Ambrose Finishes 26th In Rain Shortened Coca-Cola 600

CONCORD, N.C. (May 25, 2009) -- Marcos Ambrose completed 227 laps in the No. 47 Kingsford® Charcoal Toyota to finish 26th in Monday’s rain-shortened NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway.

“We would have had a better finish if the race would have stayed green,” Ambrose said. “We had just pitted and got our lap back when it started to rain. The weather was not in our favor. However, I’m really happy for my teammate, David (Reutimann), and I congratulate him, his team and the entire organization on their first NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory.

He’s an awesome guy and a talented driver. He deserves it.”

Ambrose started the scheduled 400-lap event in 23rd-place. His car was loose in and off in the corners. Plus, it was tight in the middle when the first caution occurred for rain on Lap 6 while positioned 21st. The next caution was thrown for debris 10 laps later. Ambrose stayed out until NASCAR implemented a competition yellow on Lap 40. Crew chief Frank Kerr instructed the team to change four tires, make a track bar adjustment and pull a spring rubber out of the left rear. Ambrose restarted 31st on Lap 44 and 25 laps later; he was running lap times as fast as the leader Kyle Busch.

“The changes my JTG-Daugherty Racing team made were a good move and helped everything,” Ambrose said. “We had been free on entry and then tight in the middle.”

On Lap 70, rainfall was reported in Turn 2 of the 1.5-mile track. NASCAR was forced to wave the yellow flag. As rain began to fall harder, Ambrose drove his Kingsford® Charcoal Toyota onto pit road the following lap for four tires as well as a track bar and shock adjustment. On Lap 72, NASCAR red flagged the event to dry the track. Ambrose was shown in 38th.

Once the track was dry, NASCAR restarted the 50th running of the Coca-Cola 600 on Lap 79. Kyle Busch was leading the way with Carl Edwards and David Reutimann right on his bumper. By Lap 93, Ambrose was running 30th when he radioed in to Kerr about the handling of his No. 47 Kingsford® Charcoal Toyota.

“The left front shock adjustment was not helping,” Ambrose said. “It was just tight in the roll and couldn’t get in. We were fighting being loose in and tight in the middle.”

Ambrose pitted at Lap 128 under green for four tires and more adjustments. He returned to the track in 28th position, one lap down to leader, Brian Vickers.

On Lap 163, the Coca-Cola 600 was stopped at 3 p.m. ET to observe the National Moment of Remembrance on Memorial Day. Ambrose and the Series competitors were brought to rest on the frontstretch and instructed to cut off their engines. Crew members joined on pit road and were lined up for the salute.

“That was one of the coolest things I have ever seen,” Ambrose said.

As rain was looming, Ambrose came down pit road once again at Lap 166 for tires and adjustments. By Lap 176, the field was back on pit road to wait out the rain.

When the event was finally restarted on Lap 179, Ambrose was 28th and first in line for the Lucky Dog pass. Ambrose was in the right position as the yellow flag was once again displayed at Lap 221. Rain was falling in Turn 2. Kerr and the JTG-Daugherty crew had another stab at improving the handling.

Ambrose also earned his lap back and a chance for his third top-10 finish of the season. Meanwhile, Reutimann, pole-sitter Ryan Newman and Robby Gordon gambled and remained on the track when NASCAR threw the caution. Reutimann’s gain was Ambrose’s loss as the Kingsford® Charcoal team would not get another opportunity to improve their finish because the race was called completed some two hours after the red flag was thrown.

Ambrose remains 20th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship points standings heading into Dover International Raceway. Live coverage of Sunday’s Autism Speaks 400 gets underway on Sunday at 1:30 p.m. ET on FOX. MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio will also carry the event.

Ambrose Competes in First Coca-Cola 600

CONCORD, N.C. (May 20, 2009) - - Marcos Ambrose competes in his first Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Sunday in the No. 47 Kingsford® Charcoal Toyota. Last weekend, he earned a respectable 10th-place finish in his first 40-lap NASCAR Sprint Showdown.

