Every so often, motorsport produces a winner that just leaves you shaking your head in amazement at how they did it; Zanardi's real 'pass in the grass' on Herta at Laguna Seca in 1996, Larry Perkins in the 1995 Bathurst 1000 after being a lap down (no lucky dog rule in V8's so he did it the hard way), Barrichello's victory at Hockenhiem, Kyle Busch at Darlington this season...believe me, I could go on.

Well, the 2008 Italian Grand Prix gave us a new name to add to that list. Not since...well, long before I was watching F1 anyway, the teams had a wet Monza to deal with. Now, Monza in the dry is a rather hairy ride; zero downforce with three big stops and any track in the wet all but guarantees the form book be chucked out for the weekend so why should this one be any different?

Initially it wasn't. More often than not in the past couple of seasons, Scuderia Toro Rosso have been mighty quick whenever Mother Nature steps in to level out the playing field then fade during the race due to it being dry. We saw glimpses of how good Sebastian Vettel may one day be when he stepped in for Robert Kubica at Indy last season and when he ran as high as third at Fuji until taking out himself and (sort of) teammate, Mark Webber, behind the safety car. But this year has seen the young German's stock only rise...so much so that there were whispers of him joining Ferrari before being signed to replace David Coulthard at Red Bull. He's a rather likeable guy as well, polite, makes time to sign stuff for fans, answers media questions (and even thanks them at the end of the interview)...as Martin Brundle said on the coverage of the race; he might be ruining the reputation of drivers everywhere.

Vettel at the wheel of his #15 Toro Rosso.

After swimming his way to being the youngest ever driver to nab a pole yesterday, Sunday dawned with grey skies and umbrellas out...the perfect conditions for a classic race as title favourite, Lewis Hamilton, had to work his way from 15th on the grid having made a hash of qualifying and we all saw at Silverstone how good Lewis can be in wet conditions. But the story was always going to be how long Vettel could hold off Kovy and whether Hamilton would pass Massa to increase his championship lead.

The answer was a simple one in the end; never...to both scenarios. It would be akin to, for arguments sake, the Wood Brothers winning the Coke 600 (which, given their current form, I think most would agree that luck would be required in big doses for that to happen).

Heikki's McLaren didn't even look remotely possible of hanging with Sebastian as whenever he closed down the gap, Vettel responded the very next lap and while Lewis looked capable of passing Felipe in the final third of the race, he had used up the best performance his inters had to offer and actually slipped back into the clutches of the eighth placed man, Mark Webber. So really, the only question was whether Vettel's car would hold together to collect not only his, but also the teams first ever win. From 1985 to 2005, Minardi were known as 'the other Italian F1 team' and always loitering at the back of the grid. Only once in their history did they qualify on the front row.

Sebastian became the youngest ever F1 winner.

Cue a new owner in the form of Gerhard Berger who changed the team into Toro Rosso from 2006 who, when it became clear that BMW were going to break from Williams to join Sauber, managed to secure Ferrari engines for the team. All that meant the stage was set for Ferrari to win again in Italy...just not in the way it was expected. Sebastian drove fantastically well and while he got lucky as conditions changed enough to switch from the monsoons to the inters at the time of his final stop, I don't think anyone would begrudge the little team from Faenza of their moment in the sun...and if anyone does, well I guess they just don't appreciate it when David slays Goliath.

Can you say "Lewis who?" Hail the new rainmaster in Formula 1; Sebastian Vettel.

You can forgive Scott Dixon for wanting to come out of the blocks like he did this season. His run at the 2007 IRL title included an amazing run of three wins on the trot and, but for an ounce of fuel, he would have been celebrating winning his second title 12 months ago. But, for whatever reason, most experts dismissed Dixon's performance and said this season would see a 'Brazilian battle' as Tony Kanaan and Helio Castroneves would be the ones to beat.

You can also forgive him for thoroughly dominating the Indy 500. After all, the last three seasons have seen the person who wins that race, wins the championship. But there was more to it than that. Scott's first visit to the famous track wound up in bitter disappointment in 2003 as he suffered the embarrassment of crashing out of the race while weaving behind the pace car warming up his tyres.

