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Shelby American Report
AMBROSE
HAS SOMETHING TO BUILD ON WITH TOP-15 FINISH AT
LAS VEGAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY
LAS VEGAS, NV — Marcos
Ambrose breathed a sigh of relief after finishing
14th in his No. 47 Kingsford Toyota backed by Little
Debbie at Las Vegas Motor Speedway Sunday afternoon.
“Our season starts now, and we finally have
something to build on,” said Ambrose. “We
had two straight weeks where we did not finish the
race due to mechanical failures. Today, this race was
a turning point for our JTG Daugherty Racing team.”
The top-15 finish advanced the Australian driver inside
the top-35 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points standings.
He moved up six positions and is now 33rd following
the third race of the regular season.
“We know we have some work to do to dig ourselves
out of a hole, but we also know we have the ability
and people to do it,” Ambrose said. “We’re
really happy we went the distance at Las Vegas and
gained some ground in the points standings.”
After qualifying 32nd on Friday, Ambrose and his team
regrouped and were pleased with the progress they made
in final practice on Saturday.
“We felt like we had a top-10 car by the end
practice,” Ambrose said.
After the green flag waved for the 267-lap event,
Ambrose was faster than leader Jeff Gordon by lap 32
while scored in 21st-place.
“We were loose up top, but we were fast,” Ambrose
said.
Ambrose was on the move and 19th when the second caution
flag of the event waved at Lap 45. Crew chief Frank
Kerr instructed Ambrose to pit for four tires, an air
adjustment, a half-turn of wedge in the left rear,
and for the pit crew to also raise the track bar a
half-turn.
The No. 47 Toyota backed by Little Debbie restarted
20th with Greg Biffle leading the way. Immediately
another caution occurred at Lap 53, but this time it
was for a caution light malfunction. On the next long
green flag run, Ambrose’s car was loose in and
lost grip. On Lap 87, the No. 77 machine of Sam Hornish
Jr. spun out causing the fourth caution of the race.
It allowed Kerr to call for more changes. This time
he asked his pit crew to adjust the track bar and wedge
back to where it was previously and change four tires.
Ambrose restarted 20th on Lap 92, and Matt Kenseth
led the field into Turn 1. An accident
occurred on the next lap involving Juan Pablo Montoya,
Jamie McMurray and Kurt Busch. When the field was set
to return to green flag racing at Lap 97, Ambrose was
14th. Four laps later, the No. 47 Kingsford Toyota
backed by Little Debbie was 12th.
Another malfunction with the caution lights happened
at Lap 107 giving the JTG Daugherty Racing pit crew
the opportunity to change right side tires.
“The car was better, but it was aero-tight behind
other cars,” Ambrose said.
Ambrose went back to work on Lap 113 in 14th position
with a really loose handling car.
“Right away we were loose in and loose off and
tight in the center,” Ambrose said.
The next pit stop on lap 163, Ambrose pitted under
green for more adjustments and four fresh Goodyear
tires. On Lap 170 at the start-finish line, leader
Jeff Gordon placed Ambrose one lap down.
“We had no grip and lost handling,” Ambrose
said.
Ambrose still maintained a fast pace. As the frontrunners
pitted under green for the next round of pit stops,
Ambrose was shown in second place before he entered
his pit box for four tires and adjustments at Lap 217.
“After that stop, the car was hitting the bottom
some, and it seemed to be bound up through the center,” Ambrose
said.
On the next caution at Lap 228, Kerr told Ambrose
to stay out because he was eligible to be a wave around
car to line up ahead of the frontrunners along with
Sam Hornish Jr., Brian Vickers, Carl Edwards, and Dale
Earnhardt Jr.
Clint Bowyer led the field to green with 34 laps remaining.
Ambrose was 15th. The Australian was able to maintain
his top-15 run and crossed the finish line in 14th-place.
The winner of the Shelby American was four-time NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series champion Jimmie Johnson. Kevin Harvick
finished second, Jeff Gordon was third, Mark Martin
crossed the finish line fourth and Matt Kenseth rounded
out the top-five. Currently, Kevin Harvick is the points
leader. Contributed by
Jennifer Chapple, JTG Daugherty Racing
Shelby American Results:
1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Kevin Harvick
3. Jeff Gordon
4. Mark Martin
5. Matt Kenseth
6. Joey Logano
7. Tony Stewart
8. Clint Bowyer
9. Kasey Kahne
10. Greg Biffle
14. Marcos Ambrose
Next Race — Kobalt
Tools 500:
Where: Atlanta Motor Speedway, Hampton, Georgia
Time: Sunday, March 7, 2010
Network: FOX Television - 1 p.m.
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