Ambrose claims maiden Cup win

August 15th, 2011

Australian Marcos Ambrose claimed his maiden Sprint Cup series win with a commanding drive at a rain-delayed event at Watkins Glen.

The former Australian V8 Supercar champion backed up his favoritism and superior pace with victory at his 105th attempt in NASCAR’s main series, crucially jumping to the lead on the final restart with two laps remaining after Kyle Busch locked up his brakes entering Turn 1.

From third on the gridm Ambrose was quickly putting the pressure on his Richard Petty Motorsports team-mate AJ Allmendinger, taking the lead for the first time on lap nine after Kurt Busch, running a lap down after an early spin, pushed Allmendinger under braking for the inner loop forcing him off the track.

Once ahead, the Australian had the pace to keep his rivals at bay, although his three-stop strategy would put him in traffic between those initially attempting a two-stopper. However, he kept his nose clean while charging through the field, eventually arriving on Kyle Busch’s rear bumper as the lap-count faded.

When the fourth caution waved for an incident involving Brickyard 400 winner Paul Menard, Ambrose got his best chance to overtake his Joe Gibbs Racing rival, although Busch’s complicity made it a bit easier for him.

However, he had to dispose first of Penske’s impressive Brad Keselowski, who actually came out leading of turn one following the last restart. Ambrose quickly put a move on him out of the inner loop, bumping him entering turn five to claim the lead for good.

As Ambrose pulled away mayhem unfolded on the final lap, first with a massive crash involving Roush Fenway’s David Ragan, road-course specialist Boris Said and Michael Waltrip Racing’s David Reutimann – the latter flipping spectacularly at turn two after tangling with Ragan’s already stricken Ford.

The race had to be called under caution following the wreck and also a second one that unfolded when Tony Stewart missed the inner loop and lost control of his car causing further chaos.

Ambrose’s victory adds to his tally at Watkins Glen, where he won three out of four races entered in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, this year ironically missing the event due to lack of sponsorship.

He becomes the fourth foreign born driver to win a Cup event, following on the footsteps of Canadian Earl Ross, Italian-born Marco Andretti and Colombia’s Juan Pablo Montoya.

“I’ve sacrificed so much to get here and to finally win and be here in Victory Lane in the Cup Series is a dream come true,” said a jubilant Ambrose. “I flew the kids home yesterday. It was the little one’s first day at school. I was desperate to be there for her and this kind of makes up for it…

“Winning in the Cup Series for Stanley is just an incredible feeling and I’m very, very proud.”

Keselowski, whose road-course experience is among the most limited for Cup regulars, impressed with second place a week after his Pocono win placed him in solid contention for a wild-card Chase berth. The Penske driver led the race for two laps early into the second half, passing Kyle Busch and comfortably keeping him at bay.

A two-stop strategy mirroring Busch’s coupled with his revealing pace, placed him in contention for victory and despite missing on a possible third win this season, he didn’t feel sorry at all for losing out to Ambrose in the end.

“I wanted to win, but if I’m going to lose on a road course to someone, Marcos Ambrose is the man,” said Keselowski, now 14th in points. “He’s so good on restarts and I thought we had a shot at it and that’s all you can ask for as a driver.

“We were really good on long runs today. I’m proud of the day. I’m proud of the finish. It was a good points day for us.”

Busch was a disappointed third but his result vaults him up to the points’ lead, one that he may well eventually inherit through his three wins once the Chase berths are set in four-weeks’ time when bonus for wins come into play.

“Just knew exactly what not to do and did it anyway,” rued Busch about his restart mistake into turn 1. “Just got in there and I didn’t think I got in there too fast, but the car just didn’t slow down the way I needed it to and then it didn’t turn the way I needed it to.

“Saw sprinkles on the windshield, but everybody else made it fine through there. I just screwed up!”

Michael Waltrip Racing’s Martin Truex was a impressive fifth, followed by an equally surprising Joey Logano, who rounded out a busy weekend as he ran his third race in three days, competing in the Nationwide and Grand Am events on Saturday.

Earnhardt Ganassi’s Montoya ran on the same strategy as Ambrose and looked a challenger for victory but reported a suspension problem to his team on the radio in the closing stages of the race, finishing seventh after contending for third out of the first turn on the last restart.

Both Ragan and Reutimann were unharmed in their incidents, as where Penske’s Kurt Busch and JGR’s Denny Hamlin, both of whom crashed heavily with suspected brake issues, Hamlin hitting head on against the barriers at Turn 1.

Pos  Driver                Car                  Laps

 1.  Marcos Ambrose        Ford                  92

 2.  Brad Keselowski       Dodge                 92

 3.  Kyle Busch            Toyota                92

 4.  Martin Truex Jr.      Toyota                92

 5.  Joey Logano           Toyota                92

 6.  Kevin Harvick         Chevrolet             92

 7.  J.P.Montoya           Chevrolet             92

 8.  A.J.Allmendinger      Ford                  92

 9.  Jeff Burton           Chevrolet             92

10.  Jimmie Johnson        Chevrolet             92

11.  Clint Bowyer          Chevrolet             92

12.  Carl Edwards          Ford                  92

13.  Jeff Gordon           Chevrolet             92

14.  Matt Kenseth          Ford                  92

15.  D.Earnhardt Jr.       Chevrolet             92

16.  Ryan Newman           Chevrolet             92

17.  Jamie McMurray        Chevrolet             92

18.  Brian Vickers         Toyota                92

19.  Bobby Labonte         Toyota                92

20.  Casey Mears           Toyota                92

21.  Andy Lally            Ford                  92

22.  Boris Said            Chevrolet             92

23.  Regan Smith           Chevrolet             92

24.  Robby Gordon          Dodge                 92

25.  Mark Martin           Chevrolet             92

26.  Kasey Kahne           Toyota                92

27.  Tony Stewart          Chevrolet             92

28.  David Ragan           Ford                  91

29.  David Reutimann       Toyota                91

30.  Ron Fellows           Chevrolet             91

31.  Greg Biffle           Ford                  91

32.  Paul Menard           Chevrolet             85

33.  David Gilliland       Ford                  79

34.  Terry Labonte         Ford                  78

35.  Andrew Ranger         Ford                  75

36.  Denny Hamlin          Toyota                65

37.  T.J. Bell             Chevrolet             58

38.  Kurt Busch            Dodge                 48

39.  Scott Speed           Ford                  45

40.  Joe Nemechek          Toyota                12

41.  Michael McDowell      Toyota                7

42.  J.J. Yeley            Ford                  5

43.  Mike Skinner          Toyota                4