Australian expatriate, Marcos Ambrose, has finally broken through for his maiden victory in NASCAR’s premier category, the Sprint Cup Series. But the real question is, is anybody watching?
The two-time (2003 and 2004) V8 Supercar champion, has been plying his trade state side since 2006, with little success. A couple of victories in the second-tier Nationwide Series have followed, but generally speaking, he hadn’t exactly endeared yanks to Australians.
Until now.
Victory at the famed, notorious ex-Formula One circuit, known affectionately as “The Glen”, makes Ambrose, the next big thing.
You would imagine that having won in the big league, he’d be the talk of the town, but I’m not exactly seeing streamers being popped and everybody doing shots like they were when Mark Webber enjoyed his long awaited victory in 2009.
Really, if anything, Ambrose’ triumph raises the question of whether the Apple Islander has been wasting his time these past six years.
I know I’m not an American, so I’m not caught up in the apparent NASCAR phenomenon that seemingly engulfs every individual in the nation, but for his success, there hasn’t been much fanfare.
Would he have been better to stick to the series which put him in the position to brazenly assault the American market?
Maybe.
As harsh at it sounds, Formula One, DTM, Le Mans and the like, seems to breed more of a name for an individual; even V8 Supercars.
But not NASCAR, IndyCar, or any American motorsport category for that matter.
A win in NASCAR, yeah baby high five, now we get on the truck and head for Utah, where we will quite possibly finish 30th.
There is every chance that this is a fate that Ambrose will suffer and by the end of the 2011 season, his breakthrough will be but a distant memory.
Something which isn’t the case in the aformentioned series, where there is genuine respect for those who have had success.
He wouldn’t get the same money, nowhere near it, if he were still racing in Australia. But Ambrose could easily be a five-time V8 Supercar champion by now, up there with the likes of Peter Brock and Mark Skaife, instead of a one-time NASCAR winner.
He is regarded as somewhat of a road circuit specialist by the Americans, somebody who salvages the odd top-ten finish on the endless oval circuits, which comprise 90 percent or so of the calendar, and only comes into his own at the rare anomaly event — venues such as Watkins Glen.
But maybe it is the money which motivates Ambrose. Nobody would begrudge him for being enticed by the tentacles of NASCAR. People have done a lot worse.
Ultimately, as long as it is he, Ambrose, who is content whenever his stint state side does come to an end, that it was worth it, because if there’s one motorsport where you can be successful and nobody notices, it’s NASCAR!
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