You can even forgive him for breaking his 'ice man' persona and showing frustration at Sonoma where he could have, potentially, wrapped up the title, but racing luck had clearly deserted him that day. The next race saw Helio further cut into Scott's lead leading to today's finale in Chicagoland and we've all heard this before to the leader going into a title deciding race; "all you have to do is..."

That meant that Dixon had two ways to race this thing; like Jimmie Johnson has done the last two races at Homestead in the Cup series, or to go for it.

Now, it's probably safe to say that Scott did take the first half of the race reasonably easy. After all, there's no point in overstressing the car when you're the one with the most to lose. However, that bad pit stop which dropped him into his 'dangerzone' was possibly the best thing to have happened since it forced Dixon to do what he'd done all season long; race.

His pit crew also made up for it by getting him out in front at the final stop and from there we were treated to a battle royale between Scott and Helio that produced the second closest ever finish in IRL history.

Scott celebrates on the podium.

So I guess you should also forgive Scott for not bothering to listen to reason and race for the points...after all, he hasn't done that all year so why should he have started today?

Congratulations, Scott, you've made Kiwis the world over very proud.

Alright, I haven't updated this since Chicagoland so forgive me for not bothering to go over the races/qualifying sessions in great detail. Suffice to say that the races have pretty much been shared between Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch as both men establish themselves as the guys to beat if anyone wants to win the title. Qualifying has seen the HMS boys of Jimmie Johnson and Dale Earnhardt Jr move past Kyle for the lead and with just two races before the Chase begins, there are (mathematically at least) still 26 drivers battling to make the final 12.

All up, 53 drivers have scored points in the QC, with Johnson leading the way after continuing his hot streak in the past month.

Johnson has been on a tear and leads the QC with two races before the Chase.

Tez's NASCAR Qualifying Championship - top 20 standings after 24 rounds:

1 - Jimmie Johnson, 669 points (3 poles)
2 - Dale Earnhardt Jr, 555 points (1 pole)
3 - Kyle Busch, 552 points (2 poles)
4 - Jeff Gordon, 513 points (2 poles)
5 - Kasey Kahne, 486 points (2 poles)
6 - Mark Martin, 465 points
7 - Carl Edwards, 417 points (1 pole)
8 - Elliott Sadler, 366 points
9 - Ryan Newman, 360 points (1 pole)
10 - Greg Biffle, 348 points (2 poles)
11 - Kurt Busch, 294 points
12 - Denny Hamlin, 270 points (1 pole)
=13 - Brian Vickers, 228 points (1 pole)
=13 - David Ragan, 228 points
15 - Tony Stewart, 214 points
16 - Scott Riggs, 204 points
17 - Patrick Carpentier, 199 points (1 pole)
18 - Bobby Labonte, 198 points
19 - Martin Truex Jr, 190 points
20 - Kevin Harvick, 183 points

While there has been just the one change in names since my last update (Vickers in for Nemechek), there has been a fair bit of shuffling around.

The RC has seen 46 guys scoring points, with Tony Raines bringing up the rear having finished 17th at Bristol last week. No change in the top 20 as far as drivers go, but Tony Stewart has gone from tenth to sixth so he's faring much better in the races than in qualy.

This has been a familiar sight this year...but Edwards is gunning for him.

Tez's NASCAR Race Championship - top 20 standings after 24 rounds:

1 - Kyle Busch, 864.5 points (8 wins)
2 - Carl Edwards, 804.5 points (6 wins)
3 - Jimmie Johnson, 536.5 points (2 wins)
4 - Dale Earnhardt Jr, 505.5 points (1 win)
5 - Matt Kenseth, 483 points
6 - Tony Stewart, 444 points
7 - Kasey Kahne, 434.5 points (2 wins)
8 - Greg Biffle, 433.5 points
9 - Jeff Gordon, 427.5 points
10 - Jeff Burton, 423.5 points (1 win)
11 - Denny Hamlin, 403 points (1 win)
12 - Kevin Harvick, 397 points
13 - David Ragan, 381.5 points
14 - Ryan Newman, 318.5 points (1 win)
15 - Brian Vickers, 312 points
16 - Clint Bowyer, 298.5 points (1 win)
17 - Kurt Busch, 241.5 points (1 win)
18 - Mark Martin, 234 points
19 - Elliott Sadler, 220.5 points
20 - Martin Truex Jr, 210 points

With the 'end of regular season lead' being between Kyle and Carl, the real battle will be whether or not David Ragan can slip into the Chase at the expense of either Denny or Kevin...I think the rest of them are out of it.

