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!
