|
Ford 400
AMBROSE
SHOWS SPEED BUT PROBLEMS STALL SEASON FINALE
HOMESTEAD, FL — Marcos
Ambrose, for a fleeting moment, starred in the season-ending
Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway. But overall it
was a disappointing end to a great season for Ambrose,
with mechanical gremlins ruining his race.
Ambrose started the race from third position at the
1.5-mile speedway aboard his No. 47 Little Debbie® entry
of JTG Daugherty Racing. He showed great speed early,
and on lap 10 he passed polesitter and points leader
Jimmie Johnson for lead and remained there for four
laps.
But soon Ambrose was forced make an unscheduled pit
stop for a punctured tire. Then a few laps later, he
returned to the garage area after his car lost power.
His crew worked as swiftly as possible to change the
car’s
carburetor.
It was a case of what could have been for Ambrose,
who enjoyed strong car speed over the course of the
race despite being many laps down. At the end of the
day, Ambrose finished in 35th position, enough to hold
onto 18th position in the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
points standings. Marcos was the highest-placed first
year driver in Sprint Cup points standings - two
spots ahead of Rookie of the Year Joey Logano.
In 2009, Ambrose scored four top-five, seven top-10
and 19 top-20 finishes from 36 points races. He
also qualified in the top-10 on six occasions.
The Australian scored his best finish of 2009 by coming
in sceond place on the Watkins
Glen road course. He
also earned a standout third place finish at the tough
Bristol Motor Speedway half-mile
oval. There was also his amazing performance at Sonoma where
he rallied from the 43rd starting position, due to
an engine change, and passed the enitre field at least
once to finish third. Throughout this year, Ambrose
proved that he has what it takes to be the real deal
in NASCAR's highest level of competition.
WHAT MARCOS HAD TO SAY ON THE 2009 SEASON…
“It’s just been a great year for the No.
47 Little Debbie JTG Daugherty Racing team in the Sprint
Cup Series,” said Ambrose.
“We didn’t expect that we would be in
position to finish in the top 20 in points because
we were just hoping to finish in the top 30.
“We have exceeded our expectations, and we have
been very competitive. We have seven top-10 finishes,
but were so close to having more. We had at least three
11th-place finishes that with a bit of luck would have
been top 10s. But, it doesn’t really matter.
We’ve done plenty this year.”
“Our team is growing and our results this year
prove that. I’m a lot more confident as a driver
and secure in myself that I can do the job. All those
things will play a part. You can’t guarantee
you are going to move forward. It’s a challenging
world we live in. We are very focused on understanding
that not every step is going to be forward and sometimes
you may take a step backwards.
“(Next year) we want to win a race and make
the Chase.
“Sure, it’s a lofty goal, but I think
it’s achievable if everything goes well. I think
we are worthy of it and can do it. We know we gave
away 300 points before the Chase started and we were
about 200 points behind in the end.
“I’m looking forward to refreshing my
mind and body by getting back into training and forgetting
about going in circles for a while. I’m looking
forward to joining my family in Australia and starting
a new year in NASCAR.” Courtesy BAM Media
Ford 400 Results:
1. Denny Hamlin
2. Jeff Burton
3. Kevin Harvick
4. Kurt Busch
5. Jimmie Johnson
6. Jeff Gordon
7. Carl Edwards
8. Kyle Busch
9. Martin Truex,
Jr.
10. A.J. Allmendinger
35. Marcos Ambrose
Next Race — Daytona
500:
Where: Daytona International Speedway, Daytona,
FL
When: Sunday, February 14, 2010
Network & Time: FOX, 1:00 p.m.
(All Times Eastern)
|