“It was a good practice session for us and we learned some things that will help us in the Coca-Cola 600,” Ambrose said. “We’re actually bringing a different Kingsford® Charcoal Toyota with a different setup for this race. It’s the car we raced at Atlanta Motor Speedway earlier this season.”

“We figured we wouldn’t bring that car back from the Showdown without some damage so we planned to run a different car for the Coca-Cola 600,” Kerr said. “We missed the setup a little in the Showdown, but we feel like we’re dialed in with this car we’re bringing.”

Prior to racing Saturday night, Ambrose’s only NASCAR Sprint Cup Series experience at the 1.5-mile track was a two-day tire test in March. Even though he’s still honing his skills, the Australian driver boasts that this type of track suits him.

“Lowe’s Motor Speedway really suits my style,” Ambrose said. “It’s just a great place to race and I learned a lot last weekend. I feel like we made some progress. We’ve just got to get into a groove there.”

Ambrose has plenty of time to do that with 600 miles to go on Sunday.

“I’ve never drove a race this long without sharing driving responsibilities,” Ambrose said. “I’m looking forward to racing into the night there.”

Ambrose has had a busy week with the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in town for two weeks and today it continues. Ambrose along with Michael Waltrip, David Reutimann, Scott Speed, Michael McDowell and Ryan Truex signed autographs for Fan Appreciation Day hosted by JTG-Daugherty Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing. The owners were on hand for autographs too.

Then this evening Ambrose and his crew chief Frank Kerr will go head-to-head against resident house expert Ken Herring for SPEED Channel’s program “Pass Time” at zMAX Dragway in Concord, N.C. There will be a total of 10 passes (one will be a combo round). Ambrose, Kerr and Herring will have a chance to ask each driver one question about their car before guessing the amount of time it will take the car to make a quarter-mile pass. The three will be competing against each other for $2,000.

“I have not had a chance to watch the show, but Frankie has,” Ambrose said. “I guess the cars are chosen the day of the taping and will vary. They are telling us that they will have some excellent cars and drivers. So, it should be real fun.”

“It’s a cool show and it’s going to be nice to see a different side of racing,” Kerr said. “I can’t wait to beat Marcos.”

Live coverage of the Coca-Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 24th begins at 5 p.m. ET on FOX. MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio will also carry the event.

Ambrose Finished Top 10 in First NASCAR Sprint Showdown

CHARLOTTE, N.C. (May 17, 2009) - - Marcos Ambrose took the checkered flag with his No. 47 Kingsford® Charcoal Toyota in 10th-place Saturday night in the NASCAR Sprint Showdown at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Sam Hornish Jr. and Jamie McMurray finished first and second and Joey Logano won fan vote to advance to premier event - - Sprint All-Star Race.

“We started off loose, but we were pretty good,” Ambrose said.

The lineup was set by the qualifying draw due to inclement weather that caused NASCAR to cancel Sprint Showdown qualifying. Ambrose lined up 14th in the 35-car field while Kirk Shelmerdine, Carl Long, David Stremme, Dave Blaney and Scott Riggs occupied the top-five starting positions for the 40 lap preliminary race with two segments.

As the race began, the first caution happened at Lap 2, which involved Tony Raines. Ambrose was ninth when the race went back to green flag racing at Lap 7. He maintained a top 10 run most of the first 20 lap segment and crossed the start-finish line 11th when the caution flag was displayed at Lap 20.

“I was a little too loose,” Ambrose said.

When the second segment kicked off, Ambrose was right back inside the top 10 and running lap times as fast as leader David Stremme. With 15 to go, he was scored in eighth-place. Inside 10 laps remaining, he was 11th and determined to get a top-10 out of his first race at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in the No. 47 Kingsford® Charcoal Toyota. Ambrose crossed the finish line 10th.

“We were tight in the roll,” Ambrose said. “We ran decent and it was a good practice session for us to help prepare for the Coca-Cola 600 next weekend."

