There is no doubt that Marcos Ambrose is one of the best road course racers in the world but as he enters his 5th full time year in the NSCS, he is still searching for that illusive oval track win. Marcos has been fast at the ovals throughout his career but in a sport where everything needs to go your way in order to win, luck has not been in the Aussie’s favor. His best result at an oval was 3rd at Bristol, 2009 and Dover, 2011. With a 15x Martinsville winner as his car owner and a front row starting position, the odds seem to be swaying in a more friendly direction for Marcos this weekend.
The Australian born racer won the V8 Supercar title twice in just four years before he made the tough decision to leave his home in search of the NASCAR dream. He started his NASCAR career in the CWTS winning a pole and posting four top 10’s. In 2007, he moved to Nationwide and finished a solid 8th in points posting one top 5 and six top 10’s. The following year, he won his first NASCAR sanctioned race at Watkins Glen which is an event he went on to win three years in a row.
In 2009, he found himself with a full time Cup ride driving for JTG-Daugherty Racing and had a decent rookie season finishing 18th in the standings with four top 5’s and seven top 10’s. In 2010 at Sonoma, he was just a few laps away from his first ever NSCS victory before he made a blunder that instantly silenced the cheers of all his fans. In a shocking and heartbreaking turn of events, he stalled the car under caution costing him many positions and ultimately, the victory as he scrambled to get the car refired.
Marcos finally won his first race at the Cup level at Watkins Glen in 2011 and again in 2012 where he was part of one of the most spectacular last laps in NASCAR history. Ambrose can certainty wheel a race car and he strongly believes that he can parlay this 2nd place qualifying effort into a victory this weekend. He was quoted saying in the media center, “I feel good about our race on Sunday, the car has been on a rail since we got here.” Winning at an oval would be such a monumental moment for him and seeing that he is all but guaranteed to win at least one of the road courses on the schedule unless something unforeseen happens, those two victories could easily secure him a WC catapulting him into the chase.
Winning a bunch of road course races is nice but that’s not why Ambrose traveled around 10,000 miles leaving everything he’s ever known behind. He came to America to battle for wins every week and to one day be a legitimate championship threat in NASCAR. He has the car, he has the talent and just needs the right set of circumstances thrown his way and he can finally finish what he set out to accomplish so many years ago.
