Team Australia star Marcos Ambrose has finished final practice for the Orbitz 300 with the sixth fastest time after another successful day at Daytona International Speedway in Florida today.
Ambrose, who will make his NASCAR Busch Series debut this weekend, was the fastest rookie in the final practice session as he put the Aussie Vineyards-backed #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion sixth on the timesheets out of 48 drivers and completed 17 laps.
Earlier in the day Ambrose was eighth fastest in Rookie Practice after completing six laps as the Australian performed trial runs for qualifying tomorrow, less concerned with faster drafting runs in that session. Ambrose is feeling comfortable ahead of his first-ever race at the 2.5-mile Daytona superspeedway and will be looking for a solid race finish to start the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series.
It was again a strong day for the Wood Brothers/JTG Racing operation, with Ambrose’s team-mate Jon Wood finishing final practice in second fastest in the #47 Clorox Ford Fusion after yesterday topping opening practice.
Ford also experienced a strong run today, with Ford Fusions filling eight of the top 10 spots in final practice.
Ambrose will seek to continue the strong pace of the Aussie Vineyards-backed #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion tomorrow as qualifying is held for the Orbitz 300, with the race held on Saturday (Sunday Australian time).
Marcos Ambrose – Aussie Vineyards-backed #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion
“We had a really good day and worked on both the draft and the solo runs, †said Ambrose.
“We were a little down on the solo qualifying run but we are not so concerned about that. For us qualifying will not be crucial as we plan to run a conservative pace for the first two third of the race to keep out of trouble and do our best to avoid other people’s accidents.
“On the other hand we are really pleased with how the #59 Kingsford car is working in the draft. We have a really good race package at the moment and I am feeling really good about the race.
“The car is working very well in the draft when we are running in the pack and we even managed to miss a couple of accidents out there today. Qualifying is not the focus for this first race, but the race package is important and that’s been going very well.
“This year at Daytona handling is very important. The tyres are hard and the wind is blowing so there is not much grip out there. It’s going to take a really good set-up to run well here in the race and hopefully that’s what we will have on the #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion. â€
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