Ambrose Starts 14th in Gatorade Duel 1 on Thursday

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. February 8, 2009: Today for the first time in his career Marcos Ambrose experienced the unique qualifying procedure for the Daytona 500 where only the two fastest cars solidified their starting spots at Daytona International Speedway. Martin Truex Jr. earned the pole and Mark Martin snatched the outside pole position for The Great American Race.

After posting a time of 48.384 seconds (30th-place) today during NASCAR Sprint Cup Series qualifying, Ambrose is now ready for competition in Gatorade Duel 1 with his No. 47 Little Debbie® Toyota Camry where he will start 14th. The Gatorade Duels are two 150-mile qualifying races that will actually determine the starting lineup for the Daytona 500.

“We’ve got a decent spot for the Duels and we’ll make the No. 47 Little Debbie® Toyota Camry a good race car in drafting practice,” Ambrose said. “This is my only chance to learn and get confidence in the pack and let people see that I’m going to be safe if I’m somewhere near the front. I’m just going to try to find a good hole and just be consistent so people know what I’m all about. I’m really looking forward to Thursday.”

Michael Waltrip is also in the same event as Ambrose. Waltrip will start 16th in the No. 55 NAPA AUTO PARTS Toyota Camry. David Reutimann is in Gatorade Duel 2 and will start 10th.

Explanation of the Gatorade Duels courtesy of NASCAR.com:

The fastest qualifier will earn the pole for both the Daytona 500 and the first 150-mile Gatorade Duel qualifying race. In addition to the polesitter, the odd-number positions (1st, 3rd, 5th, etc.) of the highest-ranked 35 finishers in the previous year's Sprint Cup Series car owner points standings will be assigned to the first qualifier.

The second-fastest qualifier earns the outside pole for the Daytona 500 and will start on the pole for the second 150-mile Gatorade Duel qualifying race. In addition to the second-fastest qualifier, the even-number positions (2nd, 4th, 6th, etc.) of the highest-ranked 35 finishers in the previous year's series owner points standings will be assigned to the second qualifier.

The lineup for each qualifying race will be set based upon the qualifying speeds in the time trials for all cars, including those who are among the highest-ranked 35 in the final 2007 car owner point standings. The highest-ranked 35 designation does not determine the car's starting position, only the assignment of its 150-mile qualifying event.

Additional cars that were not among the highest-ranked 35 in the previous year's series owner points will be alternated between the first and second 150-mile qualifying events using an odd-even format. The odd-number positions will be assigned to the first qualifier while the even-number positions will be assigned to the second qualifier. The odd-even positions are not determined by where the car qualified in the overall field, but their specific qualifying order among those cars not part of the highest-ranked 35 group.

A maximum of 66 cars will be permitted to compete between the two qualifying races, and all cars must compete in one of these events to be eligible for the Daytona 500.

Starting positions for the Daytona 500 will be designated for the highest-ranked 35 positions from the previous year's series owner point standings from each qualifier, the two-highest finishing cars in each qualifier not among that highest-ranked 35 group and the two front-row qualifiers. The balance of the 43-car field will be filled by the fastest remaining qualifiers who have not earned a starting position, with the exception of the 43rd position which will be assigned to an eligible former or current series champion. Should there not be an eligible champion, the position will be assigned to the next fastest qualifier not in the field.