For the NASCAR Sprint All-Star event, Tony Stewart won, Matt Kenseth finished second, Kurt Busch was third, Denny Hamlin was fourth and Carl Edwards rounded out the top-five.

Live coverage of the Coca Cola 600 at Lowe’s Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 24th begins at 5 p.m. ET on FOX. MRN and Sirius Satellite Radio will also carry the event.

Ambrose Campaigns For Position In Sprint All-Star Race

CHARLOTTE, N.C. - - While Marcos Ambrose’s No. 47 Kingsford Charcoal® Toyota Camry team trains for the fifth annual NASCAR Sprint Pit Crew Challenge on Thursday night at Time Warner Cable Arena, the Australian driver readies for his first NASCAR Sprint Showdown at Lowe’s Motor Speedway Saturday night.

“I’m looking forward to all the events that lead up to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series All-Star weekend,” Ambrose said. “Sprint puts on an awesome event before their Showdown and All-Star races that showcases the pit crews and this year I’m proud that my No. 47 Kingsford Charcoal® Toyota Camry team has qualified for the Pit Crew Challenge. They deserve to be there because they have earned it. They’ve done an incredible job this year. We’ve come out of the box strong and have maintained a top-20 position in the points. I’ll be there Thursday night to cheer them on.”

Following the head-to-head top-24 pit crew competition, Ambrose’s fate for the Sprint All-Star Race at 1.5-mile quad-oval will be determined in a 40-lap NASCAR Sprint Showdown preliminary. The race winner and runner-up along with a driver selected by a fan vote will advance to the 25th-annual Sprint All-Star Race. The Concord, N.C. event will feature 50-, 20- and 20-lap segments, followed by the 10-lap finale (see below for format).

“It would really mean something to me to get into the main race because I have a special affinity to Lowe’s Motor Speedway,” Ambrose said. “It’s the first 1.5-mile track I ran (NASCAR Camping World Truck Series in 2006) in my NASCAR career. However, I don’t know what to expect because it will be my first time in that type of format. Frankie (crew chief Frank Kerr) and the JTG-Daugherty Racing team are bringing our best piece to try and make the race. I have to race my way in because I haven’t been in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series long enough to get voted in. That’s the way you want to do it - - race your way in.”

“We will try aggressively to get to the front because only the top two spots transfer,” Ambrose continued. “If anything, this is a great way for me to gain experience for the Coca-Cola 600.”

In March, Ambrose participated in a two-day Goodyear tire test at Lowe’s Motor Speedway with Jimmie Johnson, Kasey Kahne and Paul Menard. He hopes that extra time on the track will help him during the 50th running of the Coca-Cola 600 on May 24.

“Like an old record, I’ve never raced in a Cup car at Lowe’s and the Goodyear tire test really helped me get some laps there in the Kingsford Toyota,” Ambrose said. “We feel good about this weekend and next. Last weekend at Darlington Raceway, I didn’t feel good about that place. I always thought Darlington was going to be a problem race for me and I just didn’t think I was going to finish. Being the prophet that I am, I didn’t finish very well and ended up 33rd. Now, I’m really pumped for the rest of the season as we get to some of these standard 1.5-mile tracks that I like.”


All-Star Format compliments of NASCAR.com:

The annual All-Star Race brings together NASCAR's best under the lights at the 1.5-mile Lowe's Motor Speedway in Concord, N.C., as a prelude to the following week's Coca-Cola 600, annually held on Memorial Day weekend.

The race includes:

• Race-winning drivers from the previous and current Cup Series seasons.

• Cup Series champions from the past 10 years who are active drivers and have competed in at least one series event during the previous or current season.

• Past winners of the All-Star Race.

• Two drivers who qualify for the premier event by finishing first and second, respectively, in the Showdown (formerly the Open).

• One driver who joins the All-Star Race field by winning the Fan Vote.

