Ambrose Looks Forward To Michigan

BROOKLYN, August 12, 2010: Marcos Ambrose arrives in the Irish Hills with his No. 47 Little Debbie Toyota team to conquer the two-mile D-shaped oval of Michigan International Speedway (MIS) where he finished 15th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race in June.

Ambrose is fresh off posting his strongest performance of the season with a third-place finish at Watkins Glen International in the premiere division. The Australian driver also captured his third consecutive NASCAR Nationwide Series Zippo 200 victory winning from the pole at the road course.

“We had good fortune at Watkins Glen and we want that momentum to continue at Michigan,” Ambrose said. “It was tough not winning on Sunday, but we had a great weekend and my guys did a great job. We have a few tracks left that we know we will excel at coming up. I want to win a Cup race badly for my team and our sponsors before we part ways at the end of the season.”

“The NASCAR Nationwide Series Zippo 200 win at Watkins Glen was special and then Marcos had a strong finish in the Cup race on Sunday,” added Tad Geschickter, co-owner of JTG Daugherty Racing. “We started this journey with Marcos five years ago and the ride is going to end here in November. He’s has become a great friend and I believe he’s one of the greatest race car drivers out there. I wish him well as he makes a decision about his future.”

According to Ambrose, he has still not locked in his plans for 2011.

“I haven’t locked in my plans yet for 2011,” Ambrose said. “I seriously looked at going home to Australia, but I still have business here in NASCAR. I have to exhaust all my options here in America first. It was a difficult decision to leave the team, but I had to jump off the cliff to see what’s out there. It’s a high risk venture, but I had to break free to evaluate myself and see why I can run so well on road courses, but not as well on ovals.”

The Australian driver is not giving enough credit where it is due. Ambrose finished third at one of the most demanding ovals on the circuit that is around the corner. A high-banked concrete oval his crew chief Frank Kerr has circled in red on his calendar.

“Every time we show up at Bristol Motor Speedway we have a car capable of winning,” said Kerr, who has one top-five and two top-10 finishes with Ambrose at Bristol Motor Speedway. “We had a shot last time until Marcos was tangled up in an accident. We are really good there. I can’t wait to go back.”

First his driver has to log MIS in the books, which has been taxing on the team at times. Ambrose finished 43rd (engine), 31st and 35th respectively before his top-15 finish.

“A car wrecked into us the last time there, but we were able to repair the body for Marcos to race his way up through the field,” said Kerr about the 15th-place finish. “We are going back with a brand new car (671) and we’ll have a good motor. I feel pretty good about our return this weekend and look to build on our top-15 finish.”