Best finish in America for Ambrose

The transplanted V8 Supercar champion has two victories in the second-tier Nascar series, including a back-to-back success at Watkins Glen on Saturday, but has never been better in the main game.

He out-drove and out-raced all but one of the biggest names in America to finish behind former Nascar champion Tony Stewart and ahead of Carl Edwards and Kyle Busch.

Ambrose ran nine laps in the lead but was let down by worn tyres in the closing stages of the race, as his team gambled on strategy which was out of phase with the front-runners.

"It's just a great weekend for us. We didn't quite have enough to get Tony there in the end but I threw everything I could at him," Ambrose said.

"We got off strategy for some reason, just with the way the race rolled for us. We got stuck in the back of the back and had to make a gamble.

"We came in and splashed off on fuel and didn't put tyres on it. I think that was the difference between first and second this afternoon, just the extra laps I did on my tyres, probably about eight or 10 laps more than Tony."

The result came on a road course that favoured Ambrose's experience, particularly in V8 Supercars, but many of the Nascar drivers are now happier away from their base on high-speed oval tracks and Stewart has won five times at Wakins Glen.

Ambrose was happy with his result, particularly after the his second Nationwide series victory, but admitted it had been a tough weekend. And a tougher race with a Toyota Camry that was not ideal for the conditions.

"The Cup car was just a little aggressive to drive and I had to work really hard to keep up. "We were very fast in practice and unfortunately the track was hotter and slicker than what we wanted. We just didn't quite have the grip today that we had on Saturday," he said.

"I talked the team into making a couple of changes I thought were better. They were on Saturday but with the hot, slick track were maybe slightly aggressive.

Ambrose is already taking about going one better in the Sprint Cup next year at Watkins Glen, as well as holding his top-20 spot in this year's Nascar championship. He is currently 17th.

"I'm pretty proud of my team. We didn't quite close the deal but it's just been a great weekend for us and I'm really, really excited for our future.

"We'll learn from that for next year and hopefully go one more spot up the sheet."