The 2009 Indycar schedule got released earlier this month (I think...it could have been late July I suppose) and includes ten ovals and eight road courses (three permanent and five temporary/street courses).

- Sunday April 5: Streets of St. Petersburg - 1.8-mile street course
- Sunday April 19: Streets of Long Beach - 1.9-mile street course
- Sunday April 28: Kansas Speedway - 1.5-mile oval
- Sunday May 24: Indianapolis Motor Speedway (The Indy 500) - 2.5-mile oval
- Sunday May 31: The Milwaukee Mile - 1-mile oval
- Saturday June 6: Texas Motor Speedway - 1.5-mile oval
- Sunday June 21: Iowa Speedway - 0.875-mile oval
- Saturday June 27: Richmond International Raceway - 0.75-mile oval
- Sunday July 5: Watkins Glen International - 3.4-mile road course
- Sunday July 12: Streets of Toronto - 1.721-mile street course
- Sunday July 26: Edmonton City Centre Airport - 1.973-mile airport course
- Saturday August 1: Kentucky Speedway - 1.5-mile oval
- Sunday August 9: Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course - 2.258-mile road course
- Saturday August 23 Infineon Raceway - 2.245-mile road course
- Saturday August 29: Chicagoland Speedway - 1.5-mile oval
- Sunday September 6: The Raceway at Belle Isle Park - 2.096-mile street course
- Saturday September 19: Twin Ring Motegi - 1.5-mile oval
- Sunday October 11: Homestead-Miami Speedway - 1.5-mile oval

Now, those familiar with the CCWS and/or the IRL series will notice that the season ending race isn't where it usually is and there are a few glaring omissions in the schedule (no Road America or Vegas for example). Some people are disappointed with the increase in road course proportion while I am disappointed that the Gold Coast has lost its spot on the schedule.

Yes, Australia is a long way to come for a single weekend out of a season. Yes, for the past decade that race has always been late October and so doesn't fit the new schedule's timing...and it seems that I'm not alone in being disappointed.

The V8 Supercars host a round of their series on the streets of Surfers Paradise the same weekend as the Indycars. I speak from experience that while watching the V8's are wonderful, the reason everyone goes to the race is the watch the Indycars since that's the only time any of the races have a good timezone for that part of the world.

This was the race track that effectively launched Marcos Ambrose's stock car career. You may have heard of him? I think he did an OK job at Watkins Glen over the weekend. Anyway, he raced an exhibition race in 2000 and won...not bad for his first time in a race car that had a roof over him.

I found an open letter that the boss of the V8 Supercars, Tony Cochrane, put on the V8 website;


"Dear Sir,

I have read with interest the many comments and considerable garbage written concerning the proposed date problem associated with the Gold Coast Indy Event for 2009 and beyond.  Much of this angst is aimed at the Queensland Government and the GCMEC Board. In my opinion unfairly. Both the Government and the GCMEC have bent over backwards in trying to accommodate the new IRL's interests in working out a suitable date for 2008/2009.  Following are some facts regarding the matter which may help correct the record:-

* The Government and the GCMEC have supported Indy/Champ Cars now for many years, including some very ordinary periods in their somewhat chequered history.  In any business relationship you would hope that this counts for something?

* Despite the Event being held in late October for nearly ten years suddenly the IRL, incredulously, offer two dates well outside this traditional period?

* The Event gets its TV production and Telecast partner (the 7 Network) from V8 Supercars Australia (our Championship goes to 110 countries, many of them live).  Like all sporting events the telecast partner is paramount to the financial success of the Event, so their scheduling is critical.

* The IRL offer two dates - one in March which clashes with a major Australian Motorsport event which involves both V8 Supercars and the 7 Network, and another which not only clashes with the AFL and NRL final series but would be in the middle of the September school holidays!

