Ambrose Scores Top-5 Finish at Talladega Superspeedway

TALLADEGA, Ala. (April 27, 2009) – Marcos Ambrose avoided a spectacular crash on the final lap of the Aaron’s 499 to finish fourth in his No. 47 Little Debbie® Toyota at Talladega Superspeedway Sunday afternoon. Ambrose’s first top-five finish of the season catapulted his JTG-Daugherty Racing team seven positions in the owner point standings to 19th-place.

“We had a really good points day and everyone did an awesome job,” Ambrose said. “But, man that was a wild finish and it was the most spectacular thing I have ever seen coming across the finish line looking at a car (Carl Edwards’ No. 99 Aflac entry) upside down like that. We fortunately escaped and were able to bring home our first top-five finish this year. I made three good choices today to get up there and we were able to capitalize in the end.”

Ambrose scored his second-career top five finish during the dramatic final lap. Approaching the finish line, Carl Edwards’ No. 99 Claritin entry launched into air and hit the fence after contact was made with Brad Keselowski -- who had pushed him to the front to take the lead from Ryan Newman.

“I’m just glad everyone is alright,” Ambrose said. “This is crazy racing, it really is. It’s insanity on four wheels.”

Indeed things happen quickly at the 2.66-mile tri-oval and as Ambrose started the 188-lap race from 34th-place he received a notice only seven laps later. Contact made between Matt Kenseth and Jeff Gordon’s cars set off a synchronized spinning of several others. Luckily, Ambrose was able to escape the mêlée and not hit anything.

“We didn’t hit anyone, but we spun out trying not to,” Ambrose said.

Crew chief Frank Kerr radioed the team to have everything ready in case there was damage to the No. 47 Little Debbie® Toyota. Ambrose thought the splitter was bent somewhat after he spun.

“I was trying to avoid the wreck,” Ambrose said. “It was a comedy act really, but we were okay.”

The JTG-Daugherty Racing crew went to work on the Little Debbie® Toyota on Lap 9 to change four tires, add fuel and make sure the car was in good shape. Ambrose restarted 11th five laps later. On Lap 20, he drifted back and awaited his next pit stop that came at Lap 30 for four fresh tires and a chassis adjustment.

He took the green flag again at Lap 34 and was in 16th-place. Riding around comfortably, Ambrose was just waiting for the right time to make his charge to the front. On Lap 42, Ambrose did a great job of keeping control of his car as Michael Waltrip’s No. 55 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota slid across his nose and went spinning around in the tri-oval.

“They stacked up in front of me and I thought I had room, but I drove across my teammate’s hood,” Michael Waltrip said after the incident.

Ambrose came in for the team to check for damage on Lap 43. They changed right-side tires and made a small repair. Ambrose returned to the track in 21st place for the restart.

On Lap 61 under caution, Ambrose was back on pit road for right-side tires again and a chassis adjustment. He was then in ninth place coming to the green four laps later.

Martin Truex Jr. showed the way and by Lap 67 Ambrose was in the top five running fifth. Six laps later, Ambrose found himself tightly packed in the middle and shuffled back to 19th the next lap.

His next yellow flag pit stop at Lap 85 gave the team a chance to make sure Ambrose’s fenders were not bent and they also changed four tires. Restarting 18th at Lap 88, Ambrose hung out in the top 20.

Another caution at Lap 123 allowed the JTG-Daugherty team to change four tires. On Ambrose's next stop under caution at Lap 147, Kerr called for two tires only. The No. 47 Little Debbie® Toyota restarted 15th.

Things started to heat up inside 20 laps to go. Leading since Lap 154, Kyle Busch spun in Turn 4 on Lap 171 after Jeff Burton’s car made contact with his. Ambrose was sixth on the restart at Lap 175 with Matt Kenseth shown as the new leader, Dale Earnhardt Jr. in second, Jeff Burton in third, Kurt Busch in fourth and Joey Logano in fifth. With nine laps to go and everyone tightly packed together, the ninth caution of the race occurred and several cars were knocked out of contention (No. 1,7,11,12,41,42,48,55,77,96).

