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Ambrose Tests Cup Car Ahead Of Monster Mile Challenge |
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Wednesday, 30 May 2007 |
Team Australia driver Marcos Ambrose has completed his first full test day in a NASCAR Nextel Cup ‘Car of Tomorrow’ ahead of competing at one of the most challenging venues in NASCAR in the Dover 200 at Dover International Speedway this weekend.
Ambrose completed a day of testing at Virginia International Raceway today (May 29) in preparation for the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at Infineon Raceway on June 24, where Ambrose will attempt to qualify for his first NASCAR Nextel Cup event in an Aussie Vineyards-backed Ford Fusion.
It was Ambrose’s first full-on test of a Cup car, having conducted a
shakedown of a Wood Brothers/JTG Racing Ford Fusion ‘COT’ on May 9 at
Carolina Motorsports Park.
This weekend Ambrose will make his second start at Dover International
Speedway, a tough, concrete-surfaced one-mile oval known as ‘The
Monster Mile’. The Australian was 27th in his fifth race in last year’s
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Dover.
Ambrose currently sits 13th in the NASCAR Busch Series standings and
will be looking for his fourth Raybestos Rookie of the Race Award this
weekend as he seeks to improve on his third place in the Raybestos
Rookie of the Year standings.
Marcos Ambrose – Aussie Vineyards-backed #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion
On Dover this weekend …
“Dover is a high speed, high banked concrete oval and one that I’m really looking forward to,” said Ambrose.
“Normally this style of race track isn’t my favourite but we’ve got a
good combination going on at the moment. Everyone in the team is really
working well together and we’ve got a very competitive package right
now.
“Over the last part of the race on Saturday night I was setting times
comparable to those inside the top ten. Hopefully we can translate that
into a finish near the front this weekend.
“The Dover track is a big challenge and always puts on great racing for
the fans. It’s going to be a tough race but one where I think we are
capable of another strong result.”
On today’s Cup test …
“There were about 18 cars out here today at VIR so it was my first
chance to run among other cars and get some solid time in a ‘Car of
Tomorrow’ spec Cup car,” said Ambrose.
“Having the other cars here as well gave us a good reference point and gave us some idea of where we’re at with this car.
“We had a really good day and worked towards getting a good package. We
still have some work to do but we achieved a few things that unlocked
some speed and we’ve got the road course package moving in the right
direction.
“There is still plenty of work for us to do and we will more than
likely schedule another test for the road course program, but today was
a really good day and we got a lot of work done.
“VIR is a great track and a real challenge. It’s a good place to come test these cars.
“You are very limited in terms of the tyres you are able to use in
testing, so you aren’t really running around on the best rubber.
“But overall it’s great that we had the opportunity to do a full day of
testing and really get to work on getting things ready for the Nextel
Cup event at Sonoma on June 24.”
2007 NASCAR Busch Series Points Standings – After Race 13
1. Carl Edwards 2075
2. Kevin Harvick 1652
3. Dave Blaney 1483
4. Matt Kenseth 1431
5. David Reutimann 1393
6. Regan Smith 1393
7. David Ragan 1358
8. Clint Bowyer 1349
9. Jeff Burton 1340
10. Greg Biffle 1320
11. Kyle Busch 1318
12. Bobby Hamilton Jr 1316
13. Marcos Ambrose 1303
14. Casey Mears 1302
15. Juan Pablo Montoya 1302
2007 NASCAR Busch Series Raybestos Rookie of the Year Standings – After Race 13
1. David Ragan 132
2. Juan Pablo Montoya 127
3. Marcos Ambrose 123
4. Kyle Krisiloff 111
5. Brad Keselowski 73
6. Brad Coleman 50
7. Justin Diercks 39
8. Sam Hornish Jr 35
9. Robert Richardson Jr 23
10. Alex Garcia 7
MARCOS AMBROSE FAST FACTS
– Marcos Ambrose and the Aussie Vineyards-backed #59 Kingsford Charcoal