The All-Star Race's format:

• Segment 1 -- 50 laps with a mandatory green-flag pit stop on Lap 25 at which time teams must pit and take four tires. Following the end of Segment 1, the caution flag will be displayed for an optional pit stop.

• Segment 2 -- 20 laps with the caution flag displayed at the end of the segment for an optional pit stop.

• Segment 3 -- 20 laps with a 10-minute break at the end of the segment. Teams may make normal adjustments to their cars during this break. The finishing order after the third segment determines the final starting positions for the final segment.

• Segment 4 -- 10-lap shootout with only green-flag laps counting.

Note: The Pit Crew Challenge is directly linked to the All-Star Race, as the finishing order in the Pit Crew Challenge decides the selection order of pit stalls for the All-Star Race.

On Saturday, May 16, live coverage of the NASCAR Sprint Showdown begins at 7 p.m. ET on SPEED followed by the Sprint All-Star Race at 8:30 p.m. ET.
The events will also air on MRN Radio and Sirius XM Satellite Radio.

Ambrose Finishes 33rd at the famed "Lady in Black"

Problems early on in the Southern 500 relegated Marcos Ambrose and his No. 47 Bush’s Best® Baked Beans Toyota Camry to a 33rd-place finish after starting 10th in the 367-lap event that had a record 17 cautions for 73 laps.

“I was mad at myself for 200 laps for hitting the wall pretty hard,” said Ambrose, whose car started off really loose at the beginning of the race and snapped out from under him on Lap 27. “Then later in the race, just before Lap 200, David Ragan got into us and that caused even more damage on top of what we already had. My team did a great job to keep that car running. They never gave up and because of that we were able to finish the race and pick up a few more spots in the finishing order. But, man was it a long night. They don’t call this place ‘Lady in Black’ for nothing.”

At the start of the race at Lap 3, Ambrose reported to crew chief Frank Kerr his car was twitchy loose. It was evident that Ambrose had an ill-handling car as he slid nine positions to 19th before entering pit road under caution at Lap 22. The team pulled a spring rubber out, dropped the track bar one round and put on four fresh Goodyear tires.

“Pretty much all the drivers were saying that they were really loose,” Kerr said.

“The Bush’s Best® Baked Beans Toyota needed wedge or something,” Ambrose said.

The 32-year-old Australian driver restarted in 26th-place on Lap 24 as Jimmie Johnson led the field down into Turn 1. Three laps later Ambrose’s car snapped loose and hit the wall. He plummeted to 39th as smoke was coming from the right rear. Fortunately the yellow flag waved at Lap 30. Ambrose was on pit road the next lap for the team to estimate the damage.

“The Bush’s Best® Baked Beans Toyota was in bad shape after I hit the wall with it,” Ambrose said. “It was really wobbling all over the place. The toe was knocked out. It was steering to the right. The track bar was bent. The guys did what they could to make repairs.”

The JTG-Daugherty Racing team did a solid job of making repairs in a hurry to keep the Bush’s Best® Baked Beans Toyota on the lead lap. As the race returned to green flag racing, Ambrose was 36th on Lap 37.

“I told him to keep digging and do the best he could with what we had,” Kerr said.

Ambrose did his best with the badly damaged car, but leader Ryan Newman was reeling him in each lap. Finally, Newman made the pass to place the team one lap down on Lap 50.

The damage to the car was too much for Ambrose to keep it ahead of the field. 16 laps later Newman passed Ambrose a second time while he was running in 36th.

Because the car handled so poorly, Kerr instructed Ambrose to go to the garage so the team could work on it more.

“We wanted to make sure the car was stable enough for Marcos to drive it so he didn’t wreck,” Kerr said.

Ambrose pulled out of the garage on Lap 86 to return to the track and immediately radioed to Kerr that the car was really loose. He was back on pit road at Lap 102 under green and then 120 under caution for more adjustments and repairs.

“We were really free,” Ambrose said. “I needed them to tighten me up and get it drivable.”

