The 2010 season was a myriad of troubles for Ambrose. Engine problems, unlucky crashes and pit road troubles plagued his racing season. However, in the Zippo 200 at The Glen, Ambrose won his third straight Watkins Glen he held off Joey Logano and Kevin Harvick to win. Since the win, he started to gain some form, recording a top 10 at Atlanta and a top 5 at Richmond. At the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Sonoma, Ambrose led 35 laps, and held a ten-second lead over Jimmie Johnson. His lead got erased by a caution on lap 104. During the caution, Ambrose turned off his car's engine to conserve fuel, but was unable to restart it. As a result, Ambrose attempted to return to his spot, but was forced to fall to seventh on the restart due to not maintaining a particular speed during the caution, and finished sixth. After the race, Ambrose stated, "I was leading the race and had trouble getting the motor cranked back up a little bit there, and NASCAR made the call. I was trying to save fuel and the motor shut off. It didn’t recrank the way it should. I didn’t stop rolling, but it is what it is."