Autism Speaks 400 Report

TWO FLAT TIRES RUIN AMBROSE'S CHANCES FOR SOLID FINISH AT DOVER

DOVER, DE — Two right front cut tires sent Marcos Ambrose sailing into the outside retaining wall twice and eventually knocked him out of competition at Dover International Speedway.

“We’ve been snake-bitten this year,” said Ambrose, who started the 400-lap race in 26th place. “We’re not sure what cut both of the tires down, but we are taking a close look at it to figure out what happened there. It’s very strange.”

Ambrose was off to a good start after his teammate Martin Truex Jr. led the 43-car field to the green flag. Not long after Kasey Kahne took the lead, Ambrose posted times faster than him while running in 22nd place on lap 13.

“Keep after it because you are turning laps times faster than the leader,” crew chief Frank Kerr said.

“I’m loose on entry and tight in the gas,” Ambrose reported shortly after.

When the first yellow flag waved for an incident involving Sam Hornish Jr., Kerr called Ambrose to pit road on lap 55 for four tires, fuel, a half-round track bar adjustment and an air pressure adjustment.

Kerr asked, “On a scale from one to 10, how tight are you?”

Ambrose replied, “I’m about a six.”

Ambrose also asked his spotter Al DiRusso to be careful calling the restart on lap 58 while he was positioned 24th.

“Al, the left front is a little dicey,” Ambrose said.

At lap 76, Ambrose made another report to Kerr.

“It’s loose in, but better off,” Ambrose said.

With over 100 laps logged, Kerr was ready for an update from his driver.

“The right rear is just too powerful,” Ambrose told Kerr. “It’s hard to drive, and I can’t put any load on it.”

Over 20 laps later, green flag pit stops commenced. Ambrose drove his No. 47 A&P / MDA Toyota backed by Little Debbie down pit road at lap 128 for four fresh Goodyear tires, fuel and more adjustments. The Australian two-time V8 Supercar champion was back on track in 27th place with Jimmie Johnson leading the way.

As Ambrose tried to get a handle on his Toyota, Johnson was picking off cars one at a time placing drivers a lap down. On lap 147, the No. 12 car of Brad Keselowski was the only car separating Ambrose from the four-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series champion. Four laps later, Johnson got around Keselowski and set his sights on chasing down Ambrose. Finally, he was able to get a bumper inside Ambrose on lap 156 and make the pass.

Still, Ambrose was in good shape and running in 17th place. It would not take much for Ambrose to regain his lap. Ambrose stayed in Johnson’s tracks and hoped for a caution for his JTG Daugherty Racing team to make a few more adjustments.

Then misfortune struck on lap 164 when Ambrose’s right front tire went flat sending him into the retaining wall in Turn 3 causing damage to the right side of his Camry. Kerr had Ambrose pit on lap 165, 166 and 167 for the pit crew to change tires and repair the damage. They worked smart and hard to keep Ambrose from going another lap down.

Kerr said to Ambrose, “There’s a slight mark on the tire like something may have been rubbing it, but it’s hard for us to tell what happened and why the tire went down.”

Ambrose restarted 25th at lap 169 and was biding his time until another caution because he needed more work done to help the steering. On lap 224, his situation went from bad to worse when he cut another front tire which sent him even harder into the retaining wall causing substantial damage. The blow ultimately ended his team’s effort after accessing the damage in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series garage.

“I just don’t know what to say,” Ambrose said. “We’ve just had a really tough go at it. We’ve had so much bad luck. I just hate it for my sponsors and my team. We know we are way better than our results have shown. We’ve got to have some good luck. It’s just really disappointing. We’re not going to let it bring us down though.”

This week the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series is home at Charlotte Motor Speedway for the All-Star weekend. Ambrose is looking to race his way into the All-Star race via being a top-two finisher in the Showdown or hoping to win the Sprint Fan Vote.

Voting will continue until one hour before the start of the All-Star Race on May 22 at Charlotte Motor Speedway. Fans can cast unlimited votes for their favorite driver during the voting window. Sprint customers can vote using the NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile application on their Sprint or Nextel devices. As an added incentive for customers, every wireless vote submitted from a Sprint or Nextel device counts double toward a driver's vote total.

To download the NASCAR Sprint Cup Mobile app, which is free with any data plan, Sprint customers should text "NASCAR" to 7777 (standard text messaging and data rates apply).

Anyone may also cast a ballot by logging on to www.nascar.com or visiting the Sprint Experience display, located in the midway at all Cup Series races.

To be eligible for the Sprint Fan Vote, drivers must have finished in the top 50 of the final 2009 Cup Series driver point standings, attempted to qualify for the 2010 Daytona 500 or competed in a Cup Series event during the 2009 or 2010 seasons.

The driver accumulating the most votes, who also finishes the Sprint Showdown qualifying race on the lead lap, will earn a spot in the prestigious All-Star field. The Fan Vote winner will be announced immediately following the completion of the Sprint Showdown. Courtesy Jennifer Chapple, JTG Daugherty Racing

Autism Speaks 400 Results:
1. Kyle Busch
2. Jeff Burton
3. Matt Kenseth
4. Denny Hamlin
5. David Reutimann
6. Greg Biffle
7. Kevin Harvick
8. Carl Edwards
9. Tony Stewart
10. Joey Logano
36. Marcos Ambrose

2010 Point Standings:
1. Kevin Harvick — 3521
2. Jeff Gordon — 3242
3. Kyle Busch — 3170
4. Carl Edwards — 3113
5. Denny Hamlin — 3108
6. Tony Stewart — 3107
7. Jeff Burton — 3101
8. Matt Kenseth — 3095
9. Jimmie Johnson — 3077
10. Kurt Busch — 3073
11. Greg Biffle — 3055
12. Clint Bowyer — 2920
26. M. Ambrose — 2276