Ford Fusion team at Wood Brothers/JTG Racing have earned US$361,585
(A$581,914) in prizemoney in 13 NASCAR Busch Series races this season
– Ambrose will drive the Aussie Vineyards-backed #59 Kingsford Charcoal
Ford Fusion for Wood Brothers/JTG Racing in the 2007 NASCAR Busch
Series
– Ambrose finished 16th in his NASCAR Busch Series debut at Daytona
International Speedway on 17 February 2007, winning the Raybestos
Rookie of the Race Award in what was his first race on the 2.5-mile
Daytona superspeedway
– The Australian scored his debut NASCAR Busch Series top 10 finish at
his first NASCAR road course event with eighth place at the Autodromo
Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City on 4 March 2007
– Ambrose picked up his second Raybestos Rookie of the Race Award and
second-consecutive top 10 with 10th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on 10
March 2007, also winning the WIX Filters Lap Leader Award and the
Checkers/Rally's Double Drive-Thru Challenge Award for the fastest
Busch Series pit crew
– The 30-year-old will also 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
– Ambrose was born in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia
– finished 21st in the 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and third in
the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings, earning US$256,368 in 22
starts in the #20 Aussie Vineyards Team Australia Ford F-150 for Wood
Brothers/JTG Racing
– 2006 season highlighted by Budweiser Pole and WIX Lap Leader awards
in Kentucky on 8 July 2006, along with third place finishes at Kansas
on 1 July 2006 and Nashville 12 August 2006
– Earned nine top 10 qualifying positions and four top 10 finishes in his first season of oval racing of any description
– Ambrose won two consecutive Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series titles in 2003 and 2004 for Ford
WATCH MARCOS RACE ONLINE FOR FREE
You can now watch live TV broadcasts of the NASCAR Busch Series for the majority of races remaining in the 2007 season.
The live TV broadcast is streamed direct to your computer, with chat features also available.
Best of all, it’s FREE, so check NASCAR.com for the streaming schedule.
NASCAR.com features a host of useful content to help Marcos Ambrose
fans follow NASCAR Busch Series races, whether they are watching the
television coverage, listening to radio or simply following the race
online.
By clicking on the Launch buttons on the Free Live Leaderboards links
on the front page on NASCAR.com, you can not only watch live timing of
NASCAR races, but also click on the Radio Broadcast button to listen to
live radio commentary, an Indianapolis-style Scoring Pylon and a
Head-To-Head Driver Comparison to help you follow Marcos and your other
favourite drivers.
RACE SCHEDULE
Local Delaware (US Eastern) Times
Practice 1
Friday 1 June 2007
9:00am – 10:00am
Rookie Practice
Friday 1 June 2007
1:20pm – 1:45pm
Final Practice
Friday 1 June 2007
2:00pm – 3:00pm
Qualifying
Saturday 2 June 2007
11:05am
Race – 200 laps
Saturday 2 June 2007
3:00pm
UNITED STATES TV SCHEDULE
Saturday 2 June 2007
ESPN2
2:30pm
AUSTRALIAN TIMES
Australian Eastern Standard Times
Practice 1
Friday 1 June 2007
11:00pm – 12:00am
Rookie Practice
Saturday 2 June 2007
3:20am – 3:45am
Final Practice
Saturday 2 June 2007
4:00am – 5:00am
Qualifying
Sunday 3 June 2007
1:05am
Race – 200 laps
Sunday 3 June 2007
5:00am
Sunday 3 June 2007
FOX Sports Two
4:30am – 7:00am
AUSTRALIAN TV REPLAYS
Monday 4 June 2007
FOX Sports Three
1:00am – 3:00am
ABOUT DOVER INTERNATIONAL SPEEDWAY
Location: Dover, Delaware
Track Length: 1.0 mile (1.60 km)
Race Distance: 200 laps – 200 miles (321.87km)
Total Race Purse: US$1,127,483 (A$1,376,322)
Degree of Banking in Turns: 24 degrees
Degree of Banking in Straights: 9 degrees
NASCAR BUSCH SERIES RECORD BOOK
Busch Series Race Record: Dale Earnhardt Jr (1hr, 32min, 12sec) 30 May 1998
Busch Qualifying Record: David Green (22.797 seconds/187.735mph) 6 June 2004
Defending Busch Race Champion: Jeff Burton
Defending Busch Polesitter: none (weather)
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