Daytona 500 Report

DAY ENDS EARLY FOR AMBROSE AND THE NO. 47 TEAM IN SEASON OPENER 

DAYTONA, FL — Marcos Ambrose knew his day was over when smoke filled the cabin of his Little Debbie®-backed No. 47 Kroger Toyota Camry before the halfway mark of the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway. The JTG Daugherty Racing team lifted the hood, determined the problem was terminal and headed to the garage. Ambrose was credited with finishing 41st after completing 79 laps of the 208-lap event that ended with a second attempt at a green-white-checkered-flag finish under new rules implemented by NASCAR before Thursday's Gatorade Duels.

“Smoke started filling the cabin,” Ambrose said. “It was terminal. There was nothing we could do. You want to have a solid start to the season, and it’s disappointing that it’s not going to be for us.”

Ambrose had a solid week overall leading up to The Great American Race. He finished eighth in the second Gatorade Duel, which placed him 18th in the starting lineup. On Saturday, he was really pleased with his car as he was third fastest in Daytona 500 final practice.

“We had a really fast Kroger Toyota Camry and I was really comfortable in it,” Ambrose said. “I felt like we were going to have a great day.”

When the green flag waved for the season opener, Ambrose maneuvered the No. 47into the top 15 as pole sitter Mark Martin led the 43-car field into Turn 1.

“The car was not bad,” Ambrose said.

The first caution of the race happened at lap seven when Brad Keselowski blew a tire and hit the wall collecting Mike Bliss, Regan Smith and Sam Hornish Jr. in Turn 1. Crew chief Frank Kerr told the JTG Daugherty Racing team to be ready with four fresh Goodyear tires and fuel.

“It was a little free up top, but okay,” Ambrose said.

Following the first pit stop of the race, the Australian driver went back to work occupying 22nd place. Mark Martin led the field to green with Dale Earnhardt Jr. in second and Juan Pablo Montoya in third. The next lap, Ambrose keyed up the radio.

“It was loose up top,” Ambrose said.

On the long green flag runs, the car continued to have the same handling issue at the top of the 2.5-mile tri-oval. Running 15th on Lap 48, Kerr called Ambrose to pit road under green for four tires and a half a round of wedge down in the left rear. Ambrose came down pit road with his teammates David Reutimann and Martin Truex Jr. for service to his Kroger Camry. He exited pit road in 36th position.

“The changes made it looser,” Ambrose said. “It was tight and then it would just snap loose. It was just way too loose in.”

The next caution at lap 65 for a single car incident involving Joe Nemechek allowed the pit crew to change four tires and put the wedge back plus a quarter more.

The field returned to green flag racing at Lap 70 with Kurt Busch, A.J. Allmendinger, Kasey Kahne, Kevin Harvick and Jimmie Johnson holding the top five spots. A few laps later, Ambrose was 19th reporting smoke in his car. The caution flag waved at lap 77 for Mike Bliss spinning on the backstretch. It was a chance for Ambrose’s team to lift the hood and access the problem. They pushed the Kroger Toyota Camry behind pit wall and determined it was terminal.

“It’s disheartening because we put in all that time and energy for nearly two weeks into the biggest race of the year to have our day end early,” Ambrose said.

“We had a car capable of running up front. We just needed to make some minor changes. My teammates David Reutimann and Martin Truex Jr. earned a top five and top 10 finish respectively. There’s no doubt we would have been up front mixing it up with them.”

Jamie McMurray won the Daytona 500, Dale Earnhardt Jr. was second, Greg Biffle finished third, Clint Bowyer was fourth and David Reutimann rounded out the top-five finishing order. Ambrose’s other teammate and two-time Daytona 500 champion, Michael Waltrip, finished 18th. Contributed by JTG Daugherty Racing

Daytona 500 Results:
1. Jamie McMurray
2. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
3. Greg Biffle
4. Clint Bowyer
5. David Reutimann
6. Martin Truex, Jr.
7. Kevin Harvick
8. Matt Kenseth
9. Carl Edwards
10. Juan Pablo Montoya
41. Marcos Ambrose

2010 Point Standings:
1. Kevin Harvick — 644
2. Matt Kenseth — 618
3. Greg Biffle — 585
4. Jimmie Johnson — 570
5. Clint Bowyer — 558
6. Jeff Burton — 538
7. Mark Martin — 521
8. Tony Stewart — 510
9. Paul Menard — 505
10. Kurt Busch — 502
11. Jeff Gordon — 482
12. Scott Speed — 482
28. M. Ambrose — 349