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Second Straight Top Ten on Sensational Day for Ambrose in Las Vegas
Staff, Tuesday March 13, 2007.
Page 1 of 1
Marcos Ambrose has again shown his class by earning a second-consecutive top 10 finish in the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series in the Sam?s Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Nevada today.
Ambrose was 10th in the #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion, finishing as the top rookie and the second-highest non-Nextel Cup driver. The next best rookie was Juan Pablo Montoya in 20th position, four laps down.
The Australian maintains his fifth position in the NASCAR Busch Series points and his lead in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings.
Ambrose also maintained an incredible feat for a rookie, having completed every lap of each of the four races held so far this season, the only rookie to do so.
Ambrose earned US$35,875 (A$45,964) for finishing 10th in today?s race, which carried a total prize pool of US$1,626,139 (A$2,068,090).
The #59 Kingsford Charcoal crew also earned an accolade today, winning the Checkers/Rally’s Double Drive-Thru Challenge Award for the best Busch Series pit crew. Ambrose also picked up his second Raybestos Rookie of the Race Award and the WIX Filters Lap Leader Award. Nextel Cup drivers in the Top 35 in Cup points are ineligible for Busch Series awards.
Ambrose was one of 12 drivers to lead a lap in today?s race, making him the first Australian to lead a lap in NASCAR Busch Series competition and earning him five bonus points as a result of leading lap 159 during the pit stop sequence.
Ambrose made a strong start to the 200-lap event, moving from the 14th starting position to be 11th when the first of a record 12 caution periods was called on lap four at the revamped Las Vegas venue, which took it?s toll today as driving struggled for grip.
As other drivers came to grief and ended their races in the wall Ambrose soldiered on and missed several accidents that unfolded in front of the #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion.
Ambrose encountered a problem with his second set of tyres, forcing the two-time Australian V8 Supercar Champion to battle an ill-handling car until his next pit stop.
Eventually Ambrose spun exiting the treacherous Turn 4, which claimed many victims over the course of the race. Amazingly, Ambrose was able to keep his spinning car off of the concrete wall and was able to continue.
Pitting for new tyres dropped Ambrose off of the lead lap and down into 26th position but perseverance and a much improved car on a new set of tyres allowed Ambrose to charge up to be 16th and the lead lapped car when the caution flag flew with 62 laps to go, giving Ambrose the ‘lucky dog’, allowing him to pass the pace car and rejoin the lead lap.
Ambrose took full advantage and continued to work his way back through the field. The #59 Kingsford Charcoal sat in 12th position when a heavy crash on the back straight brought out the red flag with 10 laps remaining.
Ambrose again showed his strength on restarts when the race resumed, the 30-year-old battling with Shane Huffman for ninth over the closing laps and eventually finishing a strong 10th.
It was Ambrose’s second-straight top 10 finish at Las Vegas Motor Speedway, having finished seventh in his only other appearance at the venue in last year’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.
Jeff Burton won today’s Sam’s Town 300 before an estimated crowd of 110,000 people ahead of Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart. 26 top flight Nextel Cup drivers competed in the 43-car field for today?s event, with Huffman the top non-Cup driver in ninth and top rookie Ambrose next in 10th.
The fifth race in the NASCAR Busch Series will be held at Atlanta Motor Speedway on March 18.
Marcos Ambrose – #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion
“I’m really rapt with today,” said Ambrose.
“It was a really long day out there and I couldn’t have asked for a better finish.”
“This is a big day for me.”
“I said to the guys in the middle of the race when we had a set of tyres that were not quite right that we would have to wait it out until we could get another set on and then see what we could do.”
“It was a really tough race. The tyres were hard and the track was greasy. If you could run well in any groove you just had to run with it.”
“In the middle part of the race we had a set of tyres that weren’t right. I was just hanging on trying to keep it straight and when it eventually did spin I somehow managed to keep it of the fence.”
“I really have to thank Kingsford Charcoal and all of the team’s sponsors for this day. For them to put a rookie in their car and to support an Australian driver is a massive thing and I appreciate everything they have done for me so much.”
“My team, friends and family have made a lot of sacrifices for me to get to this stage and it’s days like this one that make you appreciate everything and make it all worthwhile. It’s not just me out there – I have a lot of people to thank for this.”
“We are finishing races out there and that’s what we’ve always said that we wanted to do. When you are finishing races you can begin to look forward to the future and improving the package.”
“We’ve got a pretty good package and some good momentum at the moment and we are going to be working very hard at keeping it going in the right direction.”
“There were a lot of people from Kingsford Charcoal here today and I’m so happy to give them this good result. This team did an awesome job and they should all be proud of themselves.”