As the field restarted with four laps remaining, Ambrose was seventh with Ryan Newman leading the field. As Newman was down on the bottom, the two cars of Edwards and Keselowski blew by him up top. The final lap was shocking as Edwards broke loose when contact was made between him in Keselowski in front of Ambrose. Edwards' car went airborne while trying to block Keselowski from his first career win. Keselowski won the event, Earnhardt Jr. finished second. Newman was collected in Edwards crash, but still finished third. Ambrose was able to escape unscathed and almost match his career-best finish (third-place at Watkins Glen International) with his fourth-place effort.

“He’s the real deal,” Kerr said. “He did a great job today. He was patient and was there at the end. We had a great points day. It was good to see him do so well with our sponsors at Talladega to see it firsthand.”

Next up for Ambrose and his JTG-Daugherty Racing is Richmond International Raceway. Live coverage on Saturday, May 2nd begins at 7 p.m. ET on FOX and 6:45 p.m. ET on MRN Radio. The event will also air on Sirius XM Satellite Radio.

Ambrose Scores a Top-15 Finish at PIR

AVONDALE, Ariz. (April 19, 2009) – On Saturday night, Marcos Ambrose crossed the finish line 14th with his No. 47 Clorox® Toyota Camry in the Subway Fresh Fit 500 at Phoenix International Raceway. It was his third top 15 finish and fifth top 20 finish in eight NASCAR Sprint Cup Series starts this season.

Ambrose advanced two positions to 26th in the driver championship standings and is currently 169 markers out of 12th place occupied by Matt Kenseth. Jeff Gordon leads the standings with Jimmie Johnson in second, Kurt Busch in third, Tony Stewart in fourth and Denny Hamlin rounds out the top five.

“It felt good running in the top 10 in only my second time at Phoenix in a Cup car and we were able to pick up a couple spots in the points standings,” Ambrose said. “The points are still pretty close and we’re not far outside the top 12. That feels pretty good for us.”

On Friday, Ambrose was the first of 48 drivers to attempt to qualify for the 312-lap event at the one-mile desert oval. After turning a lap of 27.190 seconds, he started 29th among the 43 car field. Mark Martin won the pole (26.903 seconds).

At the start of the race on Saturday, the No. 47 Clorox® Toyota Camry was loose in and off and tight in the middle. Under the first caution of the race, the JTG-Daugherty Racing team took their first stab at adjusting the problem on Lap 55. They changed four tires and pulled a quarter sprint rubber out of the left rear. “The Clorox® Camry was loose in, pushing the nose, had no forward bite and the left front was real high,” Ambrose said. “I couldn’t keep the left front down.”

Ambrose restarted in 20th-place on Lap 59. The pit crew had another opportunity to improve handling at Lap 102. They worked on the car for a second time under caution. “It had no forward bite and was chattering the right front and loose off,” Ambrose said.

The Australian driver went back to work at Lap 108 in 23rd place and returned to the top 20 eight laps later. After more adjustments on Lap 139 under caution, Ambrose was still battling being loose in and loose off and tight in the middle. He was back on pit road on Lap 152 under caution. The team changed two tires and inserted a spring rubber in the right rear to try to tighten up the No. 47 Clorox® Toyota Camry on entry and exit. They were still trying to get the left corner down.

The field took the green again on Lap 155 and Ambrose was occupying 24th place. The frontrunners pitted under the next caution at Lap 167, but the No. 88 entry of Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Ambrose stayed out on the track. The call to stay out by crew chief Frank Kerr positioned Ambrose in second place.

The next eight laps, Ambrose stayed in second. On Lap 177, 14-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series winner Kyle Busch was on the inside of his Clorox® Camry, but Ambrose was able to hold on to the spot for another lap. As Busch finally passed Ambrose, he brought four-time Cup champion and points leader Jeff Gordon along with him. Ambrose was then fourth on Lap 179 and Tony Stewart (who finished second) was in his mirror with fresher tires.

