G'Day and Congratulations, Marcos Ambrose!

Marcos Ambrose finally got his due, winning his first NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen yesterday, a victory that, while long in coming, wasn't wholly unexpected.

It was only a matter of time before the Australian V8 Supercar champ would break through at NASCAR's highest level. I'm glad that Ambrose found his success behind the wheel of a Ford Fusion, as it was Ford Motor Company that brought the bright-smiling Aussie to the US to work his magic here. Maybe it goes back to that "Loyalty" thing I recently blogged about.

Marcos Ambrose seemed destined to make his mark in American stock cars, and it looked as if he was going to bring a fun and infectious attitude with him from down under from the very beginning. And he's not the first "foreigner" to win in NASCAR's top-tier division.

Virtually every current NASCAR fan recognizes Juan Pablo Montoya, the hard-charging Columbian who has earned three Sprint Cup wins so far. But many of today's NASCAR fans are not aware of another "non-American" to win a race at NASCAR's top level. And, like Juan Pablo Montoya, came over from open-wheel cars to do it.

Mario Andretti not only won in NASCAR, but notched his first and only Grand National win in the biggest event in the series, the 1967 Daytona 500.



It certainly helps a foreign-born driver -- okay, ANY driver -- if he gets his big break with a big-name team and/or owner. Ambrose started his NASCAR run with the famed Wood Brothers and eventually wound up driving for The King, Richard Petty. Montoya started out with, and remains true to his team owner, Chip Ganassi (Ooh! That "Loyalty" thing again!), while Mario Andretti notched his Daytona 500 victory with Holman and Moody.

Again, it's lesson time for the newbies.

While NASCAR hasn't raced in Europe, the Nationwise/Busch series has had recent runs in Canada and Mexico. But you have to go back to the mid '90s, and then again back to the late '80s, to find NASCAR-sanctioned events in Australia and Japan.

In 1988, NASCAR held an exhibition race just outside of Melbourne, Australia, where Neil Bonnett edged out the win over Bobby Allison. Of course, the whole event was rather foreign to the Aussie spectators used to watching their race cars making right turns on their huge oval.

Then it was on to Japan for three years, 1996-98. Those races were won by Rusty Wallace, Mike Skinner and Mike Skinner, respectively.

While those drivers brought home the trophies, Travis Carter Motorsports brought over a driver; Hideo Fukuyama. Unfortunately, Travis Carter didn't have the resources to win that the Woods, H&M, Ganassi and Petty possessed, leaving Fukuyama with a rather stillborn NASCAR racing career when Carter's team closed up shop.

Go even father back in NASCAR history, back to the setting of my NASCAR-themed novel, HIDING BEHIND THUNDER, and you'll find another Grand National driver who raced not only in Japan, but in Germany, Canada and Peru, as well.

Tiny Lund, winner of the 1963 Daytona 500, showed 'em how to do it on all kinds of racing surfaces all over the world.



NASCAR has, and has had for some time, an international flavor, both in its competitors and its fans. And we're better for it.

Congratulations, Marcos Ambrose!

Loyalty, Part Deux

I just recently posted my perspective of the re-signing of Carl Edwards with Roush-Fenway Racing, devoting the post to the concept of loyalty. In a recent post by Mark Aumann on NASCAR.com, he opines that the continued association between Edwards and Roush wasn't about money, loyalty or leverage; it was about winning.

Well, yes... and no. There is no doubt in my mind that, had Edwards jumped ship for Joe Gibbs Racing, his association with a championship-winning team at JGR and championship-winning crew chief in Greg Zipadelli, he would have added plenty wins to his resume. And I'm sure most fans could easily see the possibility of Edwards driving towards a Sprint Cup Championship behind the wheel of the Home Depot Toyota.

