Before his victory at Watkins Glen, Marcos Ambrose averaged a 2.7 finish at the track.
Kevin Rivoli/AP
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (AP) Marcos Ambrose won't have to answer all those questions anymore.
The snakebitten Ambrose beat Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch on a two-lap dash to the checkered flag Monday to win the rain-delayed Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen International. It was his first victory in 105 starts in NASCAR's top series and atoned for a slip-up a year ago on the road course at Sonoma, when he stalled his car under caution while leading with six laps to go and finished sixth.
"This is almost surreal," Ambrose said in his No. 9 Ford for Richard Petty Motorsports after crossing the finish line.
It was Ford's first victory on a road course since Geoff Bodine won here in 1996.
"It's a dream come true," Ambrose said. "I've tried for 2 1/2 years."
Busch led the field to the green flag. But Keselowski, racing with a broken left ankle and trying for his second straight win and third of the season, dove from third to the lead entering the first turn with Ambrose also streaking past Busch.
Ambrose bumped Keselowski in the chicane after zooming through the high-speed esses, then passed him for the lead.
The race ended with a caution as David Reutimann and David Ragan crashed violently entering the second turn, with Reutimann's car bouncing hard off a guardrail and sliding upside down across the track.
Busch finished third, and Martin Truex Jr. and Joey Logano rounded out the top five.
Kevin Harvick was sixth, followed by Juan Pablo Montoya, AJ Allmendinger, Jeff Burton and Jimmie Johnson.
Kurt Busch, who won at Sonoma in June, crashed early and finished 38th. He wasn't alone: Denny Hamlin, who entered the day 11th in points, also crashed and finished 36th; five-time Watkins Glen winner Tony Stewart, running up front all race, was taken out on the final lap in the chicane and finished 27th; and Paul Menard, also in the hunt for a spot in the Chase for the Cup, brought out the race-changing caution when he crashed on the 86th lap and finished 32nd.
Ambrose was on a conservative strategy all day despite threatening weather - the race was postponed by rain Sunday and more was in the forecast. He passed Truex for third on turn one of lap 73 and moved up to the bumper of Keselowski. Ambrose outbraked Keselowski going into the 90-degree first turn on lap 76 and set his sights on Busch.
Ambrose moved within three car lengths on lap 80 as the two encountered lapped traffic and closed to Busch's back bumper in the chicane with eight laps to go.
"Plenty of time to get him. Go get him," said Ambrose's crew chief, Todd Parrott.
Ambrose got the chance he wanted when Menard, running 14th, blew out a tire and crashed on lap 86, bringing out the final caution.
That set up the frantic dash to the finish of what turned into a 92-lap race and spoiled the day for Kyle Busch, who won the pole and had led much of the race. He was in the catbird seat for 18 straight laps when Menard crashed.
Hamlin brought out the third caution of the race on lap 67 when he zoomed at high speed straight through the first turn, a 90-degree right-hander, and slammed head-on into the tire barrier that borders the paved runout area.
Hamlin, who started at the rear of the field after a crash in qualifying and was all the way up to 11th, was not injured. But the stoppage jumbled the running order as Jeff Gordon gave up the lead to pit for the final time, giving Kyle Busch the lead again with Keselowski alongside him in the front row and Ambrose and Montoya in the third row.
"I had no brakes," Hamlin said. "I was trying to do everything I could. Just nothing you can do."
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