Or rather, in racing terms; if you put yourself in position enough times, eventually you'll breakthrough.
I get the impression that might be Marcos Ambrose's mantra for this week as, once again, victory in Montreal slipped from his grasp.
Going into the weekend, there was no doubt that the #59 STP Ford was going to be one of the cars to watch and Ambrose made good on those promises. He qualified third and snuck into second, passing Max Papis, before the first safety car period came out on lap 7. For the first time in NASCAR history, this caution wasn't to wait out the rain, but rather to give all teams the chance to fit a windshield wiper, brake light and whatever else could be done inside the allotted time to help against fogging up windows and helmets.
Once the race got back underway, Ambrose wasted little time in passing Scott Pruett for the lead and then proceeded to get back to where he left off here twelve months ago; giving a demonstration on how to drive this track. By the time the next yellow flag came out, Marcos had built his lead to over eight seconds, he did it again the next time (even going off-track and still retaining the lead) before coming in for his final pit stop on lap 41. Such was his performance (assisted by the weather of course) that, even allowing for his drive-through penalty for speeding, he came out in third and was poised to challenge for the win as his wets were far fresher than those of Ron Fellows (who had yet to make his last stop) and Patrick Carpentier (who chose not to change his tyres at his stop...Kimi Raikonnen at Silverstone last month, anyone?).
Alas, we'll never know if both drivers were holding back or, indeed, whether Ambrose could have gotten by them, as the rain became torrential and NASCAR, wisely, called the race off with 26 laps remaining. It was small consolation for the Australian that he led the most laps for the second straight year as he was interviewed after the race; "We’ve dominated this race twice now and not closed the deal. I’m bitterly disappointed and I feel a little robbed. It doesn’t feel too good."
He may have been in different colours, but Marcos gave a repeat performance of 2007...complete with the same result; no win.
Does Montreal owe Ambrose? Maybe.
But hey, that's racing and sometimes the guy with the best car doesn't win. The good news for Marcos is he doesn't have to wait long for the next road course and if his performances at Sonoma and Montreal are anything to go by, expect him to be running in the top 10...as long as he doesn't dwell too much on the one that got away.
I don't know, he was still going to be behind Fellows without the penalty since he just stopped....so he could have finished second. But yeah, it was a #### the race didn't go the full distance.
Yep. I didn't tune in till the last half. Was watching a IHRA drag race on Speed that was pretty interesting. No top fuels Just Pro stock, Alky funny cars, and Pro modified Nitros cars.
Hi People.. as much as I don't like Ambrose for many reasons, it was good to see him do well over there,the street race and wet weather is nothing for him.. comming from V8 Supercars, none of our Tracks are Ovals,
I hope you guy's have more circuits that arn't oval, and get more organised racing in all weather...
photo; I just can't get into drags....I like watching the tv shows Pinks and Pass Time and that's about it, lol
Datto; they have...well, had now I guess since they dropped Mexico....4 road courses which in total have 5 races on them per year (Watkins Glen gets doubled up next week). I know what you mean about Marcos, he was not my favourite driver back in the V8's (but I did respect the fact that he was bloody good), but I fully support him in NASCAR since he's a fellow Aussie, lol
Ah, Tez I was thinking of you as I watched yesterday...Marcos was totally robbed!! Very cool to watch them race in the rain and I loved Carl Edwards cleaning his window while driving with his squeegy...
I just knew Marcos wasn't going to get the win when he got that speeding penalty. It was horrible, he should have won! Reminds me of T. Stewart at Talladega, so many times he SHOULD have won there but has came up second about 7 times! lol
Just saw a bit of this race over the weekend. Looked like it was a fun race with the added factor of rain. I am hoping that your man Marcos will get into victory lane one of these days. I am really starting to like that accent!
Feel bad for Marcos, he was dominant. It was cool watching the stock bodies in the wet, though. Also, am a fan of Ron Fellows. Very good dude. Think if they went back green, Ambrose would have gotten the lead back and drove away.
It was a joy to watch Ambrose show them all how to get a heavy car around a road course in the wet.
However, it looked slow, way slow. I wanted to see history as much as the next guy. But after seeing it for awhile, the novelty soon wore off, and I'd have to say, I don't think I want to see that again.
Now if NASCAR would build a true road course car, and let them race that in the rain, it might be a joy to see again. But the cars I saw Saturday were ill-fitted for the rain and it was boring as hell actually.
Tez is a rare creature; an Australian who was living in New Zealand before moving to Canada. He's also a Civil Engineer who is hoping to spend his Monday to Friday sitting in front of a computer surfing the inter...uh, working hard for an Engineering Consultant or Contractor when he finds a job. His heart is torn between his two loves; F1 and NASCAR.
Due to his high interest in those, his blogs will likely focus on them with the occasional foray into sports that don't get much (if any) mention on this website. All blogs and/or comments will more than likely have his usual dollop of sarcasm and general Aussie spin on them.
Amazingly, he also managed to score 2 MiB nominations on consecutive days (August 5 & 6, 2007) after announcing he had been keeping track of them...he's considering hiding under his bed as a result.
