MIAMI (AP) -- Through the Formula Smiles foundation, Juan Pablo Montoya is raising awareness of the problems plaguing his native Colombia.

With a new NASCAR audience, he and wife Connie were able to educate the community about his native country with a black-tie gala Thursday night in his adopted hometown of Miami. The BeLive Gala in the art district drew NASCAR chairman Brian France and a slew of drivers, including title contenders Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.

``We were planning 300 people, it was maximum 350. Then it went up to 500 and now its up to 600,'' Montoya said. ``It's been amazing and overwhelming with how much support we've had.''

The event benefits six Colombian charities, all aiming to raise awareness about the difficulties in the country. Twelve-time Latin Grammy winner Juanes was to perform, and Colombian golfer Camillo Villegas and Carolina Barco, the Colombian ambassador to the U.S., were both scheduled to attend.

``I don't want to take away anything from the problems we have in the States, but the problems in Colombia -- the poor people in Colombia are 10 times poorer than the people here,'' he said. ``In a cynical way, the poor people here are middle class in Colombia. And when people are poor there, they have nothing. They don't have houses, the kids hardly go to school. They just have nothing.''

The Montoyas use their Formula Smiles foundation to build playgrounds in Colombia to encourage sports participation in a country that doesn't have physical education programs. The foundation also hires instructors, provides equipment and athletic gear and encourages children to also attend school.

``It's more than just giving them playgrounds and teachers,'' he said. ``You need to go to school because school will help you. We are trying to help the kids and educate them.''

Montoya credited Connie for spending the past several months planning the gala. He never doubted she could pull it off, as Connie has organized several fundraisers for Formula Smiles and successfully runs the foundation.

``I'm really proud, but I'm not surprised at all,'' he said. ``Everything she does, she works so hard -- anal is probably the word for it, about everything. But she puts it all together and pulls it off.''

Montoya's Q&A with Auto Racing Writer Jenna Fryer:

Q: Would you ever consider helping kids in Colombia get into racing?

JPM: No, because racing is too expensive and you can not -- we thought about it and we were going to do a reality thing -- but you can not give somebody who has nothing a chance to race for a year and then take it away. You need sponsorship and performance and it's too complicated. You just can't give them something for a year and then send them back to nothing.

Q: What's the biggest misconception about the problems in Colombia?

JPM: There are so many problems, and people don't really see how bad it is. Being from the city, you don't see it and you don't think it's that bad. But you go to the jungles and the mountains, and people just have nothing. No houses. No money. No jobs. They just have nothing, and people don't realize how bad it is because they don't see it.''

Q: Switching gears, there were three Indianapolis 500 winners in the race last week in Phoenix -- you, Sam Hornish Jr. and Jacques Villeneuve. What did you think about that?

JPM: I am surprised how many are here. I never thought there were going to be more open-wheel guys here in NASCAR or wanting to come to NASCAR. Well, I think maybe there were people who wanted to do it, but they were afraid to. I think the half-decent performance I did this year shows that people can do this.

Q: Are you the ground-breaker for all of this?

JPM: I didn't come here to open the doors for open-wheelers in NASCAR. I came here because I wanted to do this. I wanted to work with Chip (Ganassi) again, and the whole experience has been pretty cool.

Q: Has your `half-decent' success raised the level of expectations for the new drivers coming here?

JPM: I don't know. I really only worry about myself. The only guy I really am concerned about is Dario (Franchitti), my teammate, because I want him to run as good as he can. The better he performs, the better it is for the whole company.

Q: Do any of these guys call you before they come to NASCAR? Or does anyone call and say, `Hey, I'm thinking about NASCAR?'

JPM: Not really. Dario didn't tell me he was coming. He's very secretive. His management, they used to manage me, and they are very secretive and I tried to ask Dario how many years is his contract and he'll never give me a number. But he didn't tell me. And nobody has called me. I don't give too many people my phone number, and I change it so often, it is pretty hard to get in touch with me.

Q: Are there any current Formula One drivers that you could see coming to NASCAR?

JPM: Most of the European drivers are very proud of themselves and what they do, and there's nothing better than (F1). They are very full of themselves, and I can't see them coming here. I don't know and I don't really care.