Finally, on Lap 183 Stewart made the pass. With older tires, Ambrose slid out of the top five the next lap and his car was loose off and tight in the middle. Even though Ambrose fell back to eighth ten laps later, he was running lap times as same as Earnhardt Jr., who maintained the lead.

Kerr called Ambrose to pit road under green at Lap 231 for four tires and a chassis adjustment. Once everyone pitted, Ambrose was back to his top 10 run and climbed to seventh on Lap 246. Ten laps later, Ambrose radioed to his team that the Clorox® Camry had lost grip. With the car having no grip, Ambrose fought to stay inside the top 10. On Lap 273, Martin Truex Jr. battled Ambrose for tenth and made the pass.

At Lap 299, Kerr communicated to Ambrose that they did not have enough fuel to go to the end.
“We were going to have to splash and go,” Kerr said.

Ambrose was running 15th and it appeared that he was going to have to pit under green and give up his track position in the next lap or two. Luckily for the JTG-Daugherty Racing team, the yellow flag waved at Lap 300 for an accident involving Casey Mears and Earnhardt Jr. The team came in for fuel and also changed two tires and made a wedge adjustment on the Clorox® Camry. The field restarted on Lap 306 and in the next six laps Ambrose maintained a top 15 run to go on to finish 14th.

Next week, Ambrose and his JTG-Daugherty Racing team head to Talladega Superspeedway for the Aaron’s 499. Live coverage begins at 1 p.m. ET on FOX and 1:15 p.m. ET on MRN Radio. The event will also air on Sirius XM Satellite Radio.

Accident Slows NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota to a 37th-Place Finish at PIR

AVONDALE, Ariz. – Michael Waltrip was hoping to turn in a solid performance at one of his favorite tracks on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series circuit – the Phoenix International Raceway. But shortly after the 160-lap mark of the Subway Fresh Fit 500 on Saturday night, the NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota was involved in a crash with driver Robby Gordon. The NAPA team did its best to make repairs in the pits during the caution, but the car sustained too much damage to maintain a top-20 pace. The end result was a 37th-place finish.

“I don’t really understand what went wrong, but I guess I got loose underneath Robby (Gordon),” said Waltrip who started the race in 32nd position. I love to drive and I want to get better finishes for this race team because they all deserve it. We had two cars that finished in the top 15 and we should have been up there with them. I asked my guys to hang in there with me. It’s a long season and I’m not going to give up. Next week is Talladega. I know how to win there.”

Mark Martin led the 43-car field to the green flag and showed everyone that he was a contender. As for Waltrip and his NAPA team, they battled a loose-handling condition during the early stages. The two-time Daytona 500 champion told his team that he thought his car was good, but it had too much air in the tires. The first chance to pit and work on the car happened under caution on lap 57. The team made air pressure and track bar changes. Waltrip returned to the track in 36th position.

Meanwhile, the next green-flag segment saw the NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry turn faster lap times enabling the team to be scored in 29th position on lap 98. Four circuits later, debris brought out the second caution. Waltrip told crew chief Bootie Barker that his car was much better. It just needed a little bit more help. So on lap 103, the pit crew made air pressure and wedge adjustments. The fast stop allowed Waltrip to retake the green flag on lap 108 in 27th position. Kurt Busch was the new leader.

Waltrip remained in 27th position when the third caution of the day came out 30 laps later. The NAPA driver told his team that the last adjustments hurt the car as it was now loose. The crew went back to work and completed the service in 13.6 seconds. The pit crew helped their driver gain two positions on the track. The race went back to green on lap 142 with Waltrip in 24th place. Then just eight laps later, the yellow flag was back out after AJ Allmendinger had a problem on the track. Barker used the caution to make more changes to the NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota. Only air pressure was adjusted. Waltrip took the restart on lap 155 in 26th position.

