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| Busch spins to trigger a wild final lap |
Marcos
Ambrose’s win in Sunday’s Finger Lakes
355 at The Glen highlighted everything that is right with NASCAR Sprint Cup
Series racing.
Ambrose
took the white flag Sunday in third place, trailing leader Kyle Busch and second-place
driver Brad Keselowski. All three drivers faced do-or-die scenarios, and nothing
less than a win would do.
For
Busch, a win would effectively lock him into the Chase For The Sprint Cup,
erasing a maddening regular season filled with frustration and mechanical
failure and wiping his competitive slate clean for a final, 10-race shot at
redemption.
For
Keselowski, a Watkins Glen victory would be his fourth of the season, sending
him the Chase as the top-ranked driver in NASCAR, with a vital head-start en route
to the 2012 title.
For
Ambrose, victory at The Glen was nothing short of imperative. Far removed from
the Top-10 in points, the Aussie ace came to the Empire State needing to win at
least one of the final five regular-season races to claim a Wild Card spot. Winless
on ovals to date, a defeat at the Glen would essentially end Ambrose’s hopes
for a Chase berth.
That
“all or nothing” scenario combined with an oil-slicked racing surface to create
one of the most spellbinding finals laps in the 56-year history of the
legendary road course. The leaders took the white flag just after Bobby Labonte’s
Toyota laid a thin film of oil around the entirety of the circuit. At the head
of the pack, Busch was first to lose traction in the Glen’s slippery second
turn. His M&M’s Toyota slipped sideways and was collected by Keselowski, spinning
Busch spinning into the Armco Barrier and out of contention.
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| Huge win for Ambrose and Petty |
Keselowski
then took command, but was helpless against the greasy race track and the
unrelenting attacks of Ambrose. The two swapped positions with just two turns
remaining, with Ambrose sliding into the lead as both drivers battled to
maintain control. Keselowski retaliated as Ambrose slipped wide in Turn Seven,
and the two raced off the final curve nose-to-nose, with Ambrose prevailing to
claim a car length victory.
“That last lap was crazy,” said Ambrose afterward. “I slipped in
the oil right off the bat. The oil on the track just kept getting worse and
worse, (so) you just take your chances. You've got to commit at that point in
the race and it was great racing with Kyle and Brad.”
The
win moved Ambrose to 17th in championship points, trailing Kasey Kahne,
Ryan Newman, Kyle Busch and Jeff Gordon in the battle for the final Wild Card
berth. He will likely need to win again at Michigan, Bristol, Atlanta or
Richmond to compete for the 2012 championship. Before that, however, the
Tazmanian was determined to celebrate his second career NASCAR Sprint Cup
Series win.
“It's just awesome fun and
that's the way racing should be. You just have to take Lady Luck when she
strikes and (today) was our day."
Team
owner Richard Petty was also beaming in Victory Lane. After negotiating seriously
for a return to the Dodge camp in 2013, Petty likely has some fence mending to
do with Ford Motor Company, and Ambrose’s victory provides a critical
bargaining chip.
“I
seen some of the Ford people there today,” said Petty after the race. “I told
them, `Me and Marcos won the race.' I had the contract in my pocket (and) I was
going to let them sign it right there. I don't think it went over too
good."
Photo: Jerry Markland, Getty Images For NASCAR
That was one of the best finishes ever. Love or hate Keselowski his post race interview showed me a lot of class. He races you like you race him. If they through the yellw it would have bee a fuel miliage race and another NASCAR conspiracy. NASCAR has to make judgement calls all the time and get 99% of them right. Not bad in my book. so lets give them credit this week. Tootallsteve
ReplyDeleteAn exciting finish, indeed. Maybe we should free up the track with few laps to go at every race with a little grease. Oil-white-checker, anybody?
ReplyDeletePocono the previous week and the finish at Watkins Glen illustrated what's good about racing yet they both show what's wrong with it in that they are exceptions proving the rule.
ReplyDeleteIt has become a rarity to see any race where the lead changes twice a lap for several straight laps as happened at Pocono, or see a race where the three leaders wage a true all-out fight for the win. If these were the norm, the sport would begin regaining its lost popularity.
Seeing Richard Petty win again is also good for the sport - he's the one who built it among drivers; he's the face of the sport for its entire history.
Monkeesfan, I appreciate your comments on this topic. Your thoughts on the Danica Patrick story will not be published, however, due to some fairly blatant violations of our "no trash talking" policy. I'm confident that you can express your feelings about Ms. Patrick without calling her (or Kelley Earnhardt) disparaging names. Feel free to try again, if you like.
DeleteWith safety on our minds after Pocono.....leaving the #18 backwards in a cloud of smoke doesn't "hightlight everything that is right in Nascar".
ReplyDeleteBK was talking his trash but left out the bump with Kyle. Don,t look back!
ReplyDeleteI was yelling at my TV yesterday! Come on Brad! Wait, Get him Marco! Get back up there Brad! Last Chance Marco! Oh no! Holy @#%&! YES!!! What a race!!! Hit the rewind button, and still didn't know what was going to happen the 2nd time I watched it!
ReplyDeleteIt was a spectacular finish. The best finishes have been because the battle raged to the checkers. Not because somebody get taken out on the last lap. It was good to hear both Brad and Marcos echo each other, without hearing what the other said.
That is what its all about. Anyone can stuff someone in the wall or spin em out. Trading paint and position, not placing blame. No excuses. He beat me fair and square, now we're gonna share a beer and trade stories.
Extremely Gruntled
By the way,
ReplyDeleteThank you Brad and Marcos for that last lap.
actually the king always wanted to keep his ford connection but some partners were drooling over fiat's money
ReplyDeleteSomeone dropped the ball on the condition of the track. With 3 laps to go Dave Rogers told Kyle Busch the 47 blew up and there was oil in turn 1. We still ran 2 entire laps while that was the case. Safety did not seem like the primary concern for NASCAR there. Between the Nationwide race at Indy and yesterday at The Glen, I have my doubts about race control. Yes, the images of that last lap were exciting but it really did have a potentially damaging effect on at least 2 drivers' seasons. Hopefully it won't, Brad really showed alot of fortitude this past weekend in both races for sure. Could use a few more drivers like him out there. Just sucks we had to have a finish like that under those circumstances.
ReplyDeleteThat's interesting, since the 47 didn't "blow up" until the leaders were almost to the stripe with TWO laps to go.
DeleteAlmost to the stripe, so they weren't there yet.... Meaning it was still 3 to go right?
DeleteFact remaining they still ran two ENTIRE laps with a smoking car oiling down the track.
Between the television delay and the scanners being ahead of the pictures on my screen it could very well have been only 2 laps to go. But my point is that they ran two full laps without even the thought of a caution flag.
The images of that last lap are thrilling, but are tainted in my eyes. Dale Jr, Jeff Gordon, Kyle Busch and Jimmie Johnson said there was no reason to be racing on the track in that situation, so are we just going to give NASCAR a "pass" since Ambrose and Brad put on one hell of a show?
Glad there was no caution and they got to race...
ReplyDeleteHate to see Kyle get spun on the last lap, I'd rather seen him get crashed on the parade lap lol