“We didn’t want to give up because we knew we could gain some more positions,” Kerr said. “I told him to keep going because you never know whose going to crash out. We had a long way to go in the race at that point.”

Ambrose restarted 37th on Lap 123.

“It was tight in the middle and snappy loose,” Ambrose said.

Any opportunity the team had, Ambrose pitted. Then on Lap 197, Ambrose’s problems were compounded by the No. 6 car of David Ragan hitting him. He headed back to pit road.

“David hit Marcos pretty good and we wanted to make sure nothing was going to fall off,” Kerr said. “I told Marcos it was like when it rains it pours.”

As the field returned to green flag racing at Lap 201, Ambrose exited pit road to return to the track. Ambrose immediately told Kerr that he had no steering and was heading back to the garage. The crew worked feverishly to make the car drivable. On Lap 224, Ambrose drove out of the garage a second time to return to the track.

“I couldn’t believe the car was still going,” said Ambrose, who completed 312 of 367 laps. “The team did an awesome job to keep me up to speed.”

“We didn’t want a DNF on his report card,” Kerr said. “We wanted to finish the race.”

The valiant effort by the JTG-Daugherty Racing team helped Ambrose pick up a few more spots and finish 33rd and keep them within striking distance of the top 12 drivers in points. Ambrose is now 20th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship standings following race No. 11 at Darlington Raceway. His JTG-Daugherty Racing team is 140 points out of 12th-place.

This week the team heads to Lowe’s Motor Speedway for the NASCAR Sprint Showdown to vie for a coveted spot in the Sprint All-Star race on Saturday, May 16th. Live coverage begins at 7 p.m. ET on SPEED Channel and 6:45 p.m. ET on MRN Radio and Sirius XM Satellite Radio.

Ambrose Climbing Points Ladder As He Prepares For Darlington

DARLINGTON, S.C. (May 5, 2009) – If you ask Marcos Ambrose what he would like to check off his list there are two things for certain, a NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory and a shot at the championship.

Earlier this season, JTG-Daugherty Racing’s goals were simple considering it was their freshman year going up against multi-car powerhouse teams like Hendrick Motorsports, Roush Racing and Joe Gibbs Racing. Now, the team is knocking on the door of the top-12 drivers vying for a coveted spot in The Chase.

“No doubt, we are still outperforming our own expectations and that’s a good thing,” Ambrose said. “I said to my crew before we ever started the year, let’s just try our best to look good and show those glimpses of promise. Then from that, we will be able convert, hopefully, results and get the points thing under control. The focus was about that. We just wanted to run well when we are running.”

Leading into Darlington Raceway with the No. 47 Bush’s Best® Baked Beans Toyota, JTG-Daugherty Racing is 19th in the championship standings -- only 120 points out of 12th place. It’s still early in the game, but Ambrose is keeping his eye on the prize.

“Right now, my crew and I are sitting down here in Daytona for a Goodyear tire test having lunch talking about how we are only 120 points out of 12th-place after 10 races,” Ambrose said. “We never expected to be in this position. We are not getting carried away either. We’ve just got to focus on what we have been doing which is build a solid car for the race. We need to get it fast enough in practice so we can show speed during the race and work out the finish from there. All things considered, we have done well so far. We’ve just had a few reliability issues that have kept us out of the top 12 in points.”

First he recorded a strong 10th-place finish at Bristol and then a fourth-place effort at Talladega Superspeedway where he had no Cup experience. Richmond International Raceway was no different. Ambrose finished 11th in a heavily-damaged car.

“When we loaded our car after the race, it looked like we had finished a race at Martinsville Speedway,” said crew chief Frank Kerr.

This season, Ambrose has one top-five, two top-10, five top-15 and seven top-20 finishes. That’s not too shabby considering he’s in his first full season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and only in his fourth season of oval track racing.

