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CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) -- With a chance to start over and maybe drive in any series he wanted, Juan Pablo Montoya thought long and hard about what mattered most at this stage of his career.

The answer was simple: Winning.

So when a team owner synonymous with winning put an offer in front of him, Montoya snapped at the opportunity. He'll leave NASCAR behind for a return to open-wheel to drive for Roger Penske - the IndyCar Series rival of Montoya's longtime boss, Chip Ganassi.

"He's very excited for me," Montoya said Monday after texting with Ganassi, who is in Europe. "Something that we have with Chip is that we're very good friends. We have a lot of respect for each other. He had to make a decision this year to go in a different direction. I had to do the same thing. I had an opportunity and a great chance with Penske. We're going to be competitors and I'm looking forward to the challenge."

Ganassi decided in August not to bring Montoya back next year to his NASCAR program. It put the Colombian on the free agent market, and even though Ganassi has said he'd not ruled out using Montoya in his other programs, Montoya considered everything.

He spoke with Michael Andretti about an IndyCar ride, and Furniture Row Racing about replacing Kurt Busch at the end of the NASCAR season. There were calls to Europe, and a new rumor about a possible test with Lotus in Formula One.

Then came discussions with Penske and all bets were off with the other teams. Montoya will team next season with current IndyCar points leader Helio Castroneves and Will Power while driving for Penske, winner of 15 Indianapolis 500s. He could also drive in some NASCAR races as part of the deal.

"My No. 1 choice was going to be in a winning car. I really wanted to be in a winning car," he said. "It came down to I wanted to race for Roger. In a way it's always been one of my dreams to be able to be part of his organization. Being here, it's unbelievable. I'm so excited. I'm like a 5-year-old kid right now."

Some could also consider the move a big piece of gamesmanship in the racing rivalry that spans two series between Ganassi and Penske. Castroneves and Ganassi driver Scott Dixon are currently locked in a fierce battle for the title, and the competition has heated up over the last two races as Dixon has been involved in incidents with Power and the Penske organization.

"He's a great driver and deserves a great drive," Ganassi told The Associated Press. "He will have that there at Penske Racing."

Montoya won the 1999 CART title, the 2000 Indianapolis 500 and 11 races driving open-wheel for Ganassi. He then moved to Formula One, where he had seven wins and 30 podiums, before reuniting with Ganassi again in 2006 to compete in NASCAR.

But results in NASCAR have been sporadic. Montoya has just two wins in 244 career starts and his best season finish was eighth in 2009. He's 20th in the standings this season.

The program has been through several rebuilds since Montoya came aboard, and it was a middle-of-the-road organization when he signed on in 2006.

Their first NASCAR season was decent and gave the organization a boost with a win on the road course at Sonoma, six top-10s and rookie of the year in 2007. But 2008 was the first sign of trouble as Montoya had two crew chief changes in the first 16 races.

Montoya made the Chase for the Sprint Cup championship in 2009 with crew chief Brian Pattie behind a career-best 18 top-10s, and he was third in points with six races to go in the season before fading to eighth in the final standings.

He won on the road course at Watkins Glen in 2010, but Pattie was let go before Indianapolis in 2011 for Montoya's fourth crew chief change. The Ganassi team began another overhaul that winter and Chris Heroy was hired as Montoya's fifth crew chief before 2012. That entire season was spent trying to get the Ganassi cars up to speed.

With the hiring, Montoya is now stuck in the middle of a spat between Penske and Ganassi drivers over in IndyCar.

Ganassi driver Dixon was penalized in Sonoma when his car made contact with a crew member for Power, Castroneves' teammate, on the final pit stop. IndyCar race director Beaux Barfield said Dixon had driven into the Penske Racing work space, but Dixon alleged the crew member walked into his car.

The penalty cost Dixon a chance to race for the win, and opinion was split through the paddock as to who was at fault and if race control perhaps should not have penalized anyone.

Dixon and Power collided at the next race at Baltimore, and the contact ended Dixon's day when IndyCar officials did not tow his car back to pit lane for repairs. He then said Barfield should be fired, comments that earned him a $30,000 fine from IndyCar.

Montoya said he'll try to stay out of the fray.

"I think I'm going to have a little white flag, I'm going to be very neutral there," Montoya said. "For one side, I'm still committed with Chip and the NASCAR program for the next nine races. But I think it's going to be fun. It's going to be like mixed emotions watching the last few IndyCar races."

MONZA, Italy (AP) -- Sebastian Vettel withstood a tricky start from the pole position to win the Italian Grand Prix on Sunday and take a commanding lead over Ferrari driver Fernando Alonso, who finished second.

Vettel locked his tires on the first turn as the Ferrari of Felipe Massa pressured him from behind, but after that the German consolidated his advantage to beat Alonso by 5.4 seconds and Red Bull teammate Mark Webber by 6.3.

"This is the best podium of season, I'm very proud," Vettel said. "We had problems with the gearboxes at the end, but I was OK because I had a good cushion and it was a fantastic win."

