Sylvania 300

AFTER LATE RACE INCIDENT, MARCOS COMES BACK FOR TOP-TWENTY FINISH

LOUDON, NH — Marcos Ambrose led a couple laps (269-270), ran in the top-15 but finished 20th in the Sylvania 300 at New Hampshire Motor Speedway.

“We had a good run and our result does not show how good we were there at the end,” Ambrose said. “With 20 laps or so to go, AJ (Allmendinger) and I got into it, which ended up causing a caution there at the end of the race. If we hadn’t had that caution I believe we would have ended up in the top-15.”

Ambrose was glad to see Mark Martin record his fifth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory of the season to put him in the lead for the Chase to the Sprint Cup.

“It was good to see Mark win,” Ambrose said. “He’s really going to be tough to beat. He’s on his game. You can’t win the championship in the first race of the Chase, but you can lose it. Some of those guys had problems. Man, I feel bad for Kasey Kahne. Tony (Stewart) had some problems also and you hate to see that.”

On Friday, Ambrose was disappointed with his 31st qualifying effort. However, he did not let that slow him and his JTG Daugherty Racing team down when the race started. As the race began to unfold, he reeled in the top 20. When the No. 9 car of Kasey Kahne blew up on Lap 66, Ambrose came down pit road for four tires, a wedge adjustment to help his looseness on entry and tightness in the middle of the corner.

The No. 47 Little Debbie® backed Toyota restarted 25th on Lap 74. Under caution at Lap 86, Ambrose communicated to crew chief Frank Kerr that his car was loose in and did not have a lot of forward drive off. Kerr told Ambrose to stay out for track position. Ambrose took the green flag on Lap 91 scored in 19th position. As he continued his top 20 run, Ambrose was loose in, tight in the middle and loose off. The previous adjustments had helped the condition of the car, but when a caution occurred on Lap 140 Ambrose was asking for more help. He was back on pit road for tires, a quarter-round up on the track bar and a quarter-round of wedge in his No. 47.

By Lap 150, Ambrose entered the top 15. His car’s forward drive had improved, but he was still having trouble getting through the middle of the corner. To help his tightness, he was back on pit road under caution at Lap 162 for two tires and a quarter-round up on the track bar.

The green flag waved at Lap 165. Marcos was shown in 18th place with Tony Stewart leading the way with Jimmie Johnson and Ryan Newman in tow.

On Lap 167, there was a big accident in Turn 2 involving the No. 7, 19, 20, 34, 43, 55 and 98. Seven laps later, the track was cleared and it was back to green flag racing as Ambrose was sitting in 16th place. Cautions seemed to breed more cautions as another one occurred on the next lap involving Jeff Burton.

Ambrose restarted 15th on Lap 180 with Tony Stewart in the lead, Jimmie Johnson in second and Ryan Newman still in third. On Lap 194, Marcos came down pit road under caution for four tires and an air adjustment because he was too loose and tight in the middle.

Restarting 21st on Lap 197, Ambrose fought to regain his spot inside the top-15. On lap 260, he was scored inside the top 10 while cars ahead of him had started pitting under green flag conditions.

As the race leaders headed to pit road on Lap 265, Marcos was shown in fifth place. While other drivers exited to pit road on Lap 268, Tony Stewart became the new leader and Ambrose took second. On Lap 269, Ambrose led the field for two laps and then relinquished the lead to Mark Martin for a trip down pit road for two tires and one can of fuel.

On Lap 274, Kerr radioed Ambrose and told him he had turned his fastest lap of the race (29.948 seconds).

“You got what you got now and it’s up to you,” Kerr said to Ambrose after the stop.

With 18 laps remaining, Ambrose was 13th when David Reutimann and Dale Earnhardt Jr. were involved in an incident in Turn 4 that brought out the ninth caution of the race. Once the race started again at Lap 287, Ambrose was 13th.

On Lap 293, Ambrose made contact with the 44 car of AJ Allmendinger bringing out the 11th caution of the 300-lap event. Kerr called Ambrose to pit road for four fresh Goodyear tires. With a handful of laps remaining, Ambrose did a good job of holding on to a top 20 spot. The Australian driver crossed the finish line 20th and maintained 17th in the point standings. Contributed by Chip Warren, JTG Daugherty Racing

Sylvania 300 Results:
1. Mark Martin
2. Denny Hamlin
3. Juan Pablo Montoya
4. Jimmie Johnson
5. Kyle Busch
6. Kurt Busch
7. Ryan Newman
8. Elliott Sadler
9. Greg Biffle
10. Clint Bowyer
20. Marcos Ambrose

2009 Point Standings:
1. Jimmie Johnson — 6492
2. Mark Martin — 6384
3. Jeff Gordon — 6323
4. Kurt Busch — 6281
5. Tony Stewart — 6207
6. Juan Montoya — 6203
7. Greg Biffle — 6171
8. Denny Hamlin — 6140
9. Ryan Newman — 6081
10. Kasey Kahne — 6016
11. Carl Edwards — 5972
12. Brian Vickers — 5826
18. M. Ambrose — 3767