Cheez-It 355 at The Glen: Marcos Ambrose comes up just short, finishes 2nd

The directive was straightforward for Marcos Ambrose Sunday at Watkins Glen International: win.

That singular focus stemmed from the importance of what a win would mean both for himself and Richard Petty Motorsports. If he could end his day in Victory Lane, Ambrose would be a near-lock to qualify for the Chase for the Sprint Cup.

Ambrose nearly fulfilled his mission, passing leader AJ Allmendinger a couple of times in the final laps. Just as quickly, though, Allmendinger would repass Ambrose before finally driving away for what was his first career victory.

“We threw everything we could at it,” Ambrose said. “We knew what was at stake. We had a great race car, led a lot of laps and just came up a little bit short.”

A noted road racer as well as a two-time Watkins Glen winner, Ambrose entered as the prohibitive favorite to win Sunday. His status only enhanced after a dominant win in Saturday’s Nationwide Series race. And recognizing the significance of what a win would for its midsize, underfunded operation, RPM used of one its four allotted tests at Watkins Glen.

On several occasions, Ambrose and Allmendinger made contact and appeared on the verge of wrecking one another. But on older tires, Ambrose could never pull ahead and clear Allmendinger, who like Ambrose has a background in road racing.

Eventually Ambrose bobbled and that opening was all Allmendinger needed.

“I slid the front tires and ran wide,” Ambrose said. “That was my bad. Just tight racing. We’re running on worn-out tires, racing for a lot, and you just do whatever you can to try to get the lead and rattle his cage.”

Ambrose’s bid to qualify for the Chase is not over; however, his avenue is far more difficult without a win. He sits 16th in points and the possibility exists that he could still snag a victory over the final four regular season races, except there are no more road courses and Ambrose has never won on a oval. (His only two wins have come at Watkins Glen.)

Even in defeat, Ambrose did find reason to smile. Having previously driven for Allmendinger’s JTG Daugherty Racing team, he found solace in the organization winning its first Sprint Cup race.

“They’re good friends of mine over there,” Ambrose said. “I drove for Tad and Jodi Geschickter and Brad Daugherty (co-owners) for a long time and I wasn’t quite able to seal the deal for a race win for them. I’m really pleased that they got their race win like that. Thrilled for AJ, too; his first big win.”