There was little Marcos Ambrose could do wrong during last year’s three NASCAR Nationwide Series road-course races.
His first resulted in a runner-up finish at Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City. His second was a third-place run at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, where he led a race-high 27 laps.
To cap them all off — as if a second- and third-place finish weren’t enough — Ambrose nabbed his first career NASCAR national series win at Watkins Glen.
The three finishes put Ambrose at the top of every key 2008 statistical road course category. In those three starts, he had a Driver Rating of 124.2, 32 Laps Led, 23 Fastest Laps Run and an Average Running Position of 7.7.
He’ll have to qualify on time this weekend in his season debut in order to defend his win.
Carl Edwards (No. 60 Save-A-Lot Ford), statistically the second-best driver on the road courses last year, is known more for his wide-open style on ovals.
Though failing to visit Victory Lane after a road-course race in 2008 Edwards, currently second in the standings, did collect a top five and two top 10s in those events.
Out of those three — of which his best finish was fourth in Mexico City — Edwards had a Driver Rating of 102.6, an Average Running Position of 10.9, five Laps Led and 16 Fastest Laps Run.
Unfortunately for Edwards, Watkins Glen is by far his worst road course. In four series races there, his best finish was 11th in 2005, and he has an average finish of 23.8. In his career at The Glen, Edwards has a Driver Rating of 76.7, an Average Running Position of 17.0, no Fastest Laps Run and a Laps in the Top 15 percentage of 52.
CAR DRIVER MAKE 0 Mike Wallace Chevrolet 1 Ryan Newman Chevrolet 1 Danny O'Quinn Jr. Chevrolet 4 J.R. Fitzpatrick Chevrolet 5 Ron Fellows Chevrolet 5 Brad Baker Ford 6 David Ragan Ford 7 Kris Szekeres Chevrolet 9 Boris Said Ford 10 Justin Marks Toyota 11 Denny Hamlin Toyota 12 Justin Allgaier* Dodge 15 Michael Annett* Toyota 16 Greg Biffle Ford 18 Kyle Busch Toyota 20 Joey Logano Toyota 23 Ken Butler III* Chevrolet 24 Eric McClure Ford 26 Michael McDowell* Dodge 27 Jason Keller Ford 28 Kenny Wallace Chevrolet 29 Jeff Burton Chevrolet 31 Daryl Harr Chevrolet 32 Brian Vickers Toyota 33 Kevin Harvick Chevrolet 38 Jason Leffler Toyota 40 Jeffrey Earnhardt Chevrolet 47 Marcos Ambrose Toyota 49 Mark Green Chevrolet 52 Scott Gaylord Chevrolet 60 Carl Edwards Ford 61 Matt Carter Ford 62 Brendan Gaughan* Chevrolet 66 Steve Wallace Chevrolet 81 Sean Murphy Dodge 87 Joe Nemechek Chevrolet 88 Brad Keselowski Chevrolet 89 Morgan Shepherd Chevrolet 90 Chris Cook Chevrolet 91 Dave Blaney Chevrolet 99 Scott Speed Toyota 141 Tom Hubert Chevrolet 155 Robby Gordon Toyota 175 Brett Rowe Chevrolet 177 Peyton Sellers Chevrolet 186 Antonio Perez Dodge 198 Paul Menard Ford 234 Tony Raines Chevrolet
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