Monza is the home race for Ferrari fans and there were loud jeers when Vettel was on the podium.

"You can hear the difference when you don't win here in a red suit, but it means you have done well and beaten the red men (of Ferrari)," Vettel said. "The more booing we get the better we've done today. I don't blame the people to be honest, it's in their genes. They love Ferrari."

With seven races remaining, it looks increasingly likely that Vettel will clinch a fourth straight Formula One title - unless he has an alarming drop in form or Ferrari finds a way to get faster.

"It's a very big gap and we don't have enough races and we don't have the speed now to win consecutive races," Alonso said. "We need to be lucky and we need to have some DNF from Sebastian."

It was Vettel's third career win at Monza - his first was with Toro Rosso in 2008 and then Red Bull in 2011 - his sixth of the season and 32nd overall, moving him even with Alonso's win total.

He was more emotional than usual - pumping his fist several times as he walked up the steps to the podium - and with good reason. He now leads two-time former champion Alonso by 53 points and Lewis Hamilton by 81 with 175 available.

The last driver to win here from anywhere other than the pole was Rubens Barrichello from fifth spot on the grid in 2009, and Alonso never showed he was likely to do that starting from the same position.

"Second place is good, to have this podium ceremony which is the most spectacular podium of the year," Alonso told thousands of his fans. "Hopefully we'll come back next year and have first place."

Vettel shook his head vigorously in celebration and let out his trademark high-pitched whoop as he celebrated his third win in the past four races. Given his tough start, it was more impressive than his dominant performance at the Belgian GP two weeks ago.

"Very good boys, very good race," Vettel yelled over his car radio when he crossed the line. "Sorry for the lock up into the first corner, made the first stint a bit tricky."

Massa finished fourth ahead of German drivers Nico Hulkenberg - a season's best for Sauber - and Nico Rosberg, on a poor day for Mercedes.

There was light rainfall about one hour before the race, but the sunshine returned for the start.

Vettel started from pole for the fourth time this campaign and 40th in his career, but the first since the Canadian GP in June.

He struggled to hold on to the lead after the first turn as Massa boldly passed Hulkenberg and Webber to jump from fourth to second.

Roared on by thousands of flag-waving tifosi, Ferrari had a point to prove and Alonso brilliantly overtook Webber on the outside to move up to third and then zoomed ahead of Massa.

After 10 of 53 laps, Vettel led Alonso by about 5 seconds, but engineers told him that his front right tire had taken some damage on the first turn and Alonso began to shave some time off.

Vettel pitted on lap 24, switching to hard tires, followed shortly by Webber and Massa, but Alonso stayed out on his tires until lap 28 as leading drivers chose a one-stop strategy.

In his last European race before he retires from F1 at the end of the season, Webber got his first podium at Monza.

"Good battle with Fernando," Webber said. "Last time in Monza, so thank you very much."

Lewis Hamilton, starting from 12th after his worst qualifying performance since the Spanish GP in May of last year, finished ninth.

"It is a nightmare weekend for me," Hamilton said.

SPA, Belgium (AP) -- Sebastian Vettel overtook Lewis Hamilton on the first lap and comfortably held on to win the Belgian Grand Prix on Sunday and extend his overall championship lead.

It was Vettel's fifth win of the season, the second from three GPs, and 31st of his outstanding career.

Fernando Alonso drove brilliantly from ninth on the grid to take second place ahead of Hamilton and move back into second overall in the title race.

Speculation heading into Spa was of Hamilton emerging as the biggest threat to Vettel's bid for a fourth straight title, but within one minute Vettel dismissed that talk with a slick passing move inside Hamilton's left. The German was never troubled after that.

"When the car works well you don't want the race to stop," Vettel said. "I was very comfortable at the end and the car was just a pleasure to drive."

Vettel started from second on the grid after Hamilton secured his fourth straight pole position.

Vettel, who finished 16.8 seconds ahead of Alonso and nearly 30 ahead of Hamilton, pumped his right fist and then wagged his finger aloft - reminding everyone who really is No. 1 and admonishing those who had doubted him.

"For sure it's a positive message today," Vettel said. "The car was much better than we expected before the race. Looking forward to Monza now."

Mercedes driver Nico Rosberg finished fourth ahead of Vettel's Red Bull teammate Mark Webber.

Hamilton become the first Briton since Damon Hill in 1995 to win four straight poles and sat on the front row for the seventh consecutive race and eighth in nine.

Vettel has not secured a pole since winning the Canadian GP in June. But it made little difference. Within one minute he was in front as the much-anticipated rain around the Ardennes forest stayed away.

"I tried my best to line up behind Lewis," Vettel said. "Once I passed him I had incredible pace and took control until the end."

Although Hamilton made a good start and held his line at the first turn into La Source turn, Vettel moved into the slipstream of his Mercedes and surged past him down the Kemmel straight.

"Half-decent start and got a good exit out of turn one. But Sebastian just caught me massively," Hamilton said. "There was no defending really, I just had to watch him glide by."

Alonso, meanwhile, looked like he was on a mission as he carved through the field, zooming past last year's Spa winner Jenson Button and Rosberg to move into third.