RESULTS: Sam’s Town 300 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway
Race 4 of the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series
1. #29 Jeff Burton 200 laps
2. #5 Kyle Busch
3. #33 Tony Stewart
4. #12 Kurt Busch
5. #22 David Stremme
6. #60 Carl Edwards
7. #21 Kevin Harvick
8. #77 Bobby Labonte
9. #88 Shane Huffman
10. #59 Marcos Ambrose
2007 NASCAR Busch Series Points Standings – After Race 4
1. Carl Edwards 650
2. Denny Hamlin 582
3. Dave Blaney 521
4. Kevin Harvick 496
5. Marcos Ambrose 484
6. Jon Wood 452
7. Greg Biffle 446
8. Tony Stewart 442
9. Mike Wallace 430
10. Kyle Busch 412
Race Results for Raybestos Rookie of the Year Contenders in Las Vegas
1. (10th) #59 Marcos Ambrose 200 laps
2. (20th) #42 Juan Pablo Montoya 196 laps
3. (22nd) #70 Justin Diercks 196 laps
4. (24th) #6 David Ragan 195 laps
5. (27th) #14 Kyle Krisiloff 192 laps
6. (34th) #23 Brad Keselowski 171 laps
7. (35th) #18 Brad Coleman 147 laps
Raybestos Rookie of the Race Tally
Marcos Ambrose 2
Timothy Peters 1
Juan Pablo Montoya 1
RACE STATISTICS
Laps: 200
Time Elapsed: 2hr 52min 11secs
Leaders: 12
Lead Changes: 23
Cautions: 12
Caution Laps: 58
Race Prize Pool: US$1,626,139 (A$2,068,090)
MARCOS AMBROSE FAST FACTS
- Marcos Ambrose has earned US$163,425 (A$209,385) in prizemoney in four NASCAR Busch Series races this season
- Ambrose will drive the #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion for Wood Brothers/JTG Racing in the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series
- Ambrose finished 16th in his NASCAR Busch Series debut at Daytona International Speedway debut, winning the Raybestos Rookie of the Race Award in what was his first race on the 2.5-mile Daytona superspeedway
- The 30-year-old will also aim to qualify for two NASCAR Nextel Cup races in the #47 Aussie Vineyards Team Australia Ford Fusion for Wood Brothers/JTG Racing at Sonoma on 24 June 2007 and Watkins Glen on 12 August 2007
- Ambrose was born in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
- finished 21st in the 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and third in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings, earning US$256,368 in 22 starts in the #20 Aussie Vineyards Team Australia Ford F-150 for Wood Brothers/JTG Racing
- 2006 season highlighted by Budweiser Pole and WIX Lap Leader awards in Kentucky on 8 July 2006, along with third place finishes at Kansas on 1 July 2006 and Nashville 12 August 2006
- Earned nine top 10 qualifying positions and four top 10 finishes in his first season of oval racing of any description
- Ambrose won two consecutive Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series titles in 2003 and 2004 for Ford
HOW TO FOLLOW NASCAR BUSCH SERIES RACES ONLINE
NASCAR.com features a host of useful content to help Marcos Ambrose fans follow NASCAR Busch Series races, whether they are watching the television coverage, listening to radio or simply following the race online.
By clicking on the Launch buttons on the Free Live Leaderboards links on the front page on NASCAR.com, you can not only watch live timing of NASCAR races, but also click on the Radio Broadcast button to listen to live radio commentary, an Indianapolis-style Scoring Pylon and a Head-To-Head Driver Comparison to help you follow Marcos and your other favourite drivers.
The FOX Sports (USA) website features FOX Trax, an all-in-one page excellent for Marcos Ambrose fans, whether they are watching the television coverage, listening to radio or simply following the race online.
FOX Trax not only features a live race leaderboard and features to allow you to follow your favourite drivers, but also a Race Blog where fans and online experts can discuss the race and explain incidents to those without vision.
FOX Sports NASCAR Busch Series FOX Trax
AUSTRALIAN TV REPLAYS Monday 12 March 2007 FOX Sports Two 4:30am – 7:30am EDSTWednesday 14 March 2007
FOX Sports One
9:00am – 11:00am EDST
ABOUT LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
Location: Las Vegas, Nevada
Track Length: 1.5 miles (2.41km)
Race Distance: 200 laps – 300 miles (482.8km)
Race Purse: US$1,626,747? (A$2,103,643)
Degree of Banking in Turns: 20 degrees*
Degree of Banking in Straights: 9 degrees*
*Las Vegas Motor Speedway was redeveloped last season, with the banking increased from 12 to 20 degrees in the turns and back straight banking increased to 9 degrees to be the same as front straight.
NASCAR BUSCH SERIES RECORD BOOK
Busch Series Race Record: Jeff Burton, 4 March 2000 (2hr, 13min, 13secs)
Busch Qualifying Record: Mike Bliss, 5 March 2004 (31.535 seconds)
Defending Busch Race Champion: Kasey Kahne
Defending Busch Polesitter: Matt Kenseth
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