Marcos Ambrose has now won three races at Watkins Glen International. (Photo: Getty Images)
Who would have ever guessed a Tasmanian would ever find happiness in the Finger Lakes region of New York state?
But if you looked at what Australian expatriate Marcos Ambrose has accomplished at Watkins Glen International, it’s abundantly clear that he loves New York. Does he ever.
Last year at the 2.45-mile road course, Ambrose captured his first NASCAR victory, winning the Nationwide Series race and following it up the next day with a then-career-best third-place run in the Cup race. This time around, he repeated it with another Nationwide victory on Saturday and on Monday afternoon, Ambrose finished second behind Tony Stewart in the Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips at The Glen.
It was an outstanding effort all weekend long, Ambrose making a banzai pass on Kyle Busch to win on Saturday and recovering from being off pit sequence to drive back near the front in the Cup race.
And given that this is Ambrose’s first full season in the Cup series with a start-up team from JTG-Daugherty Racing, to be 17th in the points standings with 22 races down is an impressive feat, to be sure.
Ambrose left no stone unturned in his pursuit of Stewart, trying his hardest to apply the pressure in the closing laps, but he just couldn’t get it done. Still, it was a day and a weekend he could take much satisfaction from.
