Ok, as many people on here know, I tend to focus my NASCAR blogs on Marcos Ambrose, mainly since we're both Australians. Now, after hearing at the start of 2007 that Marcos would be making his Cup debut at Sonoma, I was rather excited. For you see, Marcos is a pretty handy road racer and the new car rather ####ily reminded me (and Forensic) of the V8 Supercars he raced down here.

So as you can imagine, I was rather miffed when I saw that Marcos' name wasn't on the list for Sonoma. Wood Brothers said they wanted him to focus on the Busch series and the logistics of getting him from Milwaukee to Napa Valley and back were somewhat difficult. Also, since Marcos was in the top ten in points, they didn't think it would be a good idea to split his focus that weekend and I understand that totally.

To Watkins Glen then...both series are racing there this weekend so it's the perfect time to chuck Marcos in a second car and see how he does. After all, he can only be on a massive high after his performance in Montreal a few days ago.

Now imagine my surprise when I see the preliminary Cup list and his name isn't on it.

Fair enough, it says it's only provisional...but come on, did Marcos have to win in Montreal to get a drive or something? If he wasn't so loyal to Wood Brothers for giving him a shot last year, I am betting there are a few other teams who would love to have him in their car this weekend.

I was really looking forward to seeing him give the new car his best shot...but now it looks like that will have to wait. And, unlike Marcos in his postrace interview, I will be mad (not as mad as my avatar though) if he isn't even going to be given a chance by his team.

See how mad my avatar is? Oh wait, wrong picture...um, never mind then

Yes, Bill Elliot is a great driver and highly respected within NASCAR circles, but give the best road racer you have in your stable a go...surely he proved that he can handle these cars on those types of tracks?

Someone tell me it's April 1 since this must be a prank.

Ok, after being inundated with a single comment asking me to write another one of these, I figured I might as well give a soap opera style thing a crack with it this time.

**WARNING, SARCASM AHEAD!**

Saturday night (my time) saw the Formula 1 boys back to their misbehaving best as Fernando "Fred is easier to write" Alonso and Giancarlo "I'm very 'appy" Fisichella decided their best chance of starting up front was to ruin their fellow competitors laps instead. Fisi might have had a case against Mark "I'm better at breaking cars than Kimi is" Webber but since Fisi and Mark were both on their out laps, the big wigs decided Mark didn't have a case to answer.

Fred on the other hand figured that what worked for Michael "I didn't see him on the inside of me" Schumacher would work for him...and it kind of did. Michael got sent to the back of the grid at last years Monaco GP while Fred only got demoted to sixth. Lewis "I'm here and gonna kick all your butts" Hamilton was quite rightly upset with his teammate but handled the situation very well. The FIAWHEUYF (Federation of International Automobiles Who Hate Everyone Unless You're Ferrari) decided to flex their flab by saying that McLaren couldn't score any points for the Constructor's Title...no, they're not really biased. It's just pure luck that there's that whole spying case going on...and McLaren are leading Ferrari in that championship...honest!

At least there wasn't any controversy over the finish of the race...unlike in Montreal. Patrick "I get sympathy from Tez since I drove Greg Moore's car after 1999" Carpentier had a great run and wound up finishing second behind Kevin "I'm happy again" Harvick in the first Canadian Busch race. That didn't really tell the full story though. Marcos "I'm still smiling, mate!" Ambrose had the best car and to all those people saying Robby "I barely touched him" Gordon deserved the win were obviously smoking some serious stuff since Marcos was the class of the field the whole day.

We then arrived in Ponocchio...uh, Pococch...####, that track that doesn't have a fourth turn (there we go) where, shockingly, there were a few crashes. Unfortunately, they all appeared to involve Jamie "I need to get me a horseshoe" McMurray who is seemingly destined to be punted out of the way by anyone and everyone...Ganassi should give him the sponsorship from Target actually. At least the guy with the best car won...even if it was Kurt "I'd like to thank Sharp...er, Miller" Busch.

So there we go, two of the three races were won by the best car but the action in the one that didn't was much more exciting. What's next for the racing soap opera...me getting a MIB? Oh wait...never mind.

I didn't even mention the IRL crashfest either. It would appear that whoever finishes that race will win...great time to be a panel beater, eh? Whoops, sorry, they weren't racing in Canada this week, my bad.

If you can't stomach sarcasm, then you probably should have heeded my warning at the top...but here's a card for you anyway.

Yep, that should cover it.

Ok, it was all looking wonderful for 70 laps in Montreal. My man was cruising along in front and going to win his maiden Busch race in his rookie year.

Marcos, of course, comes from a road racing background downunder and showed on the streets of Mexico earlier in the year what he was capable of doing in the Busch series when they start turning right instead of just left all the time.

