FORT WORTH, Texas (November 5, 2009) – Marcos Ambrose is looking forward to a fresh start at Texas Motor Speedway in the Dickies 500 after last weekend’s Talladega Superspeedway spectacle.
“Talladega was great until we had five laps to go and then it all went pear-shaped on me,” Ambrose said. “I’m not sure what happened, but I just feel terrible for the outcome - - Ryan (Newman) on his roof and Tony (Stewart) taken out of contention for the championship.
“We were all in line at the top and I thought I was in the safest spot I could be,” Ambrose continued. “I was helping push Ryan and Tony up through there because I felt those guys were going to go to the front. The next thing I know, I was in the back of the No. 39 and I don’t know what started it - - whether I was getting pushed from behind or whether the guys ahead of us checked up. Then I’m spinning out backwards and watching Ryan flip through the air as he’s chasing me upside down. I had a terrible feeling in my stomach that Ryan was hurt. Thankfully, he got out okay. That plate racing is real a challenge and you put yourself in such bad positions to try to get to the front. When something goes wrong, you just don’t have any time to react.”
With the season winding down and only three races remaining, Ambrose has not slowed down. It has been full speed ahead for the No. 47 Little Debbie® Toyota driver, who is fresh off a two-day Goodyear tire test at Daytona International Speedway.
“It’s been a long season and I’m ready for the Daytona 500 for a fresh start,” said Ambrose, whose No. 47 Little Debbie® Toyota was one of 18 cars at the 2.5-mile tri-oval in advance of the season opening 52nd annual Daytona 500. “It was an interesting test and it felt like we had 20 cars in the pack there at one stage while drafting. We were doing 20 and 25 lap runs on different compound tires. The idea was really to get the speeds up to where they needed to be to get excessive tire wear like you are going to experience in the race. We all made it back without wrecking cars, which I think was a miracle because we did four or five pack runs. All the drivers did a good job of keeping their cars straight and giving good feedback so Goodyear can bring the best tire they have for the Daytona 500.”
Now, Ambrose’s focus turns to the Dickies 500. The Australian driver started 11th and was a top five contender until problems under the hood sidetracked his efforts leaving him to settle for a 41st-place finish in the April race at Texas.
“We ran well there and it’s a good track for me,” Ambrose said. “We just need to have a good finish. We’ve had some bad luck recently and we want to end our season on a high note. Next season, we hope to win races and be in the top-12, which is ambitious, but realistic since we think we’ll finish somewhere around 17th in the points. We started off with expectations to at least finish in the top-35 and right now with three races to go we are in the top-20 (18th).”
Friday morning at 10:30 am CST/11:30 am EST Marcos and JTG Daugherty Racing team owner Brad Daugherty will appear at the Brookshire’s Trackside store in the campground area at Texas Motor Speedway. They will share a special announcement with the fans in attendance as well as unveil the new Little Debbie Cupcake race car and host some fun contests for anyone that wants to participate. If you are at the track Friday morning please stop by and join the fun! Live coverage of the Dickies 500 on ABC begins at 2:30 p.m. Eastern. The event will also be broadcast by PRN Radio and Sirius XM Satellite
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