“We are good on short tracks, superspeedways and intermediate tracks,” Ambrose said. “We’re doing well on all of them. I honestly thought short tracks were going to be an issue for me to get up to speed to learn because I hadn’t raced a Cup car on a short track or even superspeedways for that matter. However, we’ve had our best results at those places.”

“We had a solid finish at Richmond, but we were crashed,” Ambrose continued. “We came back to have a decent finish considering all that we faced. You can bash those cars around and even back them into the fence and they will keep moving. We had good moments and bad moments, but we bounced back from adversity and almost got another top-10.”

The only laps Ambrose has turned at Darlington Raceway is in a JTG-Daugherty NASCAR Nationwide Series entry. He managed to keep the sides on his No. 59 Kingsford car to finish 19th and 10th in 2007 and 2008, respectively. Explaining his relative success at the "Track Too Tough to Tame," Ambrose points to the driving coach that JTG-Daugherty Racing hired when he first came to America.

“Robert Pressley really knows how to get around Darlington and he did a lot to help me learn the unique racing line and mind-set that it takes to get around the place," Ambrose said. "I’m so excited to get to Darlington, but I’m not so sure how I’m going to finish the race. It’s one of those weekends that you just like to go there, but you are not so sure how it is going to work out. It’s a great track. I’ve had one race there on the old surface and one on the new. I’ve had a good taste of what it is all about. It’s a very aggressive place to go. I can’t wait to get there with the Bush’s Best® Baked Beans Toyota.”

Today, Ambrose wraps up his two-day Goodyear tire test and heads on to Darlington.

“Actually, David Reutimann was asked to go to the test first, but I twisted his arm and stuffed him in a locker,” Ambrose said. “I told him he couldn’t go and that it was my turn. I think he’s actually spending time with his family in North Carolina and I’ve chose to come down here to get some more drafting practice for the July race. It’s the second Goodyear test I’ve done. I did one at Lowe’s Motor Speedway. Every chance I get, I want to get in one of these cars to get experience. I felt I was weak in my drafting during the Daytona 500. I couldn’t get in the middle of it all; so any chance I can get practice in the draft down here is going to help me.”

“We run through some single-car runs for Goodyear on Monday and today they are putting us together in a pack,” Ambrose continued. “They are going to try some slightly different configurations -- a little bit wider right-side tire that they have in the works for us to see how that feels.”

Live coverage of the Southern 500 is on Saturday, May 9th at Darlington Raceway. It all begins at 7 p.m. ET on FOX and 6:30 p.m. ET on MRN Radio and Sirius XM Satellite Radio.

Ambrose Overcomes Late Race Incident to Post Top-15 Finish at Richmond

Marcos Ambrose and his JTG-Daugherty Racing team scored their fifth top 15 with an 11th-place finish Saturday night at Richmond International Raceway. The team rebounded after Ambrose had substantial damage to No. 47 Bush’s Best® Baked Beans Toyota from being shoved into the outside retaining wall with 94 laps remaining. "Not sure what happened there, but Sam Hornish got into us and then we were in the wall," Ambrose said. "We had a lot of damage to the rear end, but the crew worked on it and didn't give up. Thankfully we were able to stay on the lead lap and have a good finish."

The swift recovery by the JTG-Daugherty Racing team kept Ambrose 19th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series owner points standings and closer to the top 12 cut off for The Chase. The team is now 120 points out of 12th heading into Darlington Raceway this weekend. On Saturday, rain earlier in the day had NASCAR hustling to dry the .75-mile oval before the start of the 400-lap race. The event started as planned, but the first six laps were led by Brian Vickers under caution because the track was still damp. As NASCAR turned the 43-car field loose on Lap 7, Ambrose started from 21st position and was inside the top 20 by Lap 19 running lap times the same as leader Brian Vickers. “We were loose off,” Ambrose said.

