Lenox Industrial Tools 301 Report

AMBROSE FINISHES 13TH AT NEW HAMPSHIRE

LOUDON, NH — Marcos Ambrose and his JTG Daugherty Racing team brought home a hard-fought respectable 13th-place finish with the No. 47 Toyota Camry at New Hampshire Motor Speedway Sunday afternoon.

“We were 12th in practice, we qualified 12th and finished 13th,” Ambrose said. “We’re pleased with the overall effort. We had a respectable weekend, and my guys were really good on pit road. We were able to finish in the top-15 and bring the Lance Toyota home in one piece.”

“We finished another one,” Kerr breathed a sigh of relief as the checkered flag flew in the air. “We got the car pretty good near the end of the race. Marcos was running lap times as fast as the leader. “

In the beginning of the 301-lap event, Ambrose was loose in and needed forward drive, but he was able to lurk around the top 10. When the first caution of the race happened on lap 34, Kerr called for four tires, a half-round of wedge in the left rear and a half turn up on the track bar.

With several teams only changing two tires, Ambrose was mired in traffic in 23rd place. As he logged several laps, he reported his biggest concern was that he was loose in, tight in the middle and loose off the corners.

Kasey Kahne was leading the field when Ambrose came down pit road under green at lap 103 for the handling to be addressed. Wedge and four tires seemed to do the trick as Ambrose turned his best lap of the race thus far only seven laps later.

At lap 141, he reported to his team that he was really loose in traffic. His next green flag stop occurred at lap 172 for four tires and more adjustments. Only 11 laps later, Ambrose was back on the radio because his machine was tight in the center and shaking the tires.

The battle up front was heating up between leader Kyle Busch and Jeff Burton at lap 197. In the meantime, Busch was on Ambrose’s bumper and eventually Burton passed Busch for the lead and then placed Ambrose one lap down on lap 210. Ambrose was scored in 20th place but keeping the leader close in sight.

Just as Kerr asked Ambrose to head to pit road while running 15th at lap 237, a caution immediately came out. Spotter Al DiRusso and Kerr were quick to tell Ambrose to stay out to keep him from getting pinned another lap down. When the pits opened under caution, Ambrose entered his pit box for four tires and a wedge adjustment because he was a little tight off.

“By the end of that run, it was the best it had been,” Ambrose said. “It had been turning the whole corner.”

Ambrose took the green at lap 245 from 16th place in a prime spot to be the Lucky Dog recipient as Jeff Burton continued to lead. Mark Martin and Matt Kenseth were also a lap down and snuck by Ambrose. But, not for long. Ambrose fought tooth and nail and prevailed by passing Kenseth at lap 267 and Martin at lap 270 to take back what he had lost.

Finally, Ambrose received a break and a caution at lap 281 allowed him to advance back onto the lead lap . After pitting at lap 285 for a routine stop, Ambrose was 15th for the restart with Burton in the lead. Things began to get a little dicey up front when Kyle Busch was on the outside of Burton. All of the sudden, the close quarters caused Busch to go spinning around to bring out a caution.

On the last restart in the closing laps, Ambrose was able to fend off some heavy hitters to bring home a respectable 13th place finish. Jimmie Johnson was the race winner. Courtesy Jennifer Chapple, JTG Daugherty Racing

Lenox Industrial Tools 301 Results:
1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Tony Stewart
3. Kurt Busch
4. Jeff Gordon
5. Kevin Harvick
6. Ryan Newman
7. Clint Bowyer
8. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
9. Joey Logano
10. A.J. Allmendinger
13. Marcos Ambrose

Next Race — Coke Zero 400 Powered by Coca-Cola:
Where: Daytona International Speedway, Daytona, FL
Time: Saturday, July 3, 2010
Network & Time: TNT Television, 7:30 p.m. / MRN Radio, 6:30 p.m.
All Times Eastern

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