's organization," Hull said. "What happened is they tried to establish a different culture inside the same building. That's a tough go.

"In this building we weren't that good to start with. It takes time. You want to be remembered over time as an organization that continues to win, not just one that won the last race. Those people in Concord are working in that direction. I believe they have the mindset to get it done."

Frustration mounting
Hmiel leaned against a tool box in the garage at Michigan International Speedway last weekend, frustrated over the performance of the cars in Saturday's final practice.

"I'm sure Chip was looking for somebody to fix this race team [when he hired me last year]," he said. "So far I've failed pretty miserably."

Hmiel has leaned heavily on the IndyCar program as a model to help turn things around. He and Hull speak almost on a daily basis.

"They do a terrific job in Indianapolis," Hmiel said. "They've done everything they can to help us."

That help has always been available, but until Hmiel arrived it wasn't accepted so openly.

"We're listening to what they have to say, which I'm not sure happened in the past," he said.

Hull agreed.

"I wish he were wrong, but that might be a good way to look at it," he said. "Chip has always given us the right kind of resources, fantastic drivers and the liberty to have good people work for us. And then it's obviously up to us to make it happen.

"We've managed in Indianapolis for a long time to take all of that and build on it. It's about taking the agreement to continue to work together and move ahead."

Hmiel said the organization was so far behind in developing the new car when he arrived that it's a constant game of catch-up.

"Once you dig a hole that deep ... if everybody else quit digging, if they stopped and things were status quo, then we might catch them," he said. "I feel like we're that far behind."

Roger Penske, who like Ganassi has been more successful on the Indy side than Cup, said the new car is to blame for a lot of his team struggles. He emphasized it's not a given that strength in one program will guarantee strength in another no matter how much money you have.

"The development of the new car has been challenging," he said. "Quite honestly, we've got to get our act together."

Donnie Wingo, who was Montoya's crew chief through the first eight races, understands the team is behind on the new car.

"But when you keep that in your head all the time it gets in the driver's head," he said. "That don't accomplish nothing. Are we where we need to be? Do we know what we need to know? No, but we're trying to get there.

"We just all need to be on the same page."

That there has been constant change in drivers and crew chiefs has made that difficult.

Franchitti, trying to make the transition from Indy cars to Cup, missed a handful of races after breaking his ankle at Talladega. Montoya is on his third crew chief in the last seven races.

Ganassi and Hmiel made the first change, moving Donnie Wingo to Sorenson's car and putting Jimmy Elledge with Montoya, hoping to spread the talent into areas that were weak. The second change came after Elledge and Hmiel got into a heated argument during All-Star week.

Montoya voiced strong opposition to the second change, which put Brian Pattie atop his pit box, but understands the motivation.

"Last year I was running a lot better, and it's not like I forgot how to drive, so that's been a little tough," Montoya said. "You expect every year for things to go a little better, and right now we're not.

"So from that point of view, it's very hard mentally. It's frustrating. I'm not a good guy to keep emotions away. I'll tell you everything how it is. I'm an open book. Sometimes it's bad, sometimes it's good, but you know what I'm thinking."

Hmiel certainly expected the teams to be further ahead at this point.

"I'm broken-hearted for the guys," he said. "They get a glimpse of success and we pull back. I feel bad for the folks in there working their tails off trying to do so much. From a personal standpoint, it's a huge disappointment, but it's not something I am giving up on."

Good timing
Montoya reached into a display box in front of his hauler and pulled out a pack of the same Big Red chewing gum that sponsors his car.

"I didn't expect to have races that good so early and have wins like last year," he said. "But at the same time I didn't expect us to run as bad as we have sometimes this year."

Before the season, Montoya and Wingo said anything less than the playoffs would be a disappointment. They were ready to build on the momentum of a rookie season in which they finished first at Sonoma, second at Indianapolis and fifth at Atlanta.

It appeared the team was headed in that direction after a second at Talladega in Elledge's debut with the team, moving Montoya to 12th. Since then he's had five finishes of 23rd or worse and four of 30th or worse.

"You expect good things," Montoya said, "but you look at the horsepower of the Toyota and Chevrolet, you don't expect to run great."

Not all of Montoya's problems the past month have been team-related. Some he couldn't avoid, particularly where Gillett Evernham's Patrick Carpentier is concerned.

"We were just trying to make the most of what we had last year and stay out of trouble," Montoya said. "We have been trying to stay out of trouble this year, too, but it seems that trouble keeps finding us.

"That 10 [Carpentier] car always seems to be getting in the freaking way. It does. I like the guy, but even in practice he's there. I'm, 'Oh, my God.' We are dropping in points for stuff we haven't done, which is a little injustice."

No matter the struggles, Montoya is optimistic heading into Sunday's race. Most in the garage agree there are few in the sport better on road courses than the Colombian driver, who won a Nationwide race at Mexico City and at Sonoma last season.

"I came to NASCAR, I had run 16 oval races in my life and I've done a million road courses," Montoya said. "These guys have done a million oval races and 20 road course races. They go to school before they go to Sonoma to see how they can handle it in Late Models.

"You're thinking, 'Oh, my God!' "

Hull, who spent two seasons with Montoya in the IndyCar series, wouldn't be surprised to see Montoya defend his title at Infineon He says it won't be long before the former Indy 500 champion wins on an oval.

Hmiel uses Kasey Kahne as an example of how fast things can turn around. Kahne had done nothing special until he was voted into the All-Star race by the fans.

He won that race and then won two of the next three Cup races. He finished second at Michigan to move to seventh in points.

"This time last year nobody knew nothing on that team," Hmiel said, tongue in cheek. "They all were a bunch of dummies. Now they're on a high. You have to get yourself to that point by hook or by crook. It's really hard to do, and everybody else is so competitive.

"So you've got a huge job of keeping everybody motivated and keeping them on the leading edge of things technically."

Hull is confident Hmiel has the leadership to right the ship.

"If he worked at Indy he would fit right in with any person that works in that building," he said. "The one ingredient truly needed there was to have a purely enthusiastically race guy that truly believes the way you win is to do it together.

"Steve Hmiel is that guy."

But sometimes it's hard for even the most passionate person to be enthusiastic, particularly when the boss is as frustrated as Ganassi.

"He is, and when it gets that way it's hard on everybody," Wingo said. "It's hard on people at the track, people at the shop. They're working as hard as they were when you ran good. We just haven't been getting results."

David Newton covers NASCAR for ESPN.com. He can be reached at dnewtonespn@aol.com.