Backstretch Motorsports

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (Aug. 8, 2009) — When Marcos Ambrose and Kyle Busch came to the chicane or “bus stop” on Lap 64 of Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International, Busch stopped — out of necessity — and Ambrose didn’t.

Ambrose’s bold move into the chicane proved to be the winning pass, as the driver of the No. 47 Toyota held the lead the for the final 19 laps, winning the event for the second straight year.

Busch wasn’t happy with the aggressive pass, which forced him to miss the chicane and stop on the track for a three-second penalty, but he rallied to finish second, the record 10th straight time he has posted a first- or second-place result in a NASCAR Nationwide Series race.

Carl Edwards ran third, after Busch passed him to the outside through Turn 1 in the closing laps. Polesitter Kevin Harvick came home fourth, followed by road-course specialist Ron Fellows. Jeff Burton, Greg Biffle, David Ragan, Brad Keselowski and Scott Speed completed the top 10.

“I just didn’t quite have the top-end speed to make a classic pass on him,” said Ambrose, who won in his only start in the series this year. “I knew I was going to have to bomb him somewhere to get the win. He wasn’t going to make a mistake on his own. I was going to have to force one on him.

“It’s Kyle Busch we’re talking about, and he’s going to race you hard, and so I just tried to throw the element of surprise in. I came from a fair way back — about a length-and-a-half back on him — and just bombed up in there. I knew that it was a high-risk move, but it was one that was needed to be made to try to win the race.

“We’re not here to come second. We’re here to win, and I had that mindset all weekend.”

Busch said he would not have tried the winning move Ambrose made.

“I wouldn’t have made it, because I would have wrecked,” said Busch, who expanded his series points lead over second-place Edwards to 212 points. “I think we would have wrecked if one of the cars didn’t give, (and) I was the car that gave. I don’t think it was a fair move. It won him the race. He had to do something.

“Yay for him. Good job — whatever. I wouldn’t have been able to it. I would have wadded my stuff up.”

Ambrose countered by pointing out that he hadn’t touched Busch’s No. 18 Toyota.

“You’re racing against one of the best in the business,” Ambrose said. “The element of surprise was my attack. He clearly reacted late to me coming on the inside there. I don’t know what he’s got to complain about.”

Edwards saw nothing wrong with Ambrose’s pass.

“Marcos knows more about road racing than all of us,” Edwards said. “I wasn’t happy that he moved me out of the way into (Turn) 1 earlier (after a restart on Lap 48), but he apologized for it and I believe him.

“I saw replays of it (the pass into the bus stop) on the big screen when we were driving around, and it looked like just a pass. If I could have put my car in that position, I sure would have. I think anybody out there would have.”

Ambrose’s pass wasn’t the only controversy of the afternoon. Robby Gordon and Joey Logano repeatedly got together on the track. The last contact between the two sent Logano into a tire barrier, only to carom back onto the track. The car burst into flames, and Logano escaped unscathed but angry.

“You can’t fix stupid,” Logano said of Gordon’s aggression. “It’s forever.”

Notes: Ambrose led a race-high 26 laps, edging Edwards by one. … Busch led once for 15 laps, leading his 19th straight Nationwide race. That tied a record held by Sam Ard. … Ambrose has two Nationwide wins in 71 starts, and he’ll try to keep his 2009 Nationwide record perfect Aug. 30 at Montreal.

NASCAR Race Number 22
Unofficial Race Results for the Zippo 200 - Saturday, August 8, 2009
Watkins Glen International - Watkins Glen, NY - 2.45 Mile Road
Total Race Length - 82 Laps - 200.9 Miles - Purse: $1,177,126

