Ambrose 18th And Top Rookie In Final Practice For The Yellow Transportation 300 At Kansas

Sep 29, 2007

Marcos Ambrose has finished final practice for the Yellow Transportation 300 in 18th fastest and top rookie at Kansas Speedway in Kansas City today.

Ambrose reacquainted himself with the 1.5-mile oval, where the Australian qualified fourth and placed third in last year’s NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in his only other appearance at the venue.

Ambrose drove the Aussie Vineyards-backed #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion to 30th in opening practice and was fourth in rookie practice, before finding improvement to rise to 18th in the final session of the day.

Ambrose sits eighth in the NASCAR Busch Series standings, 21 points behind fellow Ford driver Greg Biffle in the points with six races remaining. Ambrose remains second in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings behind David Ragan.

Qualifying and the Yellow Transportation 300 will be held tomorrow. This weekend’s event is race 30 of the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series.

Marcos Ambrose – Aussie Vineyards-backed #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion

“We had a good, solid day today and we are in good shape for tomorrow, ” said Ambrose.

“We worked at our set-up and had the car tuned pretty well there by the end of practice. The Kingsford car was working well but we’ve still got a little way to go.

“With a bit of work I think we will have a good race car. The plan is to get it going really well for the second half of the race.

“I really like this Kansas track and I’m looking forward to tomorrow’s race. I think the potential is there for a good result so we will just have to see how we go. ”

RESULTS: Final Practice

1. #5 Kyle Busch 31.379

2. #17 Matt Kenseth 31.635

3. #60 Carl Edwards 31.679

4. #16 Greg Biffle 31.702

5. #15 Paul Menard 31.763

6. #38 Jason Leffler 31.816

7. #10 Brian Vickers 31.829

8. #9 Kasey Kahne 31.904

9. #7 Mike Wallace 31.909

10. #28 Johnny Sauter 31.956

18. #59 Marcos Ambrose 32.147

RESULTS: Rookie Practice

1. #42 AJ Allmendinger 32.397

2. #88 Brad Keselowski 32.617

3. #6 David Ragan 32.846

4. #59 Marcos Ambrose 32.852

5. #47 Kelly Bires 32.988

6. #41 Bryan Clauson 32.999

7. #14 Kyle Krisiloff 33.017

8. #37 Bobby East 33.017

9. #25 Richard Johns 33.476

10. #18 Kevin Conway 33.495

RESULTS: Practice 1

1. #29 Jeff Burton 32.100

2. #17 Matt Kenseth 32.101

3. #60 Carl Edwards 32.139

4. #10 Brian Vickers 32.195

5. #90 Stephen Leicht 32.277

6. #5 Kyle Busch 32.307

7. #16 Greg Biffle 32.308

8. #77 Kevin Harvick 32.342

9. #2 Clint Bowyer 32.397

10. #20 Denny Hamlin 32.399

30. #59 Marcos Ambrose 32.912

2007 NASCAR Busch Series Points Standings – After Race 29

1. Carl Edwards 4153

2. David Reutimann 3399

3. Kevin Harvick 3265

4. Jason Leffler 3245

5. David Ragan 3088

6. Bobby Hamilton Jr 3046

7. Greg Biffle 2919

8. Marcos Ambrose 2898

9. Stephen Leicht 2831

10. Mike Wallace 2801

2007 NASCAR Busch Series Raybestos Rookie of the Year Standings – After Race 29

1. David Ragan 214

2. Marcos Ambrose 190

3. Kyle Krisiloff 171

4. Juan Pablo Montoya 165

5. Brad Keselowski 157

6. Brad Coleman 156

7. Robert Richardson Jr 99

8. Justin Diercks 51

9. Sam Hornish Jr 35

10. Bobby Santos 21

2007 RAYBESTOS ROOKIE OF THE RACE AWARD TALLY

David Ragan 9

Marcos Ambrose 5

Juan Pablo Montoya 4

Brad Coleman 4

Brad Keselowski 4

Kyle Krisiloff 2

Timothy Peters 1

MARCOS AMBROSE FAST FACTS

– Marcos Ambrose and the Aussie Vineyards-backed #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion team at Wood Brothers/JTG Racing have earned US$808,278 (A$932,054) in prizemoney in 29 NASCAR Busch Series races this season

– Ambrose will drive the Aussie Vineyards-backed #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion for Wood Brothers/JTG Racing in the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series

– Ambrose finished 16th in his NASCAR Busch Series debut at Daytona International Speedway on 17 February 2007, winning the Raybestos Rookie of the Race Award in what was his first race on the 2.5-mile Daytona superspeedway

– The Australian scored his debut NASCAR Busch Series top 10 finish at his first NASCAR road course event with eighth place at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez in Mexico City on 4 March 2007

– Ambrose picked up his second Raybestos Rookie of the Race Award and second-consecutive top 10 with 10th at Las Vegas Motor Speedway on 10 March 2007, also winning the WIX Filters Lap Leader Award and the Checkers/Rally’s Double Drive-Thru Challenge Award for the fastest Busch Series pit crew

– Ambrose achieved his best NASCAR Busch Series result to date with sixth place at Dover International Speedway on 2 June 2007, also winning him his fourth Raybestos Rookie of the Race award for the season

– Ambrose was born in Launceston, Tasmania, Australia

– finished 21st in the 2006 NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series and third in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year standings, earning US$256,368 in 22 starts in the #20 Aussie Vineyards Team Australia Ford F-150 for Wood Brothers/JTG Racing

– 2006 season highlighted by Budweiser Pole and WIX Lap Leader awards in Kentucky on 8 July 2006, along with third place finishes at Kansas on 1 July 2006 and Nashville 12 August 2006

– Earned nine top 10 qualifying positions and four top 10 finishes in his first season of oval racing of any description

– Ambrose won two consecutive Australian V8 Supercar Championship Series titles in 2003 and 2004 for Ford