He was fast in every practice session and stuck his #59 Kingsford Ford Fusion in fifth for the race. I have no idea why the TV guys said he had slipped under the radar...they must have been watching a different race or something. Ambrose made up a spot at the start by passing Max Papis and was sitting in fourth for the early stages of the race. As the pitstops came and went, it was clear that Marcos had, without doubt, the best car in the field as when the caution flag flew on lap 66 his lead was over four seconds. Fuel was the main issue but once that yellow came out, the crew (and Marcos) all breathed a huge sigh of relief as that was the break they needed to be good to go to the end.

The complexion of the race changed when, ironically, Marcos' teammate blew an engine. Scott Pruett at that time was fending off Ron Fellows when he slid wide on the oil and Robby Gordon was able to sneak past both into second place. When the green flag waved with four laps to go, Marcos pinched a break on Robby going into turn 1 but Robby was able to muscle his way alongside (if the damage to the right rear of Ambrose's car was anything to go by) after getting a better exit off turn 2.

Behind them, chaos was the order of the day as Pruett sqeezed Harvick onto the grass and got promptly spun, collecting Fellows in the process bringing out the yellow again. At that time, the TV coverage switched back to show Gordon being hit by Ambrose and spinning...but we don't know exactly when the yellow first flew and who was leading. Nor do we know if Robby saw the yellow and slowed down that tiny bit which caused Marcos to hit him (despite everyone on the foxsport racetrax claiming they know...armchair experts and all that *rolls eyes*).

Regardless, Gordon, understandably, was ticked off at Ambrose and gave him a few friendly love taps while they were behind the safety car. Of course, you knew what was coming at the next restart and Robby paid Marcos back by punting him in turn 2 before going on to win the race...or did he?

NASCAR black-flagged Gordon for not being in the right position when the green waved for the last time so the race got awarded to Kevin Harvick. See, you have to maintain a minimum speed behind the pace car...which Robby didn't since he was backwards on the track. He was supposed to start in 12th or something but took the restart behind Ambrose in second.

Robby said in his post race interview that he was the leader and would appeal the result. Marcos said that he wasn't mad, just disappointed for the whole team at being that close to pulling a win off (how's that for showing class in that situation...some drivers should be taking notes).

In the end, Marcos finished in 7th, collecting the bonus points for leading the most laps (35 in total)...scant consolation for what was a brilliant drive. My feelings right now echo exactly what Marcos said; absolutely gutted at seeing a win slip through his grasp.

When asked afterwards about possibly just letting Robby by when the green came out for the final time, Marcos offered up this; "We were talking about whether we should pull over and let him pass, but you know, I've got two laps to go and I'm trying to win the race. If somebody is going to take me out, they're going to take me out. If they feel strong enough, they're going to do it. I'm not going to go into it."

Despite his seemingly calm demeanor, Marcos admitted that he would probably be needing therapy for a couple years to get over being that close to a historic win.

Marcos' dream of getting his first win were ruined by the front end of Robby Gordon's car

Gordon has said that he didn't think what Marcos did was intentional (about 2:00 in)...if that was the case, then why was he so annoyed with Marcos?

Oh well...there's always Watkins Glen next week I guess.

Marcos Ambrose; the moral victor of the inaugural Montreal Busch series race.

Alrighty then, a bit of information regarding this underground movement that was started up in 2005.

The ability of a 'Stopper' is in their capacity to be the final post in the vast majority of topics or to completely ruin the momentum of a topic and/or sporting person/horse/etc. Until recently, our numbers were scarce, testament to how difficult it is to become a 'Stopper', but over the last month a re-evaluation has taken place and the following foxsport bloggers have been given a place on the register;

photogr - his main skill lies in picking Jimmie Johnson for Cup races. Jimmie's performance at Dover (flat tyre), Pocono (crash) and, at the present moment, Sonoma (penalised and will start from the back of the field) have earnt photo this honour. He has since switched drivers for the Sonoma race having seen Jimmie's predicament...this has the potential to end up in tears on Sunday.

Dave_In_Indy - it takes a great amount of talent to be able to pick two drivers out of three who will run out of fuel, but that is exactly what Dave did last week for the Cup and Busch races. Another strong showing in the Formula 1 however may see his membership come under question from the other members.

williamwilman - Will is currently doing exactly what he needs to do since he is running the Trifecta competition; not leading it. His main ability lies in picking drivers who he believes are certainties to do well and they bomb out instead...expectations are that he will rig his competition so he ends up winning anyway ;)

volfan69 - this application was brought forward by other members. Picked Bobby Hamilton Jr in last weeks Busch race as part of her Trifecta and he got caught up in a crash. By dint of trailing the field in Will's Trifecta percentages, she gets a well-earned spot on the board.

