Ambrose overcomes bad start for third-place finish (cont'd)

Ambrose executed what appeared to be a couple of brilliant passes down the stretch of the race, twice getting by Juan Montoya, who, like Ambrose, usually thrives on road courses. Montoya ended up settling for a sixth-place finish Sunday.

"[He's a] former Formula One race winner, former Indianapolis 500 race winner. You know you're doing it when you're able to pass someone like that," Ambrose said. "Juan was great to race around. It wasn't easy. We touched a couple of times. But you know, he gave me racing room -- and I hope I gave him enough room, too."

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Marcos Ambrose talks about his weekend comeback -- from wrecking in practice to a third-place finish at Sonoma.

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Well, Montoya didn't seem too sure about that. Recalling last year at Infineon when the two were running up front with 20 laps to go and Ambrose spun Montoya, the driver of the No. 42 Chevrolet said he let Ambrose pass him Sunday.

"You have to, you know what I mean? I'd rather lose eight points or whatever it is by letting two or three cars by than running hard and have something happen and finish 25th," said Montoya, who moved up to 12th in the standings while Ambrose advanced to 18th.

"When you're not racing for points, it's kind of scary. But it is what it is. As soon as he got a run on me, I just got out of the way. Actually, most of the people I run around would give me room and we could run side-by-side. He just doesn't understand that. It's a bit of a shame, but I don't care. He always does the same thing, on ovals and road courses. So sure, I expected it."

The smiling Ambrose said he thought he did well running around Montoya, Johnson and other more established race leaders on Sunday.

"Up there when you're in that rare air with those great drivers, you just don't want to slip up when you're around 'em and you've got your chance to run well," Ambrose said. "We brought it home. We would have liked to have won the race. But I feel like with the disadvantage we had after Saturday, it feels like a win."

There was a moment, with about 15 laps to go Sunday, when Ambrose thought he had a car fast enough to catch Kahne and Stewart and go for the win.

"With about 15 to go, yeah, I did," Ambrose said. "But then I burnt my rear tires up. I knew I needed some rear support, but it was hurting my forward drive. Once I couldn't get 'em in three or four laps, I knew that my tires were done. I just couldn't get the forward bite out of Turn 11 and Turn 7 or whatever it is."

So then he just held on for third, tying the career-best finish that he first established on the other Sprint Cup Series road course at Watkins Glen last year when he also started 43rd.

"Maybe if I started 42nd, I might finish second; and if I started 41st, I might win. Who knows?" Ambrose said. "But when you're down in the dumps like that after the Saturday we had, to finish with a day like what we had, we've got to be proud of ourselves.

"If you take chances out there, there's no guarantee you're going to bring it back in one piece. I took some chances out there and also got lucky a couple of times, but it all worked out."