A day after producing his first career NASCAR victory in a Nationwide Series event, Marcos Ambrose drove Sunday like he was a Tasmanian devil.
My research — I admit, all it took was a quick click on Google — proved Ambrose and Tasmanian devils have more in common than intimidation. Ambrose is from Tasmania, a small Australian island where the real-life, scary-looking, dog- like devils live.
A Tasmanian devil has long whiskers on its face and in clumps on the top of its head. Judging from the television and his photo in NASCAR’s media guide, Ambrose has short whiskers on his face and, because he’s balding, clumps of hair on the top of his head.
Furthermore, the devils are relentless predators, and Ambrose is relentless on the racetrack while hunting down cars in front of him. His nickname is the “Devil Racer.”
He proved that Saturday and Sunday at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International. After winning the Nationwide race, Ambrose finished third in the third Sprint Cup start of his career. No, he didn’t win, and he wasn’t second. But he stood on the podium after starting dead last in a 43-car field.
This wasn’t an oval race. It was a road- course event on a difficult-to-pass, 2.45- mile layout, and Ambrose wasn’t driving a car from the Joe Gibbs, Rick Hendrick, Jack Roush or Richard Childress stables.
He was driving a Ford with a cupcake sponsor — Little Debbie — for the Wood Brothers, a team that hadn’t finished in the top three in a Cup race since 2005, and has just 12 podium results this decade.
In 90 laps, Ambrose made 90 green- flag passes.
The improbable effort harkens memories of the good old days of the currently mothballed Grand Prix of Denver (which, by the way, used to take place this time of year). In 2004, Champ Car superstar Sebastien Bourdais won despite running dead last after the first lap.
But Bourdais had to beat only 17 cars. Ambrose finished in front of 41.
“I hope it gives them the shot in the arm to keep moving forward,” Ambrose said of the Wood Brothers in a release. “They’ve had a tough time of it. They’re 43rd in points, and they need to get some momentum going. Hopefully this will help them. I’m not the answer. But they gave me a great piece, everything I asked for.”
Ambrose, 32, was hired to drive at Watkins Glen because of his extensive road- course experience. But he also is turning heads in traditional NASCAR circles, which of course, are circles. He ran a full season in the Nationwide Series last year, finishing eighth as a rookie with a pole and six top-10 results.
Now he sits 10th in Nationwide points.
On road courses, he’s as scary as a fierce dog without a leash. He was third in the Nationwide road race in Montreal and second earlier this year on the multiturn layout in Mexico.
This is one guy you don’t want chasing you.
