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Marcos Ambrose has made a solid start and taken a conservative approach ahead of tomorrow’s O’Reilly Challenge, posting the 27th fastest time in qualifying at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth, Texas today.
The Australian secured the Aussie Vineyards-backed #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion a 14th row start in the 43-car field for tomorrow’s 200-lap race. Ambrose ran qualifying today with a set-up aimed at attaining a strong race package, sacrificing some qualifying speed for a solid race set-up, as cars are ‘impounded’ between qualifying and the race.
Ambrose worked at gaining a race set-up all day at the fast 1.5-mile speedway, working through various set-ups with an eye towards tomorrow’s race.
Earlier today Ambrose was 23rd fastest in final practice, setting two fast laps in the final stages of the session after concentrating on race set-up for the majority of the session. Ambrose was 30th fastest in opening practice and fourth fastest in Rookie Practice.
David Reutimann will start tomorrow’s O’Reilly Challenge from pole position ahead of Tony Stewart and NASCAR Busch Series points leader Carl Edwards.
Marcos Ambrose – Aussie Vineyards-backed #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion
“We sacrificed a bit of qualifying speed to make sure we had a good race car for tomorrow,” said Ambrose.
“You have to make sure you are ‘free’ enough to have a good car to last tomorrow’s race, so it makes qualifying a little tougher.
“The hope is that we will have a good race car tomorrow and this will not mean as much. We’d like to be higher than that but that’s the way it is, so we will push on tomorrow and see how we end up.
“The track feels very fast and it’s probably one of the fastest 1.5-mile tracks we go to all season. It’s a fast place and those corners are tough and can catch you out, so you want your car to be good for the race and that’s what we’re hoping for.”
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