Toyota / SaveMart 350 Report

SONOMA WIN SLIPS AWAY FROM AMBROSE AND
HIS TEAM

SONOMA, CA — While leading the race for what would have been his first career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series victory, Marcos Ambrose was penalized by NASCAR for not maintaining speed under caution during the closing laps of the Toyota SaveMart 350 at Infineon Raceway. When Ambrose did not keep the pace under caution on lap 103, NASCAR deemed his No. 47 Clorox / Little Debbie Toyota Camry should restart behind Kasey Kahne in seventh place. Winner Jimmie Johnson assumed the lead when Ambrose failed to maintain speed. Ambrose ran out of laps and time and had to settle for a sixth-place finish after starting sixth in the 16th NASCAR Sprint Cup Series race of the year.

“I’m extremely disappointed,” Ambrose said. "It's NASCAR's house and I'll always play by the rules. They call the shots. I don't agree with it, I don't like it and that's only because I lost the race.”

“I had the motor turned off to try to save a bit of fuel and just had trouble getting it fired again. That's pretty much it.”

When the green flag waved for the 110-lap event, it did not take long for Ambrose to charge past Jeff Gordon for a top-five spot at lap 4. Ambrose continued his charge passing Kasey Kahne for third the next lap before a caution occurred on lap 9.

“We were sliding the tires and needed side bite,” said Ambrose.

On the restart at lap 13, Ambrose poured on the heat passing Kurt Busch for second and set his sights on Johnson.

“We just needed a little wedge to make the car better,” Ambrose said.

Crew chief Frank Kerr called Ambrose to pit road under green at Lap 25 for the JTG Daugherty Racing team to change four Goodyear tires, and put a half-round of wedge in the right rear. The No. 47 returned to the track in 34th place. By lap 37, he returned to the top five. And on lap 38, he took over second place again with the No. 83 car of Mattias Ekstrom leading the way. Trying to keep Johnson at bay, Ambrose still needed more wedge.

Back on pit road at lap 52 under green, it was another smooth pit stop where the pit crew changed four tires, made a wedge adjustment and put a spring rubber in the left rear.

“Unfortunately, the spring rubber didn’t seem to help forward drive,” Ambrose said.

Retuning to the road course, Ambrose was shown in 17th. Under caution at lap 57, Kerr told Ambrose to go easy on the throttle and to take care of his car because it was going to be a longer run. As the field cycled through, Ambrose was in third for the next restart at lap 60. He immediately passed Tony Stewart for second.

It was smooth sailing for Ambrose as he passed the No. 26 car of Boris Said to lead the race for the very first time at lap 61.

Ambrose keyed up the microphone, “Man, I just can’t get away from the 48.”

At lap 79, Ambrose relinquished his lead to head to pit road for four tires and adjustments. The stop was a good one and it kept him ahead of Johnson. Returning to the track he was ninth as the field began to cycle through.

On lap 88, Ambrose was back on top of the leader board with Johnson filling his rearview mirror. Eventually, Ambrose got into a groove and was able to keep Johnson behind him. The yellow flag was displayed at lap 90 and Ambrose’s lead was diminished.

Kerr said, “Keep doing what your doing Marcos. You will be fine on this restart.”

Ambrose was fine and was able to put some distance between him and Johnson - at one point 12 car lengths. It was Ambrose’s race to win at that point because he seemed to have the car to beat. Then a caution came out for an incident involving the No. 12 car of Brad Keselowski bringing the field back together giving Johnson another shot at overtaking Ambrose.

Unlike before, misfortune struck and Marcos could not restart his car from fuel conservation mode. Six cars drove by him under yellow, and NASCAR decided he should restart seventh behind Kasey Kahne since he could not keep his position behind the pace car. Johnson was the beneficiary of the mishap and went on to victory lane as Ambrose finished sixth.

“I don’t know what to say,” Ambrose said. “I’m just sorry we didn’t win here today.” Courtesy Jennifer Chapple, JTG Daugherty Racing

Heluva Good! Sour Cream Dips 400 Results:
1. Jimmie Johnson
2. Robby Gordon
3. Kevin Harvick
4. Kasey Kahne
5. Jeff Gordon
6. Marcos Ambrose
7. Greg Biffle
8. Boris Said
9. Tony Stewart
10. Juan Pablo Montoya

Next Race — Lenox Industrial Tools 301:
Where: New Hampshire Motor Speedway, Loudon, NH
Time: Sunday, June 27, 2010
Network & Time: TNT Television, 1 p.m. / PRN Radio, 12 p.m.
All Times Eastern

2010 Point Standings:
1. Kevin Harvick — 2684
2. Jeff Gordon — 2472
3. Jimmie Johnson — 2459
4. Kurt Busch — 2439
5. Denny Hamlin — 2400
6. Kyle Busch — 2376
7. Matt Kenseth — 2322
8. Jeff Burton — 2319
9. Tony Stewart — 2251
10. Greg Biffle — 2234
11. D. Earnhardt, Jr. — 2177
12. Carl Edwards — 2170
27. M. Ambrose — 1660