Ambrose Confidence High Entering First Martinsville NASCAR Sprint Cup Race in Little Debbie® Toyota

MARTINSVILLE, Va. - (March 24, 2009) As a newcomer to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, Marcos Ambrose is experiencing many firsts. On Sunday, he recorded his first top-10 finish of the season in his first Cup race at Bristol Motor Speedway in the No. 47 Little Debbie® Toyota. This weekend he turns his first laps in a Cup car at Martinsville Speedway. The .526-mile oval is special to Ambrose because it is where he made his NASCAR debut in the Camping World Truck Series (formerly Craftsman Truck Series) with JTG-Daugherty Racing back on April 1, 2006. “One memory that I have racing there is when Fatback (Michael McSwain) made me eat my first Martinsville hot dog,” Ambrose said. “I guess that was my initiation into NASCAR. Martinsville is where it all began for me. It’s where Tad and Jodi Geschickter gave me my first crack at NASCAR. So, this track has real significance to me.” Ambrose’s experience at Martinsville Speedway consists of two NASCAR Camping World Series starts. Since the Australian driver does not have any laps in a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series entry at the historic short track, his crew chief Frank Kerr took him to Rockingham’s half-mile oval, Little Rock. “Last week, we took Marcos out to Little Rock, which is similar to Martinsville,” said Kerr, who has chosen to run chassis 609 that Ambrose competed in at Phoenix International Raceway last season. “We wanted him to run on a track of that size to get used to running with a lot of brake and not overdriving the corners. Not overdriving the corners will be the biggest challenge he’ll face this weekend. We feel confident and he’ll do just fine. We’ve got some momentum and we are looking to top our finish at Bristol.” Before Bristol Motor Speedway, his best finish this season was 17th in the Daytona 500. His recent performance at Bristol was his second-best NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career finish. “I’m trying to break that mentality thing of being a road-racing guy,” said Ambrose, whose career-best finish is third place at Watkins Glen International last year. “I know I’m good on road courses, but I want to be good at every single track we go to on the circuit and that especially includes challenging places like Bristol and Martinsville.” Before racing on Sunday, Ambrose and his JTG-Daugherty Racing team have a lot at stake at Sportlanes bowling alley. “We are bowling against some teams in Martinsville and there is $200 prize and a trophy up for grabs,” Ambrose said. “So, we’ve really got to be on our game. We’re really looking forward to hanging out and having a good time, but we’re taking it seriously because we want to win.” On Sunday, live coverage of the Goody’s Fast Relief 500 on Sunday, March 29th begins at 1:30 p.m. ET on FOX and 1:15 p.m. on MRN Radio. The event can also be heard on Sirius XM Satellite Radio.