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Ambrose Looking Good With 13th In Final Practice At California |
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Sunday, 25 February 2007 |
Team Australia’s Marcos Ambrose will carry strong momentum into tomorrow’s Stater Bros 300 after setting the 13th fastest time in final practice today at California Speedway in Fontana, California.
Ambrose gradually worked his way up to the pace in the Aussie Vineyards-backed #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion at the Australian’s first time at the 2.0-mile speedway. Ambrose was 34th in the opening NASCAR Busch Series practice session earlier in the day out of the 41 cars present this weekend.
Both qualifying and the 150-lap race will be held tomorrow, with
Ambrose the 37th driver out for qualifying during the day. As with last
week’s Orbitz 300 Busch race at Daytona, over 20 Nextel Cup drivers
will compete in this weekend’s second race of the NASCAR Busch Series.
2005 Nextel Cup Champion Tony Stewart was one place higher than Ambrose
in final practice with 12th fastest. 2003 Cup Champ Matt Kenseth was
fastest in his Ford Fusion.
Consistency will again be the name of the game tomorrow for Ambrose as
he aims to begin the 2007 season with solid finishes and good hauls of
points. Ambrose will also seek to maintain his lead in the Roshfrans
Rookie of the Year points after finishing 16th and top rookie in his
Busch Series debut at Daytona International Speedway last weekend.
Saturday’s Stater Bros 300 carries a total prize purse of US$1,626,139 (A$2,068,090).
Marcos Ambrose – Aussie Vineyards-backed #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion
“California Speedway is a very different type of track,” said Ambrose.
“It’s still very big at two miles, but it’s quite flat. It took me a
session to really come to grips with the layout, as it’s my first time
here.
“About halfway through the second session it was like a light switch
flicked and I could suddenly feel the track and what I needed to do to
get the car around.
“After that we had a really solid car. We came in and did a trial
qualifying run and wound up 13th. If we can match that tomorrow we will
be very pleased.
“We go out as one of the last cars in the qualifying order, so I’m not
sure if that’s good or bad. Jon (Wood, Ambrose’s Wood Brothers/JTG
Racing team-mate) is first car out so he will be able to give us a
little feedback and we’ll be able to sit back and watch what happens.
“It’s looking good for a strong race. We got everything together today
and now we can look forward to tomorrow and give it our best.”
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