|
Coca-Cola 600 Report
AMBROSE'S
NIGHT ENDS EARLY AT CHARLOTTE
CONCORD, NC — With
24 laps remaining in the Coca-Cola 600, Marcos Ambrose’s
No. 47 Kingsford Toyota backed by Little Debbie snapped
loose from underneath him and went sailing hard into
the inside retaining wall of Turn 2. Ambrose was treated
and released from Charlotte Motor Speedway’s
infield care center following the incident. The Australian
driver was credited with a 36th place finish.
“It just came out from underneath me,” Ambrose
said. “It’s just a shame our night ended
this way. I feel bad for my guys and for my sponsors.
We’re so much better than this.”
After starting the 600-mile event, Ambrose updated
his crew chief Frank Kerr that his car was loose in,
tight in the center and loose off the corners. His
first pit stop of the night occurred at lap 49 for
four tires, fuel and a track bar adjustment.
“My team made the changes and for some reason
the car didn’t respond the way we had hoped,” Ambrose
said. “The changes actually made it crazy loose.
I just couldn’t turn the wheel in the center
and it was really loose off.”
Next stop at lap 61 under caution, the JTG Daugherty
Racing pit crew changed right side tires and made a
track bar adjustment. On the restart at lap 66, Ambrose
was in 21st-place. Immediately he told Kerr and his
pit crew that he really needed more help because his
No. 47 Toyota was extremely loose in, tight in the
center and loose off.
“It was so twitchy loose,” Ambrose said.
It was so free that the car slipped out from under
him sustaining right-rear damage by tapping the wall
bringing out the caution at lap 90. The team changed
the car's right side tires at lap 91 and assessed the
damage. Then, Ambrose came back in two more times for
repairs and left side tires.
Swift work by the JTG Daugherty Racing pit crew allowed
Ambrose to remain on the lead lap when he took the
green flag at lap 95 in 31st-place. As the night went
on, the car remained unstable for the next several
laps as Ambrose battled more of the same issues.
“We were crazy loose again and tight in the
center,” Ambrose said.
When a track bar adjustment was made and four tires were
changed at lap 147 under green, Ambrose had a similar
story.
“It was loose off and it would jump loose,” Ambrose
said.
He managed the best he could to hold onto it and by
lap 162 leader, and eventual winner, Kurt Busch passed
him. When Jimmie Johnson brought out a caution at lap
166, Ambrose hurried to pit road for four tires, fuel
and a packer in the right front. When he restarted
31st at lap 172, he keyed up the microphone.
“It’s just loose everywhere,” Ambrose
communicated to Kerr. “Loose in and loose off.”
Ambrose kept pitting every chance he could for more
changes to tighten up the handling on the No. 47. He
was in on lap 215, lap 267, and lap 275. Once the green
flag was back in the air, Ambrose was in position for
the Lucky Dog to advance back on the lead lap. Fortunately
a caution at lap 300 was the break he needed to be
back in the game. He came down pit road for four tires,
a half-round down on the track bar and fuel. When it
was all said and done he was back to work on the lead
lap in 25th place.
With 26 cars on the lead lap, Ambrose was in a good
position. By lap 313, he was running in 19th place.
As the race went on, Ambrose told his team that he
needed a big track bar adjustment and / or a spring
rubber in the right rear.
Kerr called Ambrose to pit road at lap 353 for four
tires and adjustments. Then at lap 375, with 24 laps
to go, Ambrose’s
night came to a screeching halt as he hit the inside
retaining wall ending his night.
“It’s hard to swallow,” Ambrose
said. “We would have salvaged a decent finish
and to see the guys load a wrecked car is disheartening.
But, we’ll bounce back somehow and turn our efforts
to Pocono.” Courtesy
Jennifer Chapple, JTG Daugherty Racing
Coca-Cola 600
Results:
1. Kurt Busch
2. Jamie McMurray
3. Kyle Busch
4. Mark Martin
5. David Reutimann
6. Jeff Gordon
7. Clint Bowyer
8. Paul Menard
9. Ryan Newman
10. Matt Kenseth
36. Marcos Ambrose
Next Race — Gillette
Fusion ProGlide 500:
Where: Pocono Raceway, Long Pond, PA
Time: Sunday, June 6, 2010
Network & Time: TNT Television, 1 p.m.
/ MRN Radio, Noon
All Times Eastern
|