* Are Gold Coast tourism operators suggesting that moving Indy to a time when they are already fully booked due to the school holidays is a smart move to preserve the IRL?  Additionally, we would have no telecast partner for the Event.

* Late October was originally picked because it coincides with a natural downturn and quiet period for Gold Coast tourism. (i.e. the $60m injection comes in handy).

* V8 Supercars recognizes the Event requires both V8's and an International Series to make this unique Event work.  If the IRL cannot see fit to honour a long standing agreement on the date then there are many other world class International Series of Motorsports that would readily fit the bill.

Our Championship employs nearly 800 people in S.E Queensland so this "home event" for us is an important part of our landscape, and for our part, we will work with the Government and GCMEC in any reasonable way.  At the end of the day, I hope common sense prevails and the Event continues as a joint round of V8 Supercars and the IRL.  However, I don't subscribe to the Event being held ransom to a date that will bankrupt GCMEC, and neither should the Gold Coast community, especially when we have viable alternatives! Our American friends owe both the community and the Event more than that, given the support the Event has given them.

Yours Sincerely,
Tony Cochrane
Chairman
V8 Supercars Australia"


'So what?', you may say. As I said earlier, the current dates don't coincide with the new schedule and Australia is a long way from Miami...but consider this; Nigel Mansell, the 1993 Indycar Champion, said on his first visit to the track in 1993 that the Gold Coast did such a great job with the track and it was easily the best setup he'd seen for a temporary street track. The same Nigel Mansell who in 1992 won the F1 title and had therefore raced on the hallowed tarmac of Monte Carlo as well as the streets of Las Vegas (or was it Phoenix? I can't remember now, but I do know there was a street race in the USA in the late 80's early 90's) and that if anyone wanted to setup a new street track, they would be wise to use the Gold Coast as a template.

Will 2008 be the last time anyone sees this sight on the streets of Surfers Paradise?

The drivers love coming downunder since it allows them to escape the spotlight they usually get in the States and the relaxed atmosphere is exactly what some teams need as the season draws to a close...and now they can it? Maybe I am blinded by nationalistic pride and all that but it seems silly to cut a race that everyone enjoys. In fact, many motorsport fans rate the Gold Coast race as one of the top ten motorsport events around the world.

Now, before the switch to October, the race was held in March (like the letter says is an option)...which doesn't fit the schedule either since I'd doubt it would be accepted to start the season anywhere else but the USA. I believe the reason that got switched was it was too close to the Australian Grand Prix (after it moved from Adelaide in November to Melbourne in March in 1996) and, as we all know, having two major international sporting events held back-to-back decreases the overall profit making ability so it made sense to move the Gold Coast race.

What about that other date the letter suggested...the one that clashes with this 'AFL' and 'NRL' finals, surely they can't be as big as Tony says and the fact that it's school holidays would mean that families would be able to go to the race anyway.

Wrong.

While Australia does embrace any international sporting event, when given the choice, we much prefer to stick to our own sports. Remember that we don't want to have a Saturday night F1 race as that clashes with the grand final of the AFL's preseason Cup...the PRESEASON Cup, not even the 'real' thing!

Even suggesting hosting the race when the finals are on would be akin to going "hey, let's host the Indy 500 in early February!" It's the same thing here; September has always been, and will always be, 'finals footy' time in Australia. The only way I can see where the Gold Coast would fit in the schedule wold be to start the season earlier and put our race after Long Beach (allowing a week off either side for travel and preparation) but that will only happen if they are serious about keeping Surfers Paradise as a venue. However, I get the impression that the honeymoon, which lasted since 1991 (and only has one repeat winner in its history), is over.

And, like Tony says, if they don't want us, there are plenty of other series that would jump at the opportunity...your loss, Indycar *shrugs*

Now, normally, my posts with similar titles are a good-natured poke at motorsport around the globe...but not this time. I've decided to use this instead to give my kudos to Marcos Ambrose on a truly incredible weekend (all the photos are from his website by the way).

While Cup qualifying got rained out, the Nationwide series did manage some practice and Marcos put up times in the top ten which would ordinarily be expected given his road course background. But this was no ordinary NW field...I think there were 20 drivers doing double duty and while Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon weren't in the NW cars, guys like Kyle Busch, Robby Gordon and Kevin Harvick were so you couldn't say this was going to be a walk in the park for the Aussie.

