WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — When Australian Marcos Ambrose arrived on the NASCAR scene in 2006, he quickly established his superiority on road courses.
Ambrose won four NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts Series races at Watkins Glen International, including three in succession from 2008 through 2010. Driving for Richard Petty Motorsports, Ambrose won two NASCAR Cup Series races at the Glen, in 2011 and 2012.
As invariably happens, however, Ambrose forced the rest of the Cup Series field to improve on performance, and the gap between Ambrose and his fellow competitors narrowed considerably.
After Ambrose’s departure, Chase Elliott held sway for four years, winning seven times on road courses from 2018 through 2021, including twice at Watkins Glen.
The arrival of New Zealander Shane van Gisbergen has raised the bar even higher. SVG won his first Cup Series start on the Chicago Street Course in 2023. Last year, he won five of the six road course races on the schedule.
Elliott believes the gap between SVG and the rest of the Cup field will narrow once again.
“Yeah, I’m not sure that I have a really good overhead view of what that looks like,” Elliott said. “I’m obviously very zoned in to just my perspective of it, and I certainly feel like we, and myself in particular, have a lot of work to do to get to the performance that those guys have had.
“I think it’s there. I think we’re capable of doing that. I have no doubt, to your point, I do think he and his performance and the job that he and his team have done are going to make the rest of the field better. I think that’s just how it works.
“So, how far behind some are or aren’t or have closed that gap or not, I’m not sure. I think, for me, I still have a lot of room and work to go. But, yeah, I think it’s totally doable. I think there is no question it will make everybody better, and I hope that we’re among those that improve and can at least catch up at some point in time.”
Elliott’s first Cup victory came at the Glen in 2018, but the 2020 series champion doesn’t have much time for nostalgia as he attempts to win his third race of the season In Sunday’s Go Bowling at the Glen.
“I’m not coming up here to reminisce,” Elliott said. “I’m coming up here to do a job. It certainly is a special place, but I also want to add to the success that we’ve had here. We have another opportunity to do it again this weekend.”
