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Ambrose Looking Good with 13th in Final Practice at California

Staff, Monday February 26, 2007.

Page 1 of 1

Marcos Ambrose will carry strong momentum into tomorrow?s Stater Bros 300 after setting the 13th fastest time in final practice today at California Speedway in Fontana, California.

Ambrose gradually worked his way up to the pace in the #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion at the Australian’s first time at the 2.0-mile speedway. Ambrose was 34th in the opening NASCAR Busch Series practice session earlier in the day out of the 41 cars present this weekend.

Both qualifying and the 150-lap race will be held tomorrow, with Ambrose the 37th driver out for qualifying during the day. As with last week’s Orbitz 300 Busch race at Daytona, over 20 Nextel Cup drivers will compete in this weekend?s second race of the NASCAR Busch Series. 2005 Nextel Cup Champion Tony Stewart was one place higher than Ambrose in final practice with 12th fastest. 2003 Cup Champ Matt Kenseth was fastest in his Ford Fusion.

Consistency will again be the name of the game tomorrow for Ambrose as he aims to begin the 2007 season with solid finishes and good hauls of points. Ambrose will also seek to maintain his lead in the Roshfrans Rookie of the Year points after finishing 16th and top rookie in his Busch Series debut at Daytona International Speedway last weekend.

Saturday’s Stater Bros 300 carries a total prize purse of US$1,626,139 (A$2,068,090).

Marcos Ambrose – #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion

“California Speedway is a very different type of track,” said Ambrose.

“It’s still very big at two miles, but it’s quite flat. It took me a session to really come to grips with the layout, as it’s my first time here.”

“About halfway through the second session it was like a light switch flicked and I could suddenly feel the track and what I needed to do to get the car around.”

“After that we had a really solid car. We came in and did a trial qualifying run and wound up 13th. If we can match that tomorrow we will be very pleased.”

“We go out as one of the last cars in the qualifying order, so I?m not sure if that?s good or bad. Jon (Wood, Ambrose’s Wood Brothers/JTG Racing team-mate) is first car out so he will be able to give us a little feedback and we?ll be able to sit back and watch what happens.”

“It’s looking good for a strong race. We got everything together today and now we can look forward to tomorrow and give it our best.”

Practice 1 Results: 1. 33 Kevin Harvick 2. 29 Jeff Burton 3. 17 Matt Kenseth 4. 60 Carl Edwards 5. 38 Jason Leffler 6. 5 Kyle Busch 7. 87 Joe Nemechek 8. 24 Casey Mears 9. 10 Dave Blaney 10. 99 David Reutimann 34. 59 Marcos Ambrose Final Practice Results: 1. 17 Matt Kenseth 2. 20 Denny Hamlin 3. 29 Jeff Burton 4. 22 David Stremme 5. 16 Greg Biffle 6. 10 Dave Blaney 7. 24 Casey Mears 8. 5 Kyle Busch 9. 38 Jason Leffler 10. 99 David Reutimann 13. 59 Marcos Ambrose

2007 NASCAR Busch Series Points Standings – After Race 1
1. Kevin Harvick 190
2. Dave Blaney 170
3. Carl Edwards 170
4. Clint Bowyer 165
5. Mark Martin 155
6. Mar! tin Truex Jr 155
7. Dale Earnhardt Jr 151
8. Tony Stewart 142
9. Denny Hamlin 138
10. Greg Biffle 134
16. Marcos Ambrose 115

2007 NASCAR Busch Series Raybestos Rookie of the Year Standings – After Race 1
1. Marcos Ambrose 11
2. Kyle Krisiloff 10
3. Robert Richardson Jr 9
4. Sam Hornish Jr 8
5. Juan Pablo Montoya 7
6. David Ragan 6
7. Justin Diercks 1
8. Brad Keslowski 1

AMBROSE’S NEXT TWO RACES LIVE ONLINE FOR FREE

For the first time ever, fans will be able to watch the LIVE TV Broadcast for NASCAR Busch Series racing for the first three races of the 2007 season.

Features: – LIVE TV Broadcast streamed to your computer – Chat and interact with Busch Series fans all over the world as you watch the race

Click Here for the streaming page on NASCAR.com

RACE SCHEDULE Pacific Coast Times Qualifying Saturday 24 February 2007 12:10pm Race ? 150 laps (300 miles) Saturday 24 February 2007 4:30pm Pacific Time 7:30pm Eastern Time UNITED STATES TV SCHEDULE Saturday 24 February 2007 ESPN2 7:00pm ET AUSTRALIAN TIMES Australian Eastern Daylight Savings Times Qualifying Sunday 25 February 2007 7:10am Race ? 150 laps (300 miles) Sunday 25 February 2007 11:30am EDST (NSW, Victoria, Tasmania, ACT) 11:00am South Australian time 10:30am Queensland time 10:00am Northern Territory time 9:30am West Australian time AUSTRALIAN TV SCHEDULE Sunday 25 February 2007 FOX Sports One 11:00am ? 2:30pm EDST ABOUT! CALIFORNIA SPEEDWAY Location: Fontana, California Race Distance: 150 laps ? 300 miles (482.8 kilometres) Track Length: 2.0 miles (3.219 kilometres) Degree of Banking in Turns: 14 degrees NASCAR BUSCH SERIES RECORD BOOK Busch Series Race Record: Hank Parker Jr, 28 April 2001 (155.957mph) Busch Qualifying Record: Tony Stewart, 2005 (185.941mph) Defending Busch Race Champion: Greg Biffle Defending Busch Polesitter: Carl Edwards

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