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Ambrose to start from 18th after rain washes out qualifying in California |
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Saturday, 23 February 2008 |
Marcos Ambrose will start the Stater Bros 300 from 18th position after rain
cancelled qualifying for the event at the Auto Club Speedway (nee California
Speedway) in Fontana, California today.
Both practice sessions were rained out, forcing NASCAR to set the field using
2007 Owner's Points and replace tomorrow morning's qualifying session with a
single practice session for NASCAR Nationwide Series teams, including Ambrose
and his #59 Kingsford Hickory Ford Fusion from JTG Racing.
Marcos
Ambrose - #59 Kingsford Hickory Ford Fusion
"We're just busting to
get out on the track, have a good run and see what we've got," said Ambrose.
"It feels like I've been waiting all off-season to get to this point.
This track here and the race will be a real good indication of where we are at
as a team. We're ready to go.
“I was in the car, started it up and was
backing out. Then NASCAR called off practice because of the rain. It feels like
it [practice] was never going to happen. I guess you've just got to be patient
and we'll hopefully get out there this afternoon and have a good run."
Q: HOW DOES THIS CHANGE YOUR THOUGHTS AND PREPARATIONS FOR THE
RACE?
MA: "It doesn't change anything, you've just got to run with
what you have. Hopefully, what we've built is close and we can go out there and
have a good weekend. The difficult part is just not knowing what you've got. You
want to go out there, get on the track and do your job as a professional driver.
I'm here to win races. I can't do that unless I go out there and practice."
Q: DID YOU BRING A NEW RACE FUSION HERE?
MA: "It's a
brand new car, pretty much. It's been fully re-built. We ran it at Las Vegas in
testing, but that's a different style of speedway, so I'm not sure how much data
we can use from there. We were happy with it there, we're just really eager to
get out there and see what we've got."
Q: HOW MUCH DO WILL YOU RELY
ON THE TEAM AND THEIR EXPERIENCE WITH MINIMAL PRACTICE?
MA: "It's
going to really show where we are at as a team. What we've done over the
off-season and where we're at now. There's no pressure on us right now. Walter
[Giles, crew chief] and I have got to get to know each other. We haven't had
much of a chance to work with each other. We've had one really good test at Las
Vegas and then the Daytona race where we didn't have the finish we were hoping
for. We need to get working and that's what it's all about for us."
2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series Standings – After Race 1 of 35
1. Tony Stewart 190
2. Kyle Busch 180
3. Dale Earnhardt Jr 165
4. Brian Vickers 165
5. Matt Kenseth 155
6. Bryan Clauson 150
7.
Greg Biffle 146
8. Denny Hamlin 147
9. David Ragan 143
10. Carl
Edwards 134
39. Marcos Ambrose 46
REVISED RACE
SCHEDULE
Local California (US Pacific) Times
Practice
Saturday 23 February 2008
9:30am - 11:00am
Race – 150 laps
Saturday 23 February 2008
4:30pm US Pacific
7:30pm US Eastern
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