NASCAR and the Foreign Invasion
It’s no secret to those that know me that I’m a huge motorsport fan. I’ve followed NASCAR from afar for quite a while and now that I live in the states, enjoy watching the races live.
I was surprised when drivers from other racing series started flooding into NASCAR but thought it was a good thing. I’ve followed Juan Pablo Montoya since before he went to F1 and was hoping to see great things from him in stock cars.
Marcos Ambrose, 2 time V8 Supercar champion, who has tested for Formla 1 decided to try his had at NASCAR. Coming over to charlotte during his honeymoon, he asked around looking for a ride. That ended up with FORD backing him in the 2006 craftsman truck series. He did well enough in that to get a ride in the then Busch series (now Nationwide series) in 2007. With some good results he earned some seat time in the Sprint cup.
This weekend saw a couple of breakthroughs for the Tasmanian. He won the nationwide even at Watgens Glen on Saturday. He also drove from 43rd to finish 3rd today in the Sprint Cup. He was conscious of the fact that any carnage caused would be bad and could really effect some drivers trying to make the chase for the Spring Cup. Still the race was a great effort and it looks like he’ll have a full time ride in the Spring Cup for next year.
It was awesome to watch, and I was cheering for him the whole way. The car was pretty used up by the end of the race, which meant he didn’t have enough to get those final two positions but I think he’s impressed a lot of folks who can really give him the backing he needs to give full time NASCAR at the top level a really good shot.
Good on Ya Mate.
Shane
