Camping World RV 400 Presented by AAA

DOVER'S MONSTER MILE TAKES IT'S TOLL ON WOOD BROTHERS TEAM

DOVER, DE — Wood Brothers Racing had a good showing at Dover International Speedway with driver Marcos Ambrose in the No. 21 Little Debbie® Ford Fusion. Ambrose worked his way up to as high as 13th position during the race. Unfortunately, an incident on pit road put the team two laps down from the leader. Then an accident on the track caused damage to the grill that led to more laps down. Thereafter, the team did everything to work as hard as they could to try and gain back lost laps.

Marcos Ambrose took the green flag in 29th position. Just as the cars were making the one-mile circuit, the caution flag came out. Marcos reported that the car was good. Yet being too early to pit, Crew Chief David Hyder decided to keep Ambrose out on the track where he restarted on lap five in 26th. Just as the race was restarting, another caution occurred only five laps later and Marcos reported that the car was tight off the corner but loose in the corner. Hyder still believed that it was too early to pit; Marcos stayed out on the track and the race resumed on lap 15. Caution on lap 64 allowed for the team to make adjustments on the car for the persisting "tight-in/loose off” condition. The pit crew also put on four fresh tires and filled the tank with fuel. Marcos restarted on lap 69 in 29th.

On lap 77, he reported, "Loose in, really, really loose in". As green flag laps continued for a longer run, on lap 109, Hyder radioed to Marcos, "Race the race track, you're doing a good job." The team decided to make a green flag pit stop on approximately lap 145. However, the caution came out again on lap 142 and the team was able to make a pit stop for more adjustments. The No. 21 pit crew made a fast stop in 13.8 seconds that included the adjustments, putting on fresh tires and adding fuel.

Marcos battled with the No. 15 of Paul Menard for the spot that would be the first car one lap down - the lucky dog. Hyder told Marcos to get around the No. 15 and that, "You're doing a good job, we just need to get our lap back and get back into this race." Marcos finally won the lucky dog position and was able to pass the leader to put the No. 21 on the lead lap when the next caution flag flew two laps later. "That's what we needed, now we can get back in this thing,” Hyder said.

On the next caution, the team did not pit. When the race restarted, Marcos was in the 16th spot. The car was still not handling to Marcos' liking, so Hyder called for a pit stop when the caution occurred on lap 185, the Wood Brothers crew put on four tires, added fuel and made another adjustment. He restarted on lap 190 in 22nd position.

A few laps later as teams began to make green flag stops, Marcos moved from 17th up to 13th when Hyder decided to make their green flag stop on lap 272, but Marcos’ radio communications were not working properly as he couldn’t hear the crew chief. He came down pit road early and the swift crew reacted immediately. When he got into the pit box, they made adjustments, put on four tires and added fuel. Unfortunately, the pit crew lost control of the rear tire and it rolled into the next pit stall. NASCAR called Marcos back to pit road immediately for a pass through penalty which put him down two laps from the leaders and put him in the 25th spot.

On lap 285, Hyder discovered that there was a large hole in the grill of the Little Debbie® race car. When the yellow flag came out on lap 292, Hyder called Ambrose in to pit to repair the damage. The crew assessed the damage and added a piece of sheet metal to cover the hole. They sent the No. 21 back to the track to prevent losing another lap and had Marcos come back in a lap later to finish the repair. The Aussie restarted on lap 298 in the 30th position.

Green flag laps continued until on lap 325 when Marcos radioed to the crew that the water pressure, water and oil temperatures were through the roof and the motor was overheating. Marcos still having communication issues and could not hear if Hyder ordered him to come to pit road or not. He did come immediately to pit road and Hyder had the crew remove the sheet metal that was covering the damaged grill as was hindering air flow to the engine which was causing the overheating.

During the last 75 laps, the team worked hard to keep adjusting the car to make it better. Marcos ran in the 32nd spot where he would take the checkered flag five laps down from the leader.

Marcos commented on the race, “We really had a good car. I’m proud of David Hyder and the guys for giving me a good piece. I was running in 13th for a little while there and we just had some unfortunate incidents that took us out of the running.” He added, “I came in to pit too early and that locked us up in the pits - it’s just one of those things. Then Tony Raines spun and I ran into the back of him and punched in the nose. It’s unfortunate; we really did have a chance at a good run."

JTG Daugherty Racing and the No. 47 Little Debbie® Ford Fusion will head to Kansas Speedway with Marcos Ambrose behind the wheel for the Camping World RV 400 Presented by Coleman on Sunday, September 28th. Contributed by Christina Cicci, Wood Brothers Racing

Camping World 400 Results:
1. Greg Biffle
2. Matt Kenseth
3. Carl Edwards
4. Mark Martin
5. Jimmie Johnson
6. Kevin Harvick
7. Jeff Gordon
8. Clint Bowyer
9. Jeff Burton
10. Michael Waltrip
32. Marcos Ambrose

2008 Final
Point Standings:
1. Jimmie Johnson — 6684
2. Carl Edwards — 6615
3. Greg Biffle — 6467
4. Kevin Harvick — 6408
5. Clint Bowyer — 6381
6. Jeff Burton — 6335
7. Jeff Gordon — 6316
8. Denny Hamlin — 6214
9. Tony Stewart — 6202
10. Kyle Busch — 6186
11. Matt Kensteh — 6184
12. D. Earnhardt, Jr. — 6127
36. M. Ambrose* — 2655
*Listed by Owner Points for Michael Waltrip Racing/
JTG Daugherty Racing