But Edwards chose to stay with Roush. You can't tell me that there wasn't a huge dose of loyalty taken into consideration when Edwards remarked, "I talked to Jack on the phone and he said, 'Look, Carl. You do whatever you think is best for you'... That meant the world to me. It meant that I didn't have that pressure to do something for any reason than for what I thought was best..."

Loyalty has played a significant role with some of the most successful and popular NASCAR racers.

Dale Earnhardt has to be one of the greatest examples of loyalty. Even as he founded his own race team, he was still driving for Richard Childress, and there was no intention to jump ship, citing loyalty to Childress as a significant factor.

And it wasn't just the 6 Winston Cup Championship they had earned together. Earnhardt's last Cup championship with Childress and the #3 was in 1994. They remained together, dedicated to each other, right up until Earnhardt's tragic death at Daytona in 2001.

Likewise Jeff Gordon. How many NASCAR drivers do you know of who have signed a lifetime contractual agreement? Is it based in winning? Yes. Is it based in championship chases, past, present and future? You bet. Is it based in loyalty to his team owner? Unquestionably.

There are a couple other drivers that ditched loyalty to a championship-caliber team in hopes of doing something they'd been working towards, anyway (insert Tony Stewart here).

And then there's the sport's Most Popular Driver, whose loyalty was to his father, then to himself when the race team his father founded was wrenched away from him. Now he chooses to stay with Rick Hendrick, the man who gave him his second chance.



One of my all-time favorite movies is The Princess Bride, a wonderful tale of love, honor, and loyalty. Between the film and many of NASCAR's biggest stars, I remain optimistic that loyalty is not dead.

That's my two cents, your mileage may vary.

Loyalty Isn't Dead

I am elated by today's announcement that Carl Edwards has re-signed with Roush-Fenway Racing to continue doing backflips in 2012 and beyond. My excitement isn't simply because I am a big fan of Edwards, but because the renewal of his contract speaks greatly about a little-recognized personal attribute that I feel is all but forgotten in NASCAR today; Loyalty.

When questioned early on about his pending decision, Edwards remained vague; not showing his hand. He rightly reinforced the notion that he needed to make a decision based not only in performance, but what was the best for his family in the long run. Sure, this was most likely a significant bargaining tactic, but it was also a reflection of the responsibility any father / husband has to his family. After all, Edwards is participating in a sport that is always performed under the specter of potential death.

But, back to loyalty. Sure, Edwards had the potential to be just as competitive in a race car fielded by Joe Gibbs Racing as he has been with Roush-Fenway. Whether or not he would have jelled both personally and professionally with potential teammates Kyle Busch and Denny Hamlin would have been interesting to see. But he has an existing professional relationship with his fellow RFR teammates Matt Kenseth, Greg Biffle and David Ragan.

Jack Roush gave Edwards a killer opportunity, first in the truck series and eventually to NASCAR's top-tier Cup Series. Edwards rewarded Roush's belief in the young driver with a second Busch Series title. (Greg Biffle gave Roush his first.) Now Edwards is on the verge of giving Roush his 3rd Cup title, and the signing of this latest contract reinforces that dedication.

Edwards' decision reflects his belief that his relationship with Roush-Fenway will lead to many more shots at the Sprint Cup title, and the more shots you have, the greater chance of hitting that target. That comes through loyalty and dedication.

Okay, so what does this have to do with my novel, HIDING BEHIND THUNDER? (Notice how I snuck that in there?) Well, a significant facet of the story centers around the loyalty the young Davey Sutherland has to those who give him his greatest shot at rebuilding a life. This loyalty, however, isn't driven solely by the need to achieve more racing wins or championships. It's critical to the relationships Davey has with those who have accepted him into their hearts and lives. It's loyalty for his chance at redemption. It's loyalty built on a foundation of trust, and even love.

HIDING BEHIND THUNDER can be purchased through CreateSpace, downloaded to Amazon's Kindle reader, and purchased for downloads for Nook, Kobo, and many other ePub formats through Smashwords.com.