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| Good Day For Ambrose With 19th In Darlington Debut |
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| Monday, 14 May 2007 | |
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Team Australia driver Marcos Ambrose has driven a strong race to post a solid 19th place finish in his first event at the Darlington Raceway in the Diamond Hill Plywood 200 in South Carolina today. Ambrose had a good day at the tough Darlington venue today, qualifying a sensational fourth earlier in the day in the Aussie Vineyards-backed #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion. The result was a strong recovery for Ambrose, who spun after clipping David Reutimann on lap 35. The Australian was able to avoid contact with the wall and after pitting to repair fender damage to the front left corner of the car Ambrose began to work at regaining lost ground. Ambrose’s pace improved as the laps wore on and he gained experience around one of the toughest tracks in NASCAR. A strong finish looked likely with 16 laps to go when he reached 17th position and was progressing well. Ambrose then had a setback when he was forced to make an unscheduled pitstop to clear tape from his windscreen. The tape was part of repairs to the front of the Aussie Vineyards-backed #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion, which had worked its way loose only to obscure the view of Ambrose. Dropping some 10 spots in the order Ambrose showed strong pace to move up through the field and pass cars over the final laps to move into the top 20, eventually finishing 19th and grabbing a solid collection of points for his NASCAR Busch Series tally. The former two-time Australian V8 Supercar Champion remains in 11th place in the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series standings and third in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year points score. Denny Hamlin won today’s Diamond Hill Plywood 200 from Mark Martin and championship leader Carl Edwards. Ambrose will now participate in the final NASCAR Busch Series open test for the season on May 14-15 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte, North Carolina before entering the 13th race in the championship at the same venue on May 26. Marcos Ambrose – Aussie Vineyards-backed #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion “I’m really happy with our day today,” said Ambrose. “To finish on the lead lap in my first race at Darlington is an achievement in itself. “We qualified well and ran strongly throughout the race. There was quite a bit happening out there but we came through in the end for another top 20 finish. “It took me about three quarters of the race to really figure the track out and work out the best place to run so that you can pass people. “We had the spin early when we clipped another car but managed to keep it off the wall. Once I was on top of things we were moving forward. We were getting caught up in some stuff there, everyone was racing really hard and at times it was a bit of a mess. “It was probably our best race, even though the result wasn’t great. We had to stop with 15 laps to go because the tape they put on the front came off onto the windshield and I couldn’t see, so considering all of that, we had a pretty strong night. “In the end we had a strong car and if it wasn’t for dropping back a bit we would have been around the 10th to 15th mark because I was with Juan (Pablo Montoya) and (David) Ragan towards the end there before we had to stop. “It was a good day in all. It’s our first time at Darlington and what a great race track, the racing tonight was just a lot of fun. Qualifying fourth was a good feeling and we got a solid finish and some good points. We are not far off getting back into the top 10. “We qualified well. It’s nothing to write home about, but it’s something we can build on. I think our team is on the upswing. We’ve had some tough weeks but I think we’ve got a much better package underneath us now. “The team is really gelling and I’m just excited. We’ve got a good test coming up at Charlotte with a new car, so I think we’re going to be on an upswing.” “Every week is a thrill, so I’ll be happy to sleep 365 days to come back here to Darlington because it’s pretty cool.” RESULTS: Diamond Hill Plywood 200 at Darlington Raceway Race 12 of the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series 1. #20 Denny Hamlin 147 laps 2. #5 Mark Martin 3. #60 Carl Edwards 4. #29 Jeff Burton 5. #2 Clint Bowyer 6. #38 Jason Leffer 7. #33 Tony Stewart 8. #37 Greg Biffle 9. #24 Casey Mears 10. #21 Kevin Harvick 19. #59 Marcos Ambrose How the Raybestos Rookie of the Year Contenders finished in Darlington: 1. (13th) #6 David Ragan 147 laps 2. (15th) #42 Juan Pablo Montoya 3. (19th) #59 Marcos Ambrose 4. (28th) #14 Kyle Krisiloff 146 laps 5. (36th) #23 Brad Keselowski 113 laps RESULTS: Qualifying 1. #20 Denny Hamlin 29.448 2. #41 David Stremme 29.630 3. #37 Greg Biffle 29.648 4. #59 Marcos Ambrose 29.701 5. #24 Casey Mears 29.701 6. #17 Matt Kenseth 29.723 7. #1 JJ Yeley 29.737 8. #6 David Ragan 29.743 9. #27 Ward Burton 29.752 10. #38 Jason Leffler 29.785 2007 NASCAR Busch Series Points Standings – After Race 12 (Unofficial) 1. Carl Edwards 1958 2. Kevin Harvick 1525 3. David Reutimann 1359 4. Dave Blaney 1353 5. Matt Kenseth 1280 6. David Ragan 1270 7. Bobby Hamilton Jr 1252 8. Regan Smith 1238 9. Juan Pablo Montoya 1227 10. Greg Biffle 1215 11. Marcos Ambrose 1200 2007 NASCAR Busch Series Raybestos Rookie of the Year Standings – After Race 12 (Unofficial) 1. David Ragan 122 2. Juan Pablo Montoya 120 3. Marcos Ambrose 112 4. Kyle Krisiloff 103 5. Brad Keselowski 64 AMBROSE CONDUCTS SHAKEDOWN OF NEXTEL CUP ‘CAR OF TOMORROW’ During the week Australian NASCAR star Marcos Ambrose drove his first laps in a NASCAR Nextel Cup car in a shakedown test at Carolina Motorsports Park in Kershaw, South Carolina on Wednesday 9 May 2007. Ambrose and the Wood Brothers/JTG Racing team conducted the shakedown at the 2.5-mile (3.22-kilometre) road course circuit one day before entering practice for the Diamond Hill Plywood 200 NASCAR Busch Series event at Darlington Raceway, also in South Carolina. The test was Ambrose’s first opportunity to drive a top-flight NASCAR Nextel Cup car and also the Australian’s first drive of a ‘Car of Tomorrow’, the latest generation NASCAR introduced to the sport in March this year. Ambrose will aim to qualify for two NASCAR Nextel Cup races in the #47 Aussie Vineyards Team Australia Ford Fusion for Wood Brothers/JTG Racing at Sonoma on 24 June 2007 and Watkins Glen on 12 August 2007. |
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