CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Juan Pablo Montoya gives back to his native Colombia through his Formula Smiles foundation, which builds playgrounds for children in communities in need.

Next week, he'll lead a group of dignitaries to Cartagena to showcase the work he's done with his wife, Connie.

``We're just going to show them around and explain what we are doing,'' Montoya said. ``We're going to take them to Cartagena and show them a little bit of the city and the project and show them what our foundation is all about and the needs people have there.''

Representatives from NASCAR, Chip Ganassi Racing, the Victory Junction Gang Camp and other members of the racing community will leave for Colombia after Sunday's race at Atlanta Motor Speedway. The two-day trip will conclude with a check presentation for $25,000 from the NASCAR Foundation.

Formula Smiles provides sporting equipment and teachers to help engage youngsters in recreational athletics.

``I think it's pretty exciting to see what NASCAR has given us and show the people in Colombia that NASCAR is not only about racing, but also supports the country and the cause,'' Montoya said.

The trip will cap a whirlwind three weeks for Montoya, who will spend just one day at his home in Miami since before last month's race at California Speedway. The rainout there kept him at the track an extra day. Then he was off to a series of photo shoots and promotional stops before playing in Kyle Petty's charity golf tournament last Thursday in Scottsdale, Ariz.

The one bonus? He squeezed in a trip to TaylorMade and picked up a new driver.

``It is so awesome,'' Montoya said. ``You can't even buy it yet, and I have one.''

From there it was on to Las Vegas, where Montoya had high hopes after a successful January test in which his No. 42 Dodge posted the fastest lap. But like many teams, his car wasn't as good when he arrived for practice, and Montoya wrecked his car very early in the session.

It marked the first time in his short NASCAR career that Montoya had to pull out a backup car.

``Probably not the last time, though,'' he said.

Montoya fell a lap down early in the race, then rallied to finish 19th.

``It was weird because we tested there, and we were so strong in the test,'' he said. ``It was actually very disappointing. We went a lap down really fast. We were always in the back of the line. We actually came into the pits, we were making camber changes, you know, big changes where you normally wouldn't do that in the race.

``I told them, 'If we want to get any better, we're going to go there.' And we did. It was a little late, but we actually managed to get back into the lead lap and pass a couple of guys. So from what looked to be a 35th-place car, we brought it all the way to a top 20, so it was pretty good.''