Ambrose leads the way from Busch, Kenseth and Harvick.

Saturday morning came and went, with Marcos qualifying 12th for the NW race and being amongst the frontrunners, if not the frontrunner, in Cup practices...this was starting to look like Sonoma all over again, but would he get that storybook finish?

It didn't look that way as he got shuffled a bit at the start of the NW race. Jeff Burton lost it in front of him (whether or not Marcos tapped him I don't know...the replays were inconclusive but he looked to be too far back to have given Jeff a touch), he sent Sam Hornish Jr into a spin when Sam didn't get good traction in the esses while Marcos did and then with about 15 laps to go, he sideswiped a backmarker.

But, like most fairytales, one has to overcome adversity before the happy ending and this was no different.

His luck changed with 33 laps remaining. As Ambrose pulled into his pit box to get service on his final stop for the day, the caution flew so he (and Ryan Newman who pitted at the same time) escaped without penalty. Carl Edwards then divebombed Clint Bowyer on the restart allowing Marcos to gain a couple more spots in the ensuing chaos. Indeed, by the time the pitstops were all sorted, Marcos was in the top five and had more fuel than the cars in front of him.

Marcos taking the chequered flag.

They say that to finish first, first you have to finish and that rang true as the doorslamming battle between Burton and Busch meant that Ambrose and Jimmie Johnson were able to close down the gap. When Burton made his retaliatory move on Busch, that lifted Marcos to third behind Jeff and Jimmie. Unable to keep up with their pace, Marcos seemingly cruised along saving a little fuel and I imagine gave a huge smile when, first Johnson and then Burton ran out of gas and Marcos took the lead for good with three laps left.

And so, in his 59th start in the 59 car, Marcos Ambrose became the first Australian to win in the Nationwide series and got a tremendous reception after his on-track victory celebration. In nice gestures, Carl Edwards paid tribute to him when interviewed after the race, Kyle Busch gave him a handshake on the podium and even Jack Roush congratulated him on a job well done.

Not only did he smoke those tyres good, he also kept the car off the wall on that narrow front straight!

That's generally where the story says 'The End' right? Ahh, no...not in this case.

After starting shotgun on the field (ignoring those guys sent to the back for engine changes and whatnot...if you want to get picky, then I think he actually started 41st), Marcos stormed his way through the field to be running 15th after 23 laps. The final cycle of pitstops came and went and the #21 Ford Fusion was inside the top ten...but could he keep it going or would similar misfortune strike him like at Infineon?

With a slipping clutch and fading brakes, Marcos passed Martin Truex Jr for fourth and inherited third when Newman ran wide in turn one before 'the big one' happened behind. That allowed his brakes to cool down but that clutch was going to be an issue since the guy behind him, Juan Montoya, isn't well known for his patience. Ambrose went to the inside on the restart, telling Juan that if he wanted past, he'd have to go around the outside...something the Columbian did try on the final restart and ended up having to battle Truex allowing Marcos some breathing room as he closed in on Tony Stewart.

Marcos took the #21 to heights not seen by the team in over three years.

That was where the story ended as Ambrose finished behind Tony and Kyle, giving the Wood Brothers their best finish since 2005 and the best ever finish by an Australian in the Cup series (previous was a 18th by Tony Spanos at Martinsville in 1987 apparently).

Here are youtube links to the post race press conferences of both races for those interested (Cup one is just with Tony Stewart and him, no Kyle Busch):
NW part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k38VeKArQkY
NW part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GUCTYP0TlNA
NW part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B2MrupshJmQ

Cup part 1 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fnyXcEbhnnU
Cup part 2 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nnO6bVlEA-g
Cup part 3 - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=23Lt8TOqNmY

Now, I'll be the first to say not to expect a similar result from Marcos in next weekend's Cup race at Michigan since, despite Ambrose saying he doesn't want to be known just for his road racing expertise, he has to be realistic and knows that's when he's able to show off his talent, just like Robby Gordon. But he showed last weekend that sometimes you do get that fairytale ending and nice guys don't have to finish last.

Congratulations, Marcos. You've made Australia, and this Aussie in particular, proud, mate.