Waltrip’s bid to join his teammates David Reutimann and Marcos Ambrose, who were running seventh and 19th at the time, came to an end on lap 165. While entering Turn 4, his No. 55 machine slid up and made contact with the car driven by Robby Gordon. The incident left both cars damaged. Waltrip’s Toyota sustained the most damage in the right rear. The NAPA team worked on the car in the pits during laps 166, 167 and 169. Waltrip was able to get back out onto the track, but his car was no longer in competitive form as he notified his team that his car was bent. The end result was a disappointing 37th-place finish.

Mark Martin was able to retake the lead on lap 307 to score his first victory in nearly four years. Rounding out the top-10 finishers were Tony Stewart, Kurt Busch, Jimmie Johnson, Greg Biffle, Denny Hamlin, Martin Truex Jr., Reutimann, Sam Hornish Jr. and Carl Edwards.

Michael Waltrip Racing’s David Reutimann scored his second top-10 finish of the season. The result moved him up two positions to ninth place in the championship points standings. Meanwhile, Marcos Ambrose turned in another solid finish by crossing the line in 14th position.

Next up for Waltrip and the NAPA team is the Aaron’s 499 at Talladega Superspeedway on Sunday, April 27. Waltrip knows his way around the restrictor-plate track as he won there in his NAPA machine in 2003. Broadcast coverage starts at 1 p.m. ET on FOX. It also can be heard on MRN and Sirius XM Satellite radio networks.

Ryan Truex Pairs with MWR in NASCAR Camping World East Series

CORNELIUS, N.C. – At 17 years of age, Ryan Truex has a career action plan and one of his long-term career goals includes following his NASCAR champion brother Martin Truex Jr. to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series level.

Today, Michael Waltrip Racing (MWR) announced a partnership that will field a full-time NASCAR Camping World East program for the young Truex as he takes the next step towards fulfilling that lifelong dream. The season-opener is this weekend at Greenville-Pickens (S.C.) Speedway.

“Pairing with a racing organization like Michael Waltrip Racing and having NAPA AUTO PARTS on my Toyota is a great opportunity for me,” said Truex, whose team is operating out of the 140,000 square foot shop in Cornelius, N.C. “MWR is really coming on strong this year in the Cup Series and I hope to learn a lot from just being there each week.”

Last season, Truex finished 11th at Stafford Speedway in his CW East debut and only career start while driving a car prepared by Dale Earnhardt, Inc. Now, he is ready for his first race with Michael Waltrip Racing.

“In essence, Ryan was ready to move to the next level,” said Ty Norris, MWR general manager. “The Truex's had the cars and the engines, but needed someone to house, employ the staff and operate the team. I've known the Truex's since we approached Truex Jr. about driving for DEI's nationwide team in 2003. Ryan has the bloodline and needed the opportunity, so we partnered in this entry. We heard he was aggressive and fast and we can’t wait to see him compete.”

Truex started four years ago racing a Bandolero at Wall Township Speedway in Wall, New Jersey that has been hosting racing event for 54 years. He graduated to Legends and quickly won a speedway championship at the track in 2007. Last season, Truex raced a family-owned Late Model at Motor Mile Speedway in Radford, Va.

Fast forward to today, he’s preparing to turn laps at the half-mile oval in Greenville, S.C.under the watchful eye of his crew chief Mike Greci. Greci has been a regular in the NASCAR garages where he has experienced working with Truex's brother.

“I'm looking forward to starting the season with Mike," Truex said. "Our first race takes place this weekend at Greenville-Pickens, which is a flat half-mile oval with not much grip. We're hoping to leave there with a strong finish."

The NASCAR Camping World Series East broadcast schedule will cover all 11 races. The Greenville-Pickens opener, scheduled for Saturday, April 11, will air Thursday, April 16 on SPEED. The season will conclude Friday, Sept. 25 at Dover International Speedway and the race will be broadcast Thursday, Oct. 1.