Amp Energy 500

AMBROSE COLLECTED IN "THE BIG ONE" AT 'DEGA

TALLADEGA, AL — Marcos Ambrose was relieved Ryan Newman was unharmed and released from the Talladega Superspeedway infield care center after a horrifying accident Sunday afternoon. As Ambrose was racing behind Newman, cars ahead of them appeared to slow which started a chain reaction collision. This resulted with Newman going airborne and landing upside down on the backstretch of Lap 183. The accident also collected Ambrose's No. 47 Toyota.

“I’m just thankful that Ryan is okay, and that’s all that matters,” Ambrose said. “Cars in front of me checked up, and I got hit from behind. I don’t know what started it all – don’t know what caused it. I’m just glad everyone was alright. That's all that matters.”

Ambrose started the race from the 17th position because inclement weather on Saturday during qualifying forced NASCAR to set the field by point standings. When the scheduled 188-lap race got underway, Ambrose made his way to the top 10 by Lap 21, and he was running fifth two laps later. As everyone lined up single file, Ambrose held on to his fifth spot until pitting under green for four tires at Lap 42. When the No. 2 car of Kurt Busch wrecked on Lap 49, Ambrose and the No. 83 car of Brian Vickers made contact causing damage to the right front fender of the Little Debbie® backed Kingsford Toyota.

Kerr called Ambrose to pit road three laps later when pit road opened. The crew assessed the damage, made repairs, changed four tires and made a chassis adjustment. On Lap 55, the field returned to green flag racing, and Ambrose was 19th. He re-entered the top 10 six laps later as the field lined up nose to tail again. The damage to his front fender caused the car to be tighter as he still held on to the sixth-place spot on Lap 80. Ten laps later, Ambrose sustained more damage this time to the left rear.

Ambrose still maintained his stride, and as green flag pit stops started the Australian driver led lap 98 and 99 before heading to pit road for four tires and the pit crew to push the left rear fender back in. He returned to the track in 29th place.

When the next yellow flag waved for debris, the pit crew took the opportunity to work on the fender again. Ambrose restarted 30th on Lap 107 as Denny Hamlin led the field into Turn 1. With Jeff Gordon in the lead by Lap 129, Ambrose was back in the top-10. Shuffled back to 18th on Lap 136, Denny Hamlin brought out the next caution as his No. 11 car’s engine expired. Marcos came down pit road for right side tires and an air pressure adjustment on Lap 140. Back to racing on Lap 143, the Aussie made his move and shot up to third place on Lap 150. Two laps later, Jamie McMurray was in the lead, Juan Pablo Montoya was in second, Ambrose in third and David Stremme in fourth. Stremme lined up behind Ambrose and pushed him to the front to lead another lap at Lap 153. The next lap Ambrose was fifth where he stayed for the next ten laps. Ambrose was then shuffled out of line back to 29th.

While running just outside the top-20 at Lap 183, the big one happened. Ryan Newman flipped upside down after entangling with teammate Tony Stewart and Ambrose as cars ahead of them checked up. The event was red flag for safety crew workers to turn Newman’s car over and cut the top off for him to climb out. When the red flag was lifted, Ambrose limped to pit road for the crew to repair the car for him to finish the race.

With the competitors facing one attempt at a green-white-checker finish, McMurray led the field to green on Lap 189. The yellow flag waved immediately as several drivers like David Reutimann, Casey Mears, Martin Truex Jr., Kurt Busch, Jeff Gordon, Scott Speed, Brad Keselowski and others were involved in another big wreck. Jamie McMurray won under caution after the second multi-car wreck in the closing laps ended the race. Contributed by Chip Warren, JTG Daugherty Racing

Amp Energy 500 Results:
1. Jamie McMurray
2. Kasey Kahne
3. Joey Logano
4. Greg Biffle
5. Jeff Burton
6. Jimmie Johnson
7. Michael Waltrip
8. Brad Keslowski
9. Elliott Sadler
10. Bobby Labonte
34. 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