Marcos Ambrose has finished a solid 15th place in the Dollar General 300 at Chicagoland Speedway in Joliet, Illinois.
The Australian qualified 24th in the #59 Kingsford Match Light Ford Fusion around the 1.5-mile speedway and made a steady start to the race and gradually moved forward as the race wore on.
Shortly after the final series of pit stops, held under green flag conditions, Ambrose went a lap down with 39 laps remaining while running in 15th place.
Ambrose brought the #59 Kingsford Match Light Ford Fusion home in 15th position as the first car one lap down, just ahead of defending NASCAR Nationwide Series champion Carl Edwards and Sprint Cup drivers Matt Kenseth and Kevin Harvick.
Kyle Busch won Dollar General 300 ahead of Denny Hamlin and Brad Keselowski.
Ambrose will continue his campaign in the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series next weekend at Gateway International Raceway in Madison, Illinois.
Marcos Ambrose:
“I’ve got arms like a gorilla because I’ve been hanging on all night,” said Ambrose.
“We had a pretty good car. It would’ve been nice to be a few spots up, but we just couldn’t get track position.”
“We struggled for the first few laps. The car was good for … lap 15 to lap 30 and then went away again, so there was quite a shift in balance. But, when we were good, we just didn’t have track position.”
“We were okay on the long runs. Not great, but okay.”
RESULTS: Dollar General 300 at Chicagoland Speedway
Race 20 in the 2008 NASCAR Nationwide Series
1. #18 Kyle Busch 200 laps
2. #32 Denny Hamlin
3. #88 Brad Keselowski
4. #10 Brian Vickers
5. #99 David Reutimann
6. #16 Greg Biffle
7. #2 Clint Bowyer
8. #29 Jeff Burton
9. #20 Tony Stewart
10. #5 Landon Cassill
15. #59 Marcos Ambrose 199 laps
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