Pit-strategy game leaves Ambrose one spot short

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. -- Either way, it was a gamble. If Marcos Ambrose chose to make a full pit stop, he'd have fresh tires but be mired deep in the field as the final laps wound down at Watkins Glen International. If he came in for fuel only, he'd have track position but older rubber. Ambrose and crew chief Frank Kerr debated the issue again and again on the radio, trying to decide which way to go.

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Tony Stewart holds off Marcos Ambrose to score his fifth victory at Watkins Glen.

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Ultimately, they chose the splash-and-go. It was enough to get the No. 47 up to the front in Monday's rain-postponed event -- but not enough to catch eventual winner Tony Stewart. The Australian-born driver settled for a career-best second place finish in a Cup event, and might have been able to challenge for the victory had he had fresher tires.

"We didn't quite have enough to get Tony there at the end," Ambrose said. "I threw everything I could at him. We got off strategy for some run the way the race rolled for us. We got stuck. We got stuck in the back of the pack, had to make a gamble. We came in and splashed off fuel, didn't put tires on it. I think that was the difference between first and second here this afternoon, was just the extra laps I did on my tires, probably eight or 10 more laps than Tony. I could close in on him, I could see him starting to make a few little mistakes, locking tires, but not enough for me to catch him."

It was a stressful afternoon of pit strategizing for the JTG Daugherty team, which started Monday's race in fourth place and with a car that had been fastest in the final two practice sessions. And Ambrose seemed to have the field right where he wanted it after the first caution period, when he stayed out of the pits to take the lead and seize track position on a road course where passing is often difficult.

But it proved to be a fateful decision. Staying out got the No. 47 up front, but the way the ensuing cautions and pit stops fell forced Ambrose to make a full stop earlier than expected. That put him behind in the field, and knocked him off sequence with the other contenders in terms of tires. The late splash-and-go got him back up front, but the winner of Saturday's Nationwide Series restarted on tires too old to enable him to sweep the weekend. (Continued)