Ambrose wins again at Watkins Glen

A year ago Marcos Ambrose used pit strategy to win at Watkins Glen International. The second time around he used a little aggression.

NASCAR

The hard-charging Tasmanian passed series points leader Kyle Busch with a daring move through the chicane and won the Nationwide Zippo 200 for the second straight year for JTG-Daugherty Racing.

It was the 10th consecutive top-two finish in Nationwide for Busch, breaking the series record set by Jack Ingram in 1983. Carl Edwards was third, followed by polesitter Kevin Harvick and Canadian road racer Ron Fellows. Jeffrey Earnhardt, grandson of the late Dale Earnhardt, finished 24th in his Nationwide debut.

Busch started seventh and gained the lead for the first time in the 82-lap race over the 11-turn, 2.45-mile road course when he passed Steven Wallace on a restart in the first turn of lap 49. It marked the 19th straight series race Busch has led, tying Sam Ard's series record.

Ambrose, who started second, also moved past Wallace, and when Paul Menard brought out the fourth caution with a spin on lap 52, Ambrose's crew assured him he had enough fuel to make it to the end.

Forced to the side after near contact with Ambrose, Busch had to stop in the paved runoff area to avoid a penalty, then got back in line in third.

When Robby Gordon blew his right front tire two laps later after a run-in with Joey Logano, it brought out another caution and set up a double-file restart with Busch and Ambrose side-by-side.

Ambrose elected to take the inside on the double-file restart and got the jump as Edwards briefly got past Busch. But just as Ambrose began to pull away, Gordon and Logano tangled again. Gordon ran Logano off course into a tire barrier on lap 72, crumbling the hood on Logano's No. 20 car and causing a fire that brought out another caution.

Ambrose easily got clear of Busch on the final restart with six laps remaining and won by just over a second.


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Terra Autos / AP