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SPECIAL

Ford Territory

SPECIAL

Ford Territory

Ambrose and Team Australia to Honour Brock And Irwin in New Hampshire

Staff, Thursday September 14, 2006.

Page 1 of 1

Ambrose will carry a logo with Brock?s famous 05 number on the side of his #20 Team Australia/Aussie Vineyards Ford F-150 and a logo in tribute to Irwin, best known as the Crocodile Hunter.

Irwin passed away last week when struck by a string ray while filming a nature documentary on the Great Barrier Reef off the coast of Queensland, Australia on Monday, September 4. Brock, nine times winner of the Bathurst 1000, Australia?s greatest race, was competing in the Targa West rally in Perth, Western Australia on September 8 when his car struck a tree, fatally injuring the 61-year-old.

Ambrose will be striving to honour the memory of the two Australians this weekend in Loudon at the one-mile New Hampshire International Speedway, the 18th event of the 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. The race will be the 15th event in Ambrose's NASCAR career, which already includes two third place finishes, two Raybestos Rookie of the Race awards, one Budweiser pole award, one WIX Filters Lap Leader of the Race award and one Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race award.

Ambrose is fully aware of the contribution both icons made to Australia and is confident that the New Hampshire venue will suit his style, giving him the opportunity to make a strong result this weekend his tribute to Brock and Irwin.

WHAT THEY HAD TO SAY ?

Marcos Ambrose ? Team Australia/Aussie Vineyards Ford F-150

?It was a sad time for all Australians last week and the reality of it all still hasn?t completely sunk in,? said Ambrose.

?Steve Irwin was a great ambassador for Australia and it was a big shock to everyone over here in America when we heard the news of his passing. ?The Crocodile Hunter? was a much-loved Australian over here in the US.

?Peter Brock?s passing was another huge shock. He was a prominent name in the world of motorsport and he will be sorely missed by people right around the world. Being an Australian and having raced in Australian touring cars for the past five years I know full well just how important he was to motorsport in that part of the world.

?I hope that we can bring the Team Australia F-150 home with a good result this weekend as a tribute to these two fine Australians. We are now in a position to get some solid results between now and the end of the year and it would be a huge honour to get a personal best result this weekend in New Hampshire while carrying tributes to two great Australians.?

2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Points ? After Round 17
? Marcos Ambrose did not compete in the first three rounds of the championship.

1: Todd Bodine 2624; 2: Johnny Benson 2470; 3: David Reutimann 2394; 4: Ted Musgrave 2380; 5: Rick Crawford 2323; 6: David Starr 2295; 7: Terry Cook 2248; 8: Jack Sprague 2246; 9: Ron Hornaday Jr 2221; 10: Mike Bliss 2201; 27: Marcos Ambrose 1334.

2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Raybestos Rookie of the Year Points ? After Round 17
? Marcos Ambrose did not compete in the first three rounds of the championship.

1: Erik Darnell 162, 2: Chad McCumbee 130, 3: Aric Almirola 116, 4: Marcos Ambrose 96, 5: Joey Miller 96, 6: Boston Reid 92, 7: Bobby East 88, 8: Kerry Earnhardt 79, 9: Erin Crocker 76, 10: Kyle Krisiloff 70.

MARCOS AMBROSE FAST FACTS
? Ambrose has earned US$164,303 in 14 starts this year
? Born in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
? Ambrose won two consecutive V8 Supercar Series Championships in Australia in 2003 and 2004 for Ford
? Drives the No. 20 Ford F-150 for Wood Brothers/JTG Racing in 2006
? Achieved his best result when he finished third at Kansas Speedway on July 1 in only his ninth NASCAR event. Also finished third in Round 16 in Nashville, his 13th NASCAR event
? Ambrose is one of only two NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Raybestos Rookie of the Year contenders to score a top three finish this season
? Ambrose is the first Raybestos Rookie of the Year candidate to earn two top five finishes
? Ambrose is the only Raybestos Rookie to capture WIX Filters Lap Leader of the Race honours in the Craftsman Truck Series this season. Ambrose led twice for 49 laps to claim the honor in the Built Ford Tough 225 in Kentucky
? Became the first Australian to lead laps in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series
? Is the first non-American driver to finish in the top five of a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event since Canadian Ron Fellows won on the Watkins Glen road course on 26 June 1999
? Ambrose won his first Budweiser Pole in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Kentucky Speedway on July 8
? Ambrose is the first non-Amercian driver to win a NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series pole since 26 June 1999 when Ron Fellows of Canada qualified first at Watkins Glen International
? This was the first pole for the Wood Brothers/JTG Racing team and the first pole for crew chief Gary Cogswell
? Ambrose has now qualified in the top 10 for six of his 14 NASCAR starts to date

TIPS FOR AUSTRALIAN FANS
There are several websites relating to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series where you can follow Ambrose?s progress.

The best four we have discovered so far are the official NASCAR.com site, truckseries.com, teamaustraliamotorsport.com and woodbrothersracing.com

You can register for Track Pass on the NASCAR site, which will give you access to radio broadcasts, in-car audio and video of most races for a fee, but you will need a US credit card (so ring a mate!).

You can get a free lap-by-lap written commentary of the races on truckseries.com by going to the trackside area of the site. There are also pre and post race audio interviews.

There are two other websites that have radio coverage of NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series races, www.wysham.com and www.radiocoloradonetwork.com

RACE SCHEDULE
Practice 1
Friday 15 September 2006
10:15am ? 11:25am ET
Rookie Practice
Friday 15 September 2006
1:20pm ? 1:50pm ET
Final Practice
Friday 15 September 2006
2:00pm ? 3:00pm ET
Qualifying
Saturday 16 September 2006
9:30am ET
Race ? 200 laps
Saturday 16 September 2006
2:15pm ET

AUSTRALIAN TIMES
Practice 1
Saturday 16 September 2006
12:15am ? 1:25am EST
Rookie Practice
Saturday 16 September 2006
3:20am ? 3:50am EST
Final Practice
Saturday 16 September 2006
4:00am ? 5:00am EST
Qualifying
Saturday 16 September 2006
11:30pm EST
Race ? 200 laps
Sunday 17 September 2006
4:15am EST

ABOUT NEW HAMPSHIRE INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
Location: Loudon, New Hampshire!
Race Distance: 200 laps = 211.6 miles (340.537 km)
Track Length: 1.058 miles
Degree of Banking in Turns: 12 degrees
Degree of Banking on Straight: 2 degrees

CRAFTSMAN TRUCK RECORD BOOK
Race Record: Jack Sprague, 2001 (109.244mph/1hr 56min 13sec)
Qualifying Record: Matt Crafton, 2005 (128.819mph/29.567sec)
Defending Champion: Rick Crawford
Defending Polesitter: Marr Crafton

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