TEAM REPORTS (DAYTONA, FLA.) - AMBROSE PLEASED WITH PROGRESS AT SEASON OPENING TEST

Marcos Ambrose is pleased with his team’s progress following the completion of the first official NASCAR Nationwide Series test of the season at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida yesterday.

The Australian is excited about his prospects after his first hit-out for the 2008 season at the fast 2.5-mile superspeedway, with the crew on the #59 Kingsford Hickory Ford Fusion gelling well with the addition of new staff over the off-season.

JTG Racing was pleased with the progress achieved over the first two days of testing, so much so that the Harrisburg, North Carolina-based team elected to skip the final day of testing, as did many other teams.

The focus has now quickly shifted to the next official NASCAR Nationwide Series test at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Nevada on January 30-31. The Las Vegas test will be a crucial one for Ambrose and JTG Racing, representing an opportunity to test on a fast 1.5-mile oval before the start of the season.

While it was car development and set-up that was the priority for teams at the test, Ambrose achieved his best time in the afternoon session on Monday with seventh fastest in the #59 Kingsford Hickory Ford Fusion.

Ambrose is confident that progress made over the two days of testing at Daytona can be translated into positive developments on the team’s superspeedway car ahead of the opening race of the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series, the Camping World 300 at Daytona International Speedway on February 16.

Marcos Ambrose – #59 Kingsford Hickory Ford Fusion

“The team is very happy at the moment because we had a really good test in Daytona,” said Ambrose.

“Our 59 Kingsford crew only took one car to Daytona rather than two. We’ve had a lot of work to over the off-season with a lot of cars to sort out and a lot of new people coming on board. So we decided to focus on getting one superspeedway car really strong and I’m happy to say it all went to plan.

“We are putting a lot of emphasis on the Las Vegas test as the 1.5-mile program is a big part of the season.

“We took our best superspeedway car to Daytona and we were really, really pleased with how we performed.

“Our crew worked through a whole range of set-ups and options over the first two days and everything went to plan. It was important to get back to the workshop and build on what we learned. Now we have an extra day up our sleeve to adjust our superspeedway car using what we learned and also get ready for the Las Vegas test.

“The car was strong both in the draft and on single car runs and we achieved a lot in our two days in Daytona, it was a very productive couple of days. Now the focus shifts to building a good race car for the first race in Daytona in terms of the superspeedway side of things and we are putting a lot of focus on the Las Vegas test in a week.

“It was fantastic to work with the team in Daytona and I really got a kick out of how we all gelled and worked so well together. Walter Giles, Ken Douglas and Paul Forgie were all working away really hard and learning our crew and I just couldn’t be more pleased with how our first test back for the new season went in terms of our team.

“The Vegas test is now a big focus for us but I’m very excited about how well we all worked together in Daytona and the potential is definitely there. I’m really excited about things at the moment and I’m thankful to have such a great team of people around me.”