Aussie Ambrose looks to become king of the road

By Jay Hart
June 19, 2010


Sonoma, CA — During a test session earlier this month at the road course at Watkins Glen International, Jeff Gordon swapped seats with Marcos Ambrose. Gordon drove Ambrose’s No. 47 car, which has been to victory lane exactly zero times, while Ambrose wheeled Gordon’s famed No. 24, you know, the one with four championships and 82 wins, including nine on road courses.

And what was the conclusion?

“I learned two things there at the test,” Gordon said. “One is that when Marcos Ambrose goes really fast through the road courses, it’s not his race car. He’s just really fast. He got in my car and went really fast. I got in his car and went slow.”

If it’s true there are only two guarantees in life – death and taxes – there used to be a third: Jeff Gordon or Tony Stewart would win at Infineon Raceway, site of Sunday’s Toyota/Save Mart 350. Between 1998 and 2006, Gordon and Stewart combined to win seven of the nine races there. And in the two they didn’t win, one of them finished second.

That domination, however, is a thing of the past, as road racing has transformed from something Cup teams tolerate to something they actually do homework on.

“The first time I came here, we brought a car that was like seven or eight years old and said, ‘Well, this is a road course car,’ ,” Jeff Burton explained. “Today it’s a little different than that. I think teams have put more emphasis on building specific road course cars. Engineering has been applied to it. Drivers have looked to be better. So I think there is more effort.”

While Gordon and Stewart still rank among the best road racers, neither has been to victory lane in Sonoma in three years. No, Juan Pablo Montoya’s win there in 2007 wasn’t much of a surprise given his road-racing background, but Kyle Busch’s victory in 2008 was. And when Kasey Kahne (Sunday’s polesitter) took the checkered flag last year, it was a clear signal that a new era of road racing was upon us.

From Gordon’s perspective, the reason for the sea change is twofold: one, 2007 marked the unveiling of the Car of Tomorrow on the road courses, and two, it’s simply gotten more competitive.

“I feel like we’ve lost a little bit of an edge that we had,” Gordon acknowledged. “I feel like with the old car we just had a great package. I loved the way the car drove. And with the new car, it’s just been something that adapting to it has been a real challenge.

“I feel like we’re better this year than we’ve been in the last couple of years, but I still feel like we’ve got a little bit of work to do.”

Regardless of the reason, the clear favorite entering Sunday’s race is neither Gordon nor Stewart. It’s the Australian-born Ambrose, who screwed up the final turn of his qualifying run – he got his foot stuck between the gas and the brake – and still qualified sixth.

Aside from Ambrose, there are a handful of drivers who haven’t won a road race but could this weekend:

• Jimmie Johnson: Competed in a pair of Grand-Am races this year in an effort to notch the road-course win that has eluded him so far. Johnson finished a career-best fourth at Sonoma last year and led 27 laps the year before.

“This is just an irritation. I know I can do this,” Johnson said of his lack of a road win. “I know I have it in me. I just have to figure it out over the course of 90 laps.”

He’s clearly got it figured out for one lap. Johnson starts second Sunday.

• Denny Hamlin (starts 12th): For starters, no one is hotter right now than Hamlin, who has won five of the last 10 races. A year ago at Infineon, he led 33 laps, or just four fewer than race winner Kasey Kahne.

• Clint Bowyer (22nd): Never considered when talking about the better road-course racers, Bowyer is actually pretty good at making right turns. In four races at Infineon, Bowyer has three top-10 finishes.

• Ryan Newman (13th): A second-place finish in 2006 is one of five top-10 finishes at Sonoma for Newman.

Sunday’s race should, however, come down to Ambrose, who finished third at Infineon a year ago. He was, after all, fastest in the first practice, fastest in the second practice and, yes, fastest in the third and final practice. If he can run his race incident free, he should be in the hunt for the win. But considering how his season has gone thus far – one top-10 and six DNFs – that’s a big if.

“It’s too important for us, really,” said Ambrose, who sits a disappointing 30th in the standings. “We’re putting so much on us this weekend that it doesn’t help you do what you have to do on the race track. We’ve had a terrible year and are trying to bounce back. We just want to get through this weekend, hopefully with a top-five, challenge for a win and hopefully get our season really going.”

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