Ambrose overcomes bad start for third-place finish

SONOMA, Calif. -- Like most sports, racing can be a little funny sometimes.

One minute, you're a hero and the next you're a zero. Or vice versa. Just ask Marcos Ambrose, who drove his No. 47 Toyota to a rousing third-place finish in the Toyota/SaveMart 350 at Infineon Raceway on Sunday after starting in 43rd, or dead last.

Toyota/SaveMart 350

Results

Pos.	Driver	Make
1.	Kasey Kahne	Dodge
2.	Tony Stewart	Chevrolet
3.	Marcos Ambrose	Toyota
4.	Jimmie Johnson	Chevrolet
5.	Denny Hamlin	Toyota
6.	Juan Montoya	Chevrolet
7.	A.J. Allmendinger	Dodge
8.	Clint Bowyer	Chevrolet
9.	Jeff Gordon	Chevrolet
10.	Elliott Sadler	Dodge

Results | Laps | Photos | Rewind

Ambrose qualified to start third in the race on Friday, but was forced to go to the rear of the field after blowing an engine during final practice on Saturday. Then he banged up the backup car a little bit when tussling needlessly with the No. 48 driven by three-time defending champion Jimmie Johnson while trying to turn a couple of laps in the new car late in practice.

"Well, we went from hero to zero," Ambrose said when he was asked to size up the situation.

Well, he actually went from hero to zero back to hero again by the time Sunday's race was concluded. And he did it in unusual and exciting fashion while finishing behind only race winner Kasey Kahne and runner-up Tony Stewart.

By Lap 10 of what turned out to be a 113-lap race because of the green-white-checkered finish, Ambrose had gained 18 positions and seemed on his way to a strong day. But then, after getting bottled up in traffic, crew chief Frank Kerr decided to have Ambrose make a green-flag pit stop on Lap 12. Ambrose admitted afterward that it wasn't the pit strategy they had envisioned employing prior to the race.

"No, it wasn't," Ambrose said. "There were like 10 cars wadded up there in front of us. It's really dangerous when you're running like that; you can tear your stuff up really easily. So we just decided to get out of there, run in some clean air, and it worked out."

At first, though, Ambrose came back out onto the track in 40th place. He moved all the way up to third when others who had not stopped previously were forced to make their own green-flag stops, and then fell back to 21st on Lap 50 when he had to make a second stop before the others.

He needed only 10 more laps on the 1.99-mile road course to climb back into the top 10, where he remained pretty much for the rest of the day. After what had happened Saturday, he was thrilled with his finish.

"I was mad. I wasn't down, I was just angry," Ambrose said of what transpired Saturday. "We had a shot to really run up front all day and maybe win the race, and I thought maybe it had been taken away from us.

"But we fought hard. We did some strategy that was a bit oddball, but it worked out in our favor and here we are. We passed a lot of cars. I reckon I passed the field three times over [Sunday]. We brought it home when we needed to. We just couldn't quite have enough to get the two guys in front there, but I'm proud of what we did as a team and where we finished."

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."

Press Pass

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

• More

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."