Marcos Ambrose has continued to make a solid start to his first full season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, finishing 22nd in the Auto Club 500 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California.
Ambrose had an up-and-down day in the 250-lap event, ending with a solid midfield position in the 43-car field and narrowly missing a second straight top 20 finish.
The Australian enjoyed a strong start to the day in the #47 Little Debbie entry of JTG Daugherty Racing, starting from 14th position and knocking on the door of the top 10 throughout the opening two stints.
After the second round of pit stops the handling of the #47 entry deteriorated after a set-up change and the middle stages of the race were a struggle, with Ambrose, crew chief Frank Kerr and the entire team working hard at each pit stop to return the car to its early performance.
Entering the final stint, changes including altered tyre pressures paid dividends and Ambrose was able to rise up the order, passing cars such as Clint Bowyer, Reed Sorenson and Paul Menard to reach 19th position with just a handful of laps remaining.
Unfortunately, over the final few laps Ambrose’s car lost rear grip as a result of badly worn rear tyres and he dropped positions to Bowyer, Bobby Labonte and Sorenson to finish the event in 22nd position.
The finish puts Ambrose is 21st position in this year’s Sprint Cup Series points standings after two races, leading into the Shelby 427 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada next weekend.
Matt Kenseth won his second-consecutive Sprint Cup race by claiming victory in the Auto Club 500 today ahead of Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch.Marcos Ambrose has continued to make a solid start to his first full season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, finishing 22nd in the Auto Club 500 at Auto Club Speedway in Fontana, California today.
Ambrose had an up-and-down day in the 250-lap event, ending with a solid midfield position in the 43-car field and narrowly missing a second straight top 20 finish.
The Australian enjoyed a strong start to the day in the #47 Little Debbie entry of JTG Daugherty Racing, starting from 14th position and knocking on the door of the top 10 throughout the opening two stints.
After the second round of pit stops the handling of the #47 entry deteriorated after a set-up change and the middle stages of the race were a struggle, with Ambrose, crew chief Frank Kerr and the entire team working hard at each pit stop to return the car to its early performance.
Entering the final stint, changes including altered tyre pressures paid dividends and Ambrose was able to rise up the order, passing cars such as Clint Bowyer, Reed Sorenson and Paul Menard to reach 19th position with just a handful of laps remaining.
Unfortunately, over the final few laps Ambrose’s car lost rear grip as a result of badly worn rear tyres and he dropped positions to Bowyer, Bobby Labonte and Sorenson to finish the event in 22nd position.
The finish puts Ambrose is 21st position in this year’s Sprint Cup Series points standings after two races, leading into the Shelby 427 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada next weekend.
Matt Kenseth won his second-consecutive Sprint Cup race by claiming victory in the Auto Club 500 ahead of Jeff Gordon and Kyle Busch.
| 
|