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Centurion Boats at the Glen Report
AMBROSE
COMES FROM 43RD TO FINISH 3RD AT
THE
GLEN
WATKINS GLEN, NY — Marcos
Ambrose stormed through the field to finish third
after starting from last in the 90-lap Centurion Boats
at the Glen at Watkins Glen International.
After starting from 43rd position as a result of qualifying
being rained out on Friday, Ambrose’s result
was the best-ever finish by an Australian in the NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series. In just his third Sprint Cup start,
Ambrose was one of the fastest cars on track all day
long behind the wheel of the No. 21 Little Debbie® Ford
Fusion.
Marcos made his first pit stop on lap 25 under green
flag conditions. After the first round of stops
had played out, Ambrose was in 21st position, more
than halfway through the field. By the midpoint of
the race, lap 45, he was in 15th place.
When a caution was called on lap 50, Ambrose
made his second stop. But some five laps later Ambrose
reported a vibration from the front wheels due to loose
lug nuts, and with 33 laps remaining he re-entered
the pits to have the wheels tightened and also collect
a top up on fuel that would allow him to safely complete
the race without a further pit stop.
On lap 65 Ambrose had made his way up to fifth position
and continued to set some of the fastest laps of the
race.
With 16 laps remaining Ambrose passed Martin Truex
Jr for fourth position, and three laps later he inherited
third place when Ryan Newman spun and stalled out at
Turn 1.
At the restart after Newman’s spin, Ambrose
defended his position from former Formula 1 race winner
Juan Pablo Montoya, the two setting out to chase down
the Joe Gibbs Racing duo of Kyle Busch and Tony Stewart.
But one lap later a massive crash at the final corner
brought out the red flag for over 40 minutes. Nine
cars were involved in the spectacular wreck but all
drivers emerged from their cars unassisted.
At the restart with five laps remaining Ambrose did
not get a good jump, but over the next two laps he
closed the deficit to Stewart. Ambrose was right on
the bumper of Stewart but in the end came home in third.
Ambrose’s third-place finish was the first top
five for the Wood Brothers since Ricky Rudd finished
fourth at Bristol Motor Speedway in August 2005.
Current Sprint Cup Series points leader Kyle Busch,
who ran second to Ambrose in the NASCAR Nationwide
Series race at Watkins Glen, won today’s
Centurion Boats at the Glen followed by Tony Stewart,
Marcos Ambrose, Juan Pablo Montoya and Martin Truex
Jr.
Ambrose will again aim to race in both the NASCAR
Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR Nationwide Series next
weekend when he races at Michigan International Speedway
in Brooklyn, Michigan. Contributed by Brett Murray,
BAM North America
What the Team Has to Say:
Marcos Ambrose, Driver of the No. 21
Little Debbie® Ford:
“Coming through the field is really
hard work. We really worked the car hard to get through
the field in the first half of the race.
“It was great fun running with those guys at
the front. I’ve really got to thank them for
not taking me off there. It would be easy to send me
off into the weeds with that rookie stripe on the car.
“The Wood Brothers have given me a great car
on both the road courses and I’ve really got
to thank them. It’s great to run well for them.
“I’ve got to thank Little Debbie® and
the McKee family and everyone involved here. We’ve
had a good run here and I’ll remember this weekend
for a long time.”
David Hyder, Crew Chief of the No. 21 Little
Debbie® Ford:
“I’ll tell you what, he could be the very best road-course driver
I’ve ever seen. It all worked out. We came out third, so I’m happy
and tickled to death.”
“You know, I kept watching his lap times and they
didn’t fall off in a long run like a lot of the
cars did. He stayed consistent and kept the car under
him all day, and we looked at the tires there the first
stop, at that point in time I figured it was going to
be a pretty good day if everything fell our way from
there on out.”
Eddie Wood, Co-Owner of the No. 21 Little Debbie® Ford:
"Actually, everything went really well. Marcos has done
one heck of a job, for his first time here in a Cup car
and all that. We needed this so badly because I think
this is our first top-five – you tell me, I don’t
know but it’s been a long time.
“Hyder came on board with his people. It’s
just made a world of difference. We ran well last week
at Pocono; we had a good car at Sonoma also, but this
car was really good today. Mike Smith and Dave Simba
took it to Atlanta last week and tested it, and all
that stuff worked well and blended right in what Hyder
and Hoyt [Overbagh] were doing, and it all fell into
place. Sometimes things will fall into place for you.”
“Anytime you have a good run, it creates enthusiasm
and all that, and we’re taking the Pocono car,
that ran pretty well at Pocono (last weekend), we’re
taking it to Michigan next week. We’re re-doing
all of our race cars right now. We’ve got about
two of them ready and that’s one of them.”
Centurion Boats at
the Glen
Results:
1. Kyle Busch
2. Tony Stewart
3. Marcos Ambrose
4. Juan Pablo Montoya
5. Martin Truex, Jr.
6. Kevin Harvick
7. Jimmie Johnson
8. Denny Hamlin
9. Carl Edwards
10. Kurt Busch
Next Race — 3M Performance
400 Presented by Bondo:
Where: Michigan International Speedway,
Brooklyn, MI
Time: Sunday, August 17, 2008
Network: ESPN, 1 p.m. / MRN Radio 1:15 p.m.
(All Times Eastern)
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