14Falcons - Started off with a hiss and a roar by winning the Memorial Day Trifecta but has since stumbled into obscurity and found his seat at the table after picking Kenseth in last weeks Cup race...only for it to be the first race Matt hasn't finished on the lead lap.

Tezgm99 - the founder based on his ability on another messageboard where his record of being the final post on a thread topic was hovering around 90%, he therefore calls the shots on who gets in and who has to prove their worth before being accepted into this elite club. Any questions about his place as leader are met with the following names and races; Massa at the Canadian GP (got DQ'd), Rosberg at Indy (running in the top 6 with 5 laps to go...then his engine blew up), Newman at Michigan (qualified in the top 4...finished 37th having lost 3 laps early and managed to take out Kenseth, ruining Falcons day too) and Heidfeld at Indy (having said that both drivers starting with 'Nic' were driving well, both failed to finish the race).

To receive an invitation is all about fully recognising this special talent.

Notable Mentions:

JayJayDean - a stats guru through and through, JJD scours the history books any chance he gets in an attempt to gain a 'leg up' on the compeition in the Trifecta. He is the only multiple round winner so not all members agree with him being placed at the table, hence only provisional status has been granted. His pick of Robert Kubica at Montreal though was a spectacular move...nearly as spectacular as Robert's horror crash. Amazingly, Robert escaped with only a few bruises and a mild concussion.

Candystar - not part of the foxsports community but deserves a mention on here regardless. A feisty Canadian who loves nothing better than leaving Tez at awkward moments when instant messaging with him, she can only make the grade based on her ability to be the last poster on messageboards as she isn't a sports fan (likes horses though). At present, her record of achieving that isn't brilliant...but she is learning patience.

Was the result of rookie of the year in the Busch series a foregone conclusion when the season kicked off at Daytona last month?

Montoya brings a rather impressive CV to the table; 1999 Champ Car Champion, 2000 Indy 500 winner and 7 times a winner in Formula 1....but does that mean anything now he's racing tintops?

You bet it does; pressure

He's a household name due to his wheel####ing exploits against Michael Schumacher....in other words, Montoya won't back down from a fight. We saw that at Mexico last week when he won....but spun his teammate in the process. Reckless? Not really....just inexperienced I'd say. He's used to cars stopping on a dime which his Dodge Charger just can't do. He'd pulled a similar move earlier in the race too so that probably affected his choice to whether or not to have a go.

The question is this; should he have waited? Possibly, but this is a guy that everyone has been talking up since he announced his move mid-last year....he did what he thought was right, so how can you penalise him for that? You can't....just know that he'll be a bit more cautious next time as he now knows what the car is capable of when he stamps that left foot on the anchors.

But back to the topic....who can stop him from being the top rookie in the Busch series?

Two words; Marcos Ambrose

The 'devil racer' is in his second year of oval racing having spent last year in the Craftsman Truck series. He was the first '06 rookie to claim a pole position, first one to net a podium finish and the only rookie to win the lap leader award....not bad for a guy who's never raced on ovals before.

While the focus was on Montoya and Hornish Jr in Daytona as both ended the day early, Ambrose stayed out of trouble and ended up finishing on the lead lap in 16th....on his first visit to Daytona I might add since he wasn't cleared to race there in the trucks last year.

California could have gone better for Marcos had he not binned it during qualifying forcing him to the backup car for the race....but he still drove the wheels off it and finished on the lead lap (again) just outside the top 20.

Then we headed to Mexico....ahh yes, Montoya dominated the weekend (as most people thought he might) and drove wonderfully well after a miscue in the pits dropped him way down the field. However, Ambrose, too, had his own troubles, getting spun while in the top 10 before storming back to finish 8th (and showing people how to drive on a road course....passing 7 cars on the final two laps!)

And now Las Vegas is over for the Busch guys and let's think about that; Vegas got reconfigured last year so it was a bit oif an unknown quantity when they rolled out on the track for the first time so everyone was on a level playing field.

This could have been Juan's best chance at winning a (oval) Busch race due to that....but he couldn't find the handling on his car for qualifying and he hit more trouble during the race as he dropped a couple laps early and never really recovered (finishing 20th but 4 laps down). Ambrose however had a strong weekend, qualifying on the 7th row, bringing it home in 10th and becoming the first Australian to ever lead a lap in the Busch series (I'll bet most people...me included...thought his best shot at doing that was on a road course).

So where does that leave us? Montoya might want to have a look over his shoulder....Ambrose has every intention on blowing right by him and turning the atlas upsidedown in the process.