Watkins Glen International Speedway once again delivered a victory for Marcos Ambrose in the Nationwide Series Zippo 200 today. Early in the race, where he started fourth, he and Kyle Busch got together in the “bus stop” or inner loop and both spun onto the paved run off area losing several positions but at the end of the day it was Busch trying to run down Ambrose as the laps wound down. Busch was closing in rapidly but just couldn’t get there. Ambrose led two times for 48 laps but the win was more difficult than it looked on paper. It was his fourth victory in the Nationwide Series, all at Watkins Glen.
About the contact with Busch Ambrose said, “The spotter said he was sticking his nose in and I kind of half closed the door and made contact. I knew it wasn’t over, that is for sure. I am thrilled for the guys. I have a part time crew chief and part time car chief and here we are in victory lane. I had my tongue hanging out all day. I had nothing left. I had to make up all the ground from the spin and Joey was super fast in the middle and I had to hold him back. Kyle really pressed at the end and came alive. Another lap and I would have been in real trouble.”
Busch, clearly disappointed with his second place finish said in the media center, “Another second place. Monster Camry was probably good enough, just never had track position.” About the early race contact with Ambrose Busch said, “Just driving it for all it’s worth; trying to give it everything it’s got and we were faster and we had some speed in particular areas and maybe not some in others. But, we made the most of our day I guess, considering how it could’ve been, considering how last year went. “ He went on to say, “Just got caught in a bad spot early and battled back from that and was able to get myself back up to second I guess it was on pit strategy.
Rookie Chase Elliott was the highest finishing Nationwide Series regular with a sixth place result adding to his points lead in the championship standings. Elliott is ahead of Regan Smith by 12 points and Elliott Sadler by 13. Elliott said after the race that he doesn’t really pay that much attention to the points and that he is going to a new track next week as well for some road racing.
Unofficial Race Results
Zippo 200, Watkins Glen
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1 09 Marcos Ambrose Ford
2 54 Kyle Busch Toyota
3 12 Joey Logano Ford
4 22 Brad Keselowski Ford
5 20 Matt Kenseth Toyota
6 9 Chase Elliott Chevrolet
7 11 Elliott Sadler Toyota
8 3 Ty Dillon Chevrolet
9 33 Paul Menard Chevrolet
10 2 Brian Scott Chevrolet
11 99 James Buescher Toyota
12 16 Ryan Reed Ford
13 6 Trevor Bayne Ford
14 19 Mike Bliss Toyota
15 42 Kyle Larson Chevrolet
16 51 Jeremy Clements Chevrolet
17 7 Regan Smith Chevrolet
18 87 Stanton Barrett Ford
19 55 Brennan Newberry Chevrolet
20 93 Tomy Drissi Dodge