"Everything went OK from the start, the car had the speed to overtake some cars," Alonso said. "The weekend was good for us ... We felt more competitive."

After earning a one-race ban for reckless driving at last year's Spa GP, where his dangerous driving sent three drivers off the track at the first turn, Frenchman Romain Grosjean made a noticeably conservative start and seemed desperate to avoid even the slightest contact.

Shortly after, Sergio Perez was given a drive through penalty for forcing Grosjean wide.

"He pushed me completely off the track," said Grosjean, who is trying to repair his reputation after several dangerous driving incidents last season.

Hamilton was the first of the front-runners to pit for new tires, followed by Alonso, but Vettel stayed out three laps longer than Hamilton - who was held up by traffic when he came out, enabling Alonso to move past him into second.

Halfway through the 44-lap circuit - the longest in F1 at 4.352 miles and the most difficult along with Monaco - Vettel led Alonso by more than eight seconds.

Kimi Raikkonen, second overall heading into the race, had to abandon on lap 26 with smoke coming from his front right brake, finishing the Finn's remarkably consistent run of scoring points in 27 consecutive races.

Shortly after, Paul di Resta and Pastor Maldonado crashed into each other.

The nose of Maldonado's Williams nudged into di Resta's Force India, sending it spinning off the track. Maldonado was given a 10-second stop and go penalty.

Di Resta, the British driver who had high hopes after qualifying in an impressive fifth place, looked disconsolate as he trudged off, helmet in his hand and his race over.

Alonso pitted for the second time shortly after and Vettel made his second tire change a couple of minutes later.

Before the race, protesters from the environmental group Greenpeace staged a brief demonstration against race sponsor Shell's plans to drill in the Arctic.

Two paragliders flew over the circuit, trailing a banner, and others then climbed onto the grandstand roof and unfurled a 20-meter long banner that read "ARCTIC OIL? SHELL NO!"

Michael Andretti is trying to find a sponsor to bring Juan Pablo Montoya back to IndyCar with Andretti Autosport.

"I have talked to Juan about IndyCar and told him `Hell yeah, let's find a way to put something together,' " Andretti told The Associated Press on Monday. "I've driven against him and I think he's one of the best drivers I've ever driven against. It just comes down to sponsorship. So we're looking, and if it's a possibility, we want to do something with him."

Andretti only had conversations with Montoya last week after the Colombian learned from Chip Ganassi that he wouldn't be re-signed to Ganassi's NASCAR team for an eighth season. Montoya has been out of open wheel racing since he left Formula One in 2006 to rejoin Ganassi in NASCAR, and he's not ruling out any series now that he's looking for work.

He told AP on Monday a return to IndyCar isn't out of the question, but wouldn't reveal what teams he's spoken to so far.

Montoya won 11 races in 1999 and 2000 in CART driving for Ganassi, including the 1999 CART championship and the 2000 Indianapolis 500. Montoya and Andretti raced against each other those two seasons, with Andretti winning three races in that span. The two waged one of the most memorable battles in series history, with Montoya coming out on top as the two nearly banged wheels racing side-by-side at 230 mph to the finish line at Michigan International Speedway in 2000.

Andretti believes that Montoya's return to IndyCar would be a huge lift for the series.

"I think he could bring what he brought the last time - it seemed like when he raced, half the stands were full of flags supporting him," Andretti said. "When he first got to NASCAR, he had a huge effect there. He brings a huge crowd, a huge support. He's a big personality, and he could be a good personality for IndyCar because he definitely has that `don't give a (crap) attitude.' "

Where Montoya fits into the Andretti lineup remains to be seen because the marketing arm is still working behind the scenes to finalize the 2014 lineup.

The biggest piece of the puzzle is James Hinchcliffe, a three-time IndyCar winner this season and breakthrough star in the final year of his two-year deal. Andretti Autosport much wants Hinchcliffe back, but an offer is contingent on a commitment from sponsor GoDaddy.

While Andretti waits, Hinchcliffe is currently free to negotiate with other teams in the paddock.

"It's all going to come down to GoDaddy and if they are going to play or not. They love Hinch, we love Hinch, but GoDaddy needs to decide if the return on their investment is there or not," Andretti said. "So we're just waiting and Hinch is allowed to be talking to other teams. He's not said that he wants to leave, but it's only fair for him to be allowed to see what's out there because we don't want him to be left with nothing. That's not fair to him, that's not fair to the series."

Hinchcliffe's deal is not tied to Andretti working out a deal with Montoya, he said.

"There's still a possibility of running five cars," Andretti said. "I think we can do it no problem, so long as we have a properly funded deal."

The organization is also still trying to put together a deal for next season with Carlos Munoz, the Colombian who grew up a Montoya fan and finished second in the Indianapolis 500 in his IndyCar debut. He doesn't have a deal yet in place for 2014 with E.J. Viso.

"We have a lot of irons in the fire," Andretti said. "If a sponsor falls out of the sky for Juan, then we don't know what we'd do to make it all work."