General

Of heroes and villains; Ambrose rings The Glen

Aug 9, 2009, 10:02 AM UTC

The distinction between the two was drawn on Saturday.

Marcos Ambrose is a good guy whilst Robby Gordon and Kyle Busch are the clear and distinct villains.

Let’s move with the positive story first as Ambrose won a very exciting Zippo 200 at The Glen on Saturday afternoon. Ambrose completed a daring pass on lap 64, driving deep into the chicane, forcing Busch to let off while the Aussie drove off with the lead. A fuming Busch pouted his way to second while Ambrose cruised the rest of the way, scoring his second Nationwide Series victory and first of 2009.

Go time after the jump!

“It’s Kyle Busch we’re talking about,” said Ambrose. He’s going to race you hard, and so I just tried to throw the element of surprise in. I came from a fair way back -- about a length-and-a-half back on him -- and just bombed up in there. I knew that it was a high-risk move, but it was one that was needed to be made to try to win the race.
“We’re not here to come second. We’re here to win, and I had that mind-set all weekend.”

Most felt that the pass was clean and far kinder than anything Busch is known for. Not that he agrees or anything...

“I wouldn’t have made (the pass), because I would have wrecked,” said Busch, who expanded his series lead over second-place Edwards to 212 points. “I think we would have wrecked if one of the cars didn’t give, [and] I was the car that gave. I don’t think it was a fair move. It won him the race. He had to do something.
“Yay for him. Good job -- whatever. I wouldn’t have been able to it. I would have wadded my stuff up.”

Spare me. I call shenanigans. There are 45+ drivers in that garage that would call you out on that (And about 95% of RandR). Kyle Busch is many things. Timid and non-aggressive did not make the list.

Villain no. 2 on my literary hit list is Robby Gordon. What was he thinking?! He and Joey Logano raced hard but clean in the closing laps before Gordon began trying to turn Logano around, seeming on purpose...

The final caution broke out with 11 to go and with the field pacing under yellow; Gordon punted Logano into a tire barrier. In contrast, Logano’s car burst into flames while Gordon burst onto the lead lap via the Lucky Dog.

“You can’t cure stupid,” Logano said of Gordon.

The same could be applied to NASCAR for not penalizing Gordon.

Gordon’s recent actions on both Saturday and Monday have drawn my ire and I hope NASCAR’s as well. NASCAR must bring him in for a little talk.

I like Robby and his blatant personality but this is where not having a car owner hurts him. Let’s hope NASCAR plays father-figure and settles Robby down before another driver does it on the track and hurts someone.

None of this should take anything away from Marcos Ambrose. He drove the best race of his remarkable 2009 season, Nationwide or otherwise, and was rewarded accordingly. Ambrose has proven himself to be one of the pleasant surprises of 2009 and has almost ditched his road ringer attachment aside. He is also one of the good guys; never a bad word about another driver and a consummate family man.

“Can I do a burn out?” Ambrose asked crew chief Frank Kerr after nabbing the victory.

Please do Marcos. You earned it.

Top 10

1. Marcos Ambrose, Toyota

2. Kyle Busch, Toyota

3. Carl Edwards, Ford

4. Kevin Harvick, Chevrolet

5. Ron Fellows, Chevrolet

6. Jeff Burton, Chevrolet

7. Greg Biffle, Ford

8. David Ragan, Ford

9. Brad Keselowski, Chevrolet