For Woods, one race at The Glen offers glimpse of hope (cont'd)

But Sunday wasn't about points. "I haven't even thought about the points," Wood said. "I haven't even thought of them. Just a good, solid run like that is what we needed. We've been struggling for so long. We've made some changes in the last couple of weeks, and things are just starting to come together. Marcos has done one heck of a job."

Centurion at The Glen

Official Results

Pos.	Driver	Make
1.	Kyle Busch	Toyota
2.	Tony Stewart	Toyota
3.	Marcos Ambrose	Ford
4.	Juan Montoya	Dodge
5.	Martin Truex Jr.	Chevrolet
6.	Kevin Harvick	Chevrolet
7.	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet
8.	Denny Hamlin	Toyota
9.	Carl Edwards	Ford
10.	Kurt Busch	Dodge

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He surely did Sunday, starting at the back of the field due to a qualifying rainout, in a car that was fastest in the first of the weekend's two practice sessions. He used every bit of car he could to get to the front, abusing his brakes, damaging the clutch so badly that he was worried about restarting the vehicle after a 43-minute red flag. On the final lap, he peeked around eventual second-place finisher Tony Stewart at the entrance to the bus stop chicane. He wanted to make the move, to take the position, to make the day a little bit better. Reason prevailed over emotion, and Ambrose dropped back in line.

"I wanted him bad," Ambrose said after making just his third Sprint Cup start. "I wasn't going to do it unless I was 100 percent sure it was going to be clean. He's in the top 12 in points, and I want to look after those guys. I don't want to do the wrong thing."

Had Ambrose been able to qualify and start the day with better track position, he would have been a serious threat to win. His car was better on the long runs, and the final restart with five laps to go -- prompted by a massive nine-car accident that blocked the frontstretch and damaged two wall barriers -- didn't give him enough time to mount a real challenge to Stewart or winner Kyle Busch. But Sunday, after all the Wood Brothers have been through, third place seemed good enough for all involved.

"I hope it gives them the shot in the arm to keep moving forward," said Ambrose, who came to America three years ago after starring in the V8 Supercar series, an Australian road course circuit. "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. I'm a road racer. I'm trying to be a good oval racer, too. But they gave me a great piece, everything I asked for."

For the Woods, the hope is that the success they experienced Sunday will translate into improvement in future races and on oval courses. Ambrose also drove the No. 21 in this year's first road course event in Sonoma, a race in which he qualified seventh and finished next to last after losing the gearbox and getting into a crash. Since then, David Hyder has come aboard as crew chief, and the Woods have made changes in the way they build their cars. There's cautious optimism that the Watkins Glen run was an extension of last week's 20th-place result at Pocono, a modest season-best at the time.

Wood Brothers will bring that Pocono car, one of only two rebuilt ones currently in their stable, to Michigan next week. Bill Elliott will likely be behind the wheel. Despite the tough times, Eddie Wood said sponsors Little Debbie, Motorcraft, and the Air Force haven't wavered in their support, something that was evident in the celebratory scene surrounding the team's pit box Sunday afternoon. They're still a long, long way from turning the corner. But one race at least reminded this franchise what it feels like to be around the bend.

"Maybe," Wood said, smiling, "there is a future for us in this."

The opinions expressed are solely those of the writer