FanHose 2009 Cup Rewind: Marcos Ambrose, 18th

THE SEASON: Flashes of brilliance mixed with feelings of frustration best described the Sprint Cup Series' season finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway for Marcos Ambrose, and also seemed to best summarize the Australian's first full season on NASCAR's biggest stage.

You'd be hard-pressed to find Ambrose, though, as one of NASCAR's most-likable new faces moping about the downs of the season. And when you look at some of his 2009 high points, its not hard to know why Ambrose's smile seems to permeate even the toughest of situations.

Ambrose, by nature of his experience in the left and right turns of the Australian V8 Supercar series, was a noted force when the Cup Series visited its typical pair of road courses in 2009. When the checkered flag dropped, he had fulfilled the expectations with a 3rd-place finish at Infineon Raceway and a 2nd-place at Watkins Glen.

More impressive, though, was his unexpectedly good performance at Bristol Motor Speedway, one of NASCAR's more notorious tracks. In the spring race, Ambrose fought off a engine that had dropped a cylinder for a 10th-place finish and returned in August to challenge for the win late before settling into a 3rd-place finish.

Ambrose also had a nice performance during his two visits to Pocono Raceway -- a track unlike any other in NASCAR and one Ambrose hadn't driven until he took to the track for the first practice in June. His first outing at Pocono led to a 6th-place finish and the second visit was going well until Denny Hamlin wrecked Ambrose's quasi-teammate David Reutimann in turn three. Ambrose, with nowhere to go, was swept into the crash and went home with a 34th-place finish.

THE STATISTICS:
Best Finish - 2nd, Watkins Glen
Worst Finish - 41st, Texas
Top-5s - 4
Top-10s - 7
Total Laps Led - 19
Percent of Laps Completed - 96.5

THE FUTURE: Certainly Ambrose would have liked to have shown more impressive results towards the end of the season, and he looked on his way to doing so in Homestead's season finale before a flat tire, a carburetor issue and several spins left that out of reach.

But of 14 tracks that host two races a year, Ambrose posted better finishes on the second visit at eight of those speedways -- a sign that progress was being made by his JTG-Daugherty team.

Sponsorship for 2010 seems to be lining up nicely for Ambrose and his team's agreement to work closely with the improving Michael Waltrip Racing puts plenty of resources behind him. Certainly after a season where Ambrose had a fair shot to win a few races, he should be looking at a year in 2010 that could see him make his first visit to victory lane in NASCAR's highest level -- an accomplishment that wouldn't be too bad for a guy who is just years removed from his first laps ever on an oval.