Leader
Fin Str Car Driver Team Laps Pts Bns Driver Rating Winnings Status Tms Laps
1 2 47 Marcos Ambrose STP Toyota 82 195 10 144.5 $44,570 Running 2 26
2 7 18 Kyle Busch NOS Toyota 82 175 5 120.4 $35,450 Running 1 15
3 11 60 Carl Edwards Save a Lot Ford 82 170 5 123.7 $29,175 Running 1 25
4 1 33 Kevin Harvick Copart Chevrolet 82 165 5 122.0 $23,625 Running 1 12
5 10 5 Ron Fellows Fastenal Chevrolet 82 155 95.9 $26,018 Running
6 17 29 Jeff Burton Holiday Inn Chevrolet 82 150 92.4 $19,150 Running
7 18 16 Greg Biffle CitiFinancial Ford 82 146 97.4 $18,450 Running
8 21 6 David Ragan Discount Tire/Northern Tool Ford 82 147 5 100.0 $17,975 Running 1 1
9 14 88 Brad Keselowski GoDaddy Chevrolet 82 138 99.6 $23,868 Running
10 4 99 Scott Speed Red Bull Toyota 82 139 5 108.7 $17,975 Running 1 1
11 9 09 Boris Said Zaxby’s Ford 82 130 85.1 $25,518 Running
12 22 66 Steve Wallace 5-hour Energy Chevrolet 82 132 5 71.9 $27,843 Running 1 2
13 20 91 Dave Blaney SFP Chevrolet 82 124 71.7 $23,543 Running
14 3 55 Robby Gordon Hard Rock Hotel & Casino/The Rogue Joint Toyota 82 121 94.8 $16,575 Running
15 28 38 Jason Leffler Great Clips Toyota 82 118 74.1 $24,018 Running
16 26 27 Jason Keller Baker Curb Racing Ford 82 115 71.2 $22,918 Running
17 27 12 Justin Allgaier # Verizon Wireless Dodge 82 112 74.1 $23,868 Running
18 16 4 JR Fitzpatrick Kevin Harvick Inc. Chevrolet 82 109 77.2 $16,325 Running
19 24 28 Kenny Wallace U.S. Border Patrol Chevrolet 82 106 62.4 $22,718 Running
20 35 15 Michael Annett # Pilot Travel Centers Toyota 82 103 60.3 $23,518 Running
21 31 89 Morgan Shepherd Lagina Plumbing/Eldora Speedway Chevrolet 82 100 49.2 $22,618 Running
22 37 62 Brendan Gaughan # USFidelis Chevrolet 82 97 55.6 $22,568 Running
23 41 81 Sean Murphy MacDonald Motorsports Dodge 82 94 40.7 $22,893 Running
24 36 40 Jeffrey Earnhardt FAB Grills Chevrolet 82 91 49.9 $22,393 Running
25 38 01 Danny O’Quinn Jr. sponsordavis.com Chevrolet 82 88 39.3 $22,493 Running
26 25 87 Joe Nemechek NEMCO Motorsports Chevrolet 82 85 64.9 $22,298 Running
27 19 26 Michael McDowell # Fischer Honda Dodge 82 82 51.5 $22,243 Running
28 39 34 Tony Raines Long John Silver’s Dodge 81 79 51.4 $22,173 Accident
29 23 98 Paul Menard Richmond/Menards Ford 80 76 79.0 $15,670 Running
30 40 24 Eric McClure Del Monte Ford 80 73 30.9 $22,403 Running
31 42 23 Chris Cook Aaron’s Dream Machine Chevrolet 79 70 42.8 $22,068 Running
32 13 10 Justin Marks Construct Corps Toyota 76 67 56.5 $22,008 Transmission
33 6 20 Joey Logano GameStop/Mad Catz Toyota 69 64 68.8 $15,505 Accident
34 5 11 Denny Hamlin RideMakerz.com Toyota 68 61 84.6 $15,445 Suspension
35 12 1 Ryan Newman Miccosukee Indian Gaming & Resort Chevrolet 51 58 65.0 $15,410 Fuel Pump
36 34 61 Matthew Carter Specialty Racing Ford 50 55 32.2 $21,843 Accident
37 8 32 Brian Vickers Dollar General Stores Toyota 31 52 65.0 $15,335 Transmission
38 33 49 Mark Green Get More Vacations.Com Chevrolet 28 49 34.5 $21,748 Transmission
39 43 0 Mike Wallace sponsordavis.com Chevrolet 23 46 33.7 $21,713 Clutch
40 15 86 Antonio Perez Continental Electric/Telmex/Chivas Racing Dodge 22 43 64.6 $15,135 Vibration
41 29 41 Tom Hubert Matthews Mobile Media Chevrolet 14 40 38.6 $15,100 Brakes
42 30 07 Kris Szekeres Dynamic Technologies Chevrolet 9 37 31.6 $21,533 Electrical
43 32 90 Mike Bliss MSRP Motorsports Chevrolet 4 34 26.8 $14,996 Brakes
Race Comments: Before an estimated crowd of 40,000, Marcos Ambrose won the ZIPPO 200, his second NASCAR Nationwide Series victory. Prior
to the start, the following cars dropped to the rear of the field for the reason indicated: #0, #81, #98 (adjustments
during impound); #23, #90 (driver change).
Failed to Qualify: (5) 77, 31, 05, 52, 75.
Time of Race: 2 Hrs, 31 Mins, 48 Secs. Average Speed: 79.407 MPH Margin of Victory: 1.082 Seconds
Caution Flags: 6 for 20 laps: Laps: 9-12 (#20, 32 Accident Turn 1 [None]); 35-37 (#1 Stopped On Track [01]); 45-47 (#98 Spun Inner Loop [26]); 53-55 (#98 Spun Turn 3 [28]); 67-69 (Debris [81]); 73-76 (#20 Accident Turn 5 [55]).
Lead Changes: 7 among 7 drivers: K. Harvick 1-12; M. Ambrose 13-19; S. Speed 20; C. Edwards 21-45; S. Wallace 46-47; D. Ragan 48; K. Busch 49-63; M. Ambrose 64-82.
Top 10 Driver Points: (1) K. Busch 3,646;(2) C. Edwards 3,434;(3) Brad Keselowski 3,237;(4) J. Leffler 3,073;(5) J. Allgaier # 2,605;(6) S. Wallace 2,555;(7) M. Bliss 2,513;(8) J. Keller 2,509;(9) B. Gaughan # 2,462;(10) J. Logano 2,459.
Featherlite Most Improved Driver : Steve Wallace, #66 (5 Places) Mahle Clevite Engine Builder of the Race : Marcos Ambrose, #47
Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race : Boris Said, #09 Raybestos Rookie of the Race : Justin Allgaier, #12
Sunoco Diamond Performance : Marcos Ambrose, #47 WIX Filters Lap Leader : Steve Wallace, #66 (2 Laps)
Next Race: Aug. 15, 2009 - Michigan International Speedway