WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. - Sonoma just faded a little bit from the psyche of Marcos Ambrose.
Starting from the pole for the first time at Watkins Glen International, Ambrose dominated the Nationwide Zippo 200 on Saturday and won the race for the third straight time. He led 60 of 82 laps, had a perfect driver rating of 150, and beat Joey Logano by 2.8 seconds.
"It's been a roller-coaster ride for me," said Ambrose, who announced less than two weeks ago that he was leaving JTG-Daugherty racing at the end of the season. "We've been through so much together. The last three weeks have been challenging. My future is uncertain. It just feels really satisfying to think that we've come this far and leave as good friends at the end of the season."
"This is probably better than the last one," crew chief Frank Kerr added. "We've had such a bad year. Sonoma is a thorn in our side."
Ambrose was poised to capture his first Sprint Cup victory at Sonoma in June when things went awry. He stalled his No. 47 while leading under a late caution, was unable to keep pace, had to restart seventh when he couldn't get it refired, and finished sixth.
The memory is still there, but it's fading.
"This is the most satisfying win I've ever had," Ambrose said.
Ambrose quickly pulled away from Logano on the final restart with 15 laps remaining and coasted to the finish line after building a lead of nearly 4 seconds.
"He's the man. He's pretty good here. I did the best I can," Logano said after his best finish on a road course. "I'm happy with second. That's the first time I said that. I learned a lot. We're getting closer and closer."
Kevin Harvick somehow avoided a 10-car wreck and overcame a dustup on the first lap and a speeding penalty on pit road to finish third. Points leader Brad Keselowski was fourth, followed by Kyle Busch, who was seeking his fourth straight win and 10th of the season.
Ron Fellows, Nelson Piquet, Jacques Villeneuve, Steve Wallace and Michael McDowell rounded out the top 10.
Ambrose had won the previous two Nationwide races here but never had started from the pole. That changed on Saturday morning. He set a qualifying record with a lap of 122.410 mph to break the record of 121.999 mph set a year ago by Harvick.