Today’s result, which saw Ambrose as the highest-placed Ford, lifts him one spot
to 13th in the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series driver’s standings, just 54 points
outside of the top 10.
Ambrose earned his best starting spot for the
season so far by qualifying third in the #59 STP Ford Fusion, running strongly
in the top 10 all night at the 1.5-mile speedway.
The Australian driver
was quick to give credit and praise to his crew chief Gary Cogswell after the
great finish. The result is the ninth race from 16 so far this season where
Ambrose has finished in the top 20.
Ambrose started from third position
but dropped to fourth on the first lap. Once settled into the race Ambrose
jumped back past David Stremme to regain third position on lap 25 and as the
first round of green flag pit stops played out, Ambrose led several laps, giving
him five bonus points towards his championship standings.
Ambrose
continued to run strongly over the course of the 200-lap race and came home with
great car speed, a positive sign entering the next series of races.
18-year-old Joey Logano won today’s Meijer 300 in just his third NASCAR
Nationwide Series start, becoming the youngest race winner in series history.
Scott Wimmer was second and Mike Wallace third.
Next weekend sees
Ambrose aim to make his NASCAR Sprint Cup Series debut in the Toyota/Save Mart
350 at Infineon Raceway in Sonoma, California on June 22.
Ambrose will
have to qualify on speed in the #21 Little Debbie Ford Fusion for Wood Brothers
Racing, as that car lies outside the top 35 in owner’s points and is therefore
not guaranteed a starting spot.
Ambrose will pull ‘double duty’ next
weekend, continuing his NASCAR Nationwide Series campaign with the Camping World
RV Rental 250 at The Milwaukee Mile in Milwaukee, Wisconsin on Saturday June 21.
Qualifying for the Cup event will be held on Friday June 20 and if
Ambrose qualifies for the race, he will participate in two practice sessions at
Infineon Raceway on Saturday, which will mean that Robert Pressley will serve as
a back-up driver for Ambrose in practice and qualifying in Milwaukee.
QUOTES – MARCOS AMBROSE
“Gary Cogswell has done a great
job for us as a new crew chief,” said Ambrose.
“He got us all back on
the same page. We got back to some basics. It’s taken him seven races to get us
there, but I feel like we're really starting to turn a corner.
“It was
just a solid run. We didn’t panic any where through the race. We didn't panic
three, four or five races ago.
We just knew that we had to get back to
basics and understand what we had and start working it out.”
Q: WAS
IT IMPORTANT HAVING A GOOD RUN GOING INTO NEXT WEEK’S DOUBLE DUTY?
“I
guess it justifies a little bit why were going out there. We're going out there
to try and stay in the points and see if we can get ourselves back in the top
10, so it helps with that. That was good, so we'll try and do double duty next
week and see how it goes.”
Q: DID THE CAR FEEL BETTER THAN IT HAS IN
THE PAST? IS IT A HANDLING THING?
“It’s just understanding what these
cars need. I haven’t done a very good job of trying to get what I need and Gary
has been good enough to listen to what I’m saying and make changes and we’re
heading in the right direction.”
Q: YOU RAN IN THE TOP 10 ALL
NIGHT.
“Yeah, it’s nice isn’t it? It’s a nice change. I’m pretty pumped
with that. There’s a lot of expectation on us this year being the second year.
We want to get back to top 10 in points. We just want to run solid top-10s all
week, every weekend. That’s the first time we've generally been in the top 10
all day. I'm pretty proud of my guys.”
Q: DO YOU FEEL THAT YOU'VE
FOUND YOUR RHYTHM?
“I think we’re starting to understand what these cars
need. Our team is working great combined between myself and the 47 team with
sharing information and we’re getting on top of it. As a team, we're moving
forward.”
RESULTS: Meijer 300 at Kentucky Speedway
Race 16
in the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series
1. #20 Joey Logano 200 laps
2.
#29 Scott Wimmer
3. #7 Mike Wallace
4. #88 Brad Keselowski
5. #40
Bryan Clauson
6. #59 Marcos Ambrose
7. #6 David Ragan
8. #1
Mike Bliss
9. #2 Clint Bowyer
10. #11 Jason Keller
RESULTS:
Qualifying
1. #20 Joey Logano 30.759
2. #11 Jason Keller 30.883
3. #59 Marcos Ambrose 30.883
4. #64 David Stremme 30.902
5.
#27 Brad Coleman 30.950
6. #40 Bryan Clauson 30.963
7. #18 Jeremy
Clements 30.963
8. #5 Landon Cassill 30.994
9. #29 Scott Wimmer 31.049
10. #38 Jason Leffler 31.066
2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series
Standings - After Race 16 of 35
1. Clint Bowyer 2336
2. Brad
Keselowski 2166
3. David Reutimann 2161
4. Carl Edwards 2111
5. Kyle
Busch 2093
6. David Ragan 2041
7. Mike Bliss 2041
8. Mike Wallace
1944
9. David Stremme 1916
10. Jason Leffler 1834
13. Marcos
Ambrose 1780
AUSTRALIAN TV REPLAY
Saturday 21 May 2008
Ten HD
12:00pm – 1:00pm AEST
ABOUT KENTUCKY SPEEDWAY
Location: Sparta, Kentucky
Track Length: 1.5 miles (2.41 km)
Race
Distance: 200 laps – 300 miles (321.87km)
Degree of Banking in Turns: 14
degrees
Degree of Banking in Front Straight: 8 degrees
Degree of Banking
in Back Straight: 4 degrees
NASCAR NATIONWIDE SERIES RECORD BOOK
Defending Nationwide Race Winner: Stephen Leicht
Defending Nationwide
Polesitter: Regan Smith
Marcos Ambrose 2007 Race Finish! : 11th
Marcos
Ambrose 2007 Qualifying: Sixth
|
Marcos Ambrose drives the #59 STP
Ford Fusion at Kentucky Speedway (Credit: TheHotLap.com)
Marcos Ambrose with the #59 STP Ford
Fusion before the race in Kentucky (Credit: TheHotLap.com)
Australian NASCAR driver Marcos
Ambrose (Credit: TheHotLap.com)
Marcos Ambrose leads the pack at Kentucky
Speedway (Credit: TheHotLap.com)
Marcos Ambrose in the pits (Credit:
TheHotLap.com)
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