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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
Next Race — Sprint
Cup All-Star Showdown:
Where: Charlotte Motor Speedway, Charlotte,
NC
Time: Saturday, May 22, 2010
Network: FOX Television
/ MRN Radio
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Previous Reports: 2/14 Daytona
2/21 Fontana
2/28 Las Vegas
3/7 Atlanta
3/21 Bristol
3/30 Martinsville
4/10 Phoenix
4/19 Texas
4/25 Talladega
5/1 Richmond
5/8 Darlington
5/16 Dover
5/22 All-Star Race
5/30 Charlotte
6/6 Pocono
6/13 Michigan
6/20 Sonoma
6/27 New
Hampshire
7/3 Daytona
7/10 Chicago
7/25 Indianapolis
8/1 Pocono
8/8 Watkins
Glen
8/15 Michigan
8/21 Bristol
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 |