Juan Pablo Montoya to run 2 Sprint Cup races for Penske

Juan Pablo Montoya will return to NASCAR this season driving in two Sprint Cup races for Team Penske, the organization announced Wednesday.

Montoya ran the previous seven years in NASCAR before moving full-time to the Verizon IndyCar Series, where he also drives for Penske. He will be behind the wheel of the No. 12 Ford June 15 at Michigan International Speedway and July 27 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Penske will team Montoya with its full-time Cup drivers Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, each of whom have won this season. Penske -- which has 15 Indianapolis 500 victories -- is still looking for its first win in the Brickyard 400.

“It will be fun to get back behind the wheel of the Cup car,” Montoya said in a team release. “It’s hard to believe, but Roger Penske has never won the Brickyard 400. I think that Brad, Joey and I will give Roger and Team Penske a great opportunity to check that off the list and we should be strong at Michigan as well.”

The 2000 winner of the Indy 500, Montoya has long been proficient around the 2.5-mile oval nearly winning the Brickyard 400 twice.

In 2009 he led 116 laps before incurring a speeding penalty on his final pit stop and finished 11th. The following year, Montoya was leading in the latter stages when pit strategy dropped him down the running order, and he crashed trying to recoup the lost track position.

Montoya has two Cup wins in 253 career starts, and he made the Chase for the Sprint Cup in 2009.

“Juan is a proven winner in multiple racing disciplines and he is one of the most versatile racecar drivers competing today,” Penske said. “Michigan and Indianapolis are two important races for Team Penske. We know Juan has the ability to race for wins in both of those events.”

Ryan Blaney will drive the No. 12 car next week at Kansas Speedway and again in the October race at Talladega Superspeedway.