Juan Pablo Montoya Is Going To Jail

Juan Pablo Montoya, NASCAR Sprint Cup driver and championship chaser, is going to jail.  Yes, that's right, JPM is headed to jail and is having to raise his own bail money in order to get out in time to race at Lowe's Motor Speedway this weekend.

Calm down and take a deep breath Montoya fans.  JPM is one of many NASCAR drivers who is participating in this year's "Jail and Bail" fundraiser for the Brienne Davis Scholarship Fund at The NASCAR Foundation.

Davis, a NASCAR official, was killed in a car accident on April 8, 2008.  She was in her pick up on I-77 north of Charlotte when she collided with another vehicle, flipping her car and splitting it in two.

A Universal Technical Institute (UTI) graduate, Davis is now remembered by the NASCAR community through a scholarship set up in her honor.  The funds raised from the "Jail and Bail" event will go to help women who are interested in a career in motorsports.

The Brienne Davis Scholarship Fund focuses on supporting female students at one of twelve UTI campuses throughout the United States.  There is also a UTI NASCAR Technical Institute in Mooresville, North Carolina that also participates in the program.

This is the second annual "Jail and Bail" event and will be held this year on Wednesday, October 14th at Brickhouse Tavern in Davidson, North Carolina.  Last year's event raised $100,000 for the Brienne Davis Scholarship Fund and this year's goal is to surpass that total.

Besides Chase contender Juan Pablo Montoya, many other members of the NASCAR family are also participating in the event.  Other drivers include Kurt Busch, Kevin Harvick, David Stremme, Casey Mears, Scott Speed, Brian Vickers, Jamie McMurray, Denny Hamlin, Paul Menard, Reed Sorenson, and Marcos Ambrose.

Other NASCAR notables such as commentator Wendy Venturini and NASCAR's own John Darby are also scheduled to go to jail that day.  Even up-and-coming drivers, such as Trevor Bayne and Ricky Stenhouse, Jr., are going to attempt to get out of jail to help the cause.

In addition to the stars of NASCAR being locked up and having to raise bail for the cause, there will also be food, beverages and entertainment provided by local artist From A Seed and country music star Rodney Atkins.

All involved in the "Jail and Bail" event will be "arrested", have their day in "court" and then be locked up.  They will have to contact friends, family, and fans in order to raise their "bail" to get out of jail.

Tickets are on sale at $10 per person online at www.nascar.com/foundation or at the door.  An online auction is also being held on October 15th beginning at 12:00 PM EST and will feature the autographed shirts worn by the "jail birds" as well as other racing memorabilia.

The online auction will last through October 22nd.

So, if Juan Pablo Montoya calls you, you might just want to throw a few bucks his way.  Not only will JPM then be able to make the race, but the monies raised will go for a great cause in memory of a very special member of the NASCAR family.

Brienne Davis Photo Courtesy of David Yeazell