By Lap 69, Ambrose was turning laps faster than leader Jeff Gordon. With his sights set on the top 10, the Australian driver marched into the top 15 at Lap 87. Ten laps later under green he was on pit road for four tires, fuel and adjustments. When a caution occurred at Lap 114, Ambrose was in 11th place when he drove back onto pit road. “The Bush’s Best® Baked Beans Toyota was a little tight, but it was good other than that at the time,” Ambrose said. “It didn’t seem like it was getting full power until the start finish line though.” Following the team changing four tires and making more adjustments, Ambrose restarted 11th on Lap 121. A moment later, Ambrose communicated to crew chief Frank Kerr that he was loose off the corners. As he maintained his top 15 run the car’s handling worsened. The over-the-wall crew took another stab at it on Lap 151 under caution.

Less than 20 laps later, the yellow flag waved again. Kerr and Ambrose wanted to try something different so the crew put on only two tires and made adjustments. On Lap 183, the pit crew was hoping for a caution because Ambrose had no grip. Ambrose slid outside the top 15 eight laps later. The JTG-Daugherty team caught a break and Ambrose returned to pit road at Lap 192. He restarted 15th five laps later, but his car continued to have handling issues. Even though his car was a handful, Ambrose was back inside the top 15. “We were tight in the middle and loose off,” Ambrose said as he entered pit road on lap 213 under caution.

Following a track bar adjustment, pulling a quarter rubber out and four tires, the No. 47 Bush’s Best® Baked Beans Toyota team was scored in 17th place. As the car did not respond to the changes positively, Kerr had the team put the track bar back where it was, put a rubber in the left rear and make a small air pressure adjustment on Lap 274. “The No. 47 Bush’s Best® Baked Beans Toyota was a handful,” Ambrose said. “We would get a handle on it and then we would lose it.”

On Lap 285, the team elected to stay out when the caution flag waved again. “We were really tight through the middle and loose off,” Ambrose said. “We had only run five green flag laps,” Kerr said. “So, we stayed out there.” Shown in 13th place as the field took the green, Ambrose went back to work and was focused on capturing his third top ten of the season. On Lap 306, his efforts were derailed as the No. 26 car of Jamie McMurray and the No. 77 car of Sam Hornish Jr. slid up the track. The contact made to the No. 47 Bush’s Best® Baked Beans Toyota by the No. 77 car sent Ambrose spinning into the outside retaining wall in Turn 2.

There was substantial damage to the rear end of the No. 47 Bush’s Best® Baked Beans Toyota. Ambrose came in on Lap 308, 309 and 311 for tires, repairs and fuel. As Ambrose was leaving pit road on Lap 312, the field took the green. Fortunately, the caution flag was displayed immediately as Martin Truex Jr. and Mark Martin was involved in an incident. Ambrose was back on pit road. After all the adjustments and repairs were made, the 32-year-old restarted 21st on Lap 317. An accident involving Jimmie Johnson, David Stremme and Kasey Kahne on Lap 325 allowed the team to put on four tires and make another track bar adjustment under caution. “It was loose in and tight in the middle,” Ambrose said. “The crew did a great job of repairing the car and they didn’t give up. They just kept working at it.”

With 50 laps to go, Ambrose settled into the top 15. The JTG-Daugherty team had one last chance to work on the car at Lap 358 under caution. “We did what we could to repair the car and we told Marcos to do what he could and that we were not coming back in,” Kerr said. “Marcos did an amazing job. He almost had another top 10 finish. This time with a car that was wrecked. He’s impressive.” Ambrose almost captured his third top 10 of the season by crossing the finish line in 11th-place. Kyle Busch won the event, Tony Stewart finished second, Jeff Burton finished third, Ryan Newman finished fourth and Mark Martin rounded out the top five.

After a two-day Goodyear tire test on Monday and Tuesday, Marcos Ambrose and his JTG-Daugherty team travel to Darlington Raceway for race number 11 on the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series circuit. Live coverage of the Southern 500 on Saturday, May 9th begins at 7 p.m. ET on FOX and 6:30 p.m. ET on MRN Radio. The event will also air on Sirius XM Satellite Radio.