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Samsung Moblie 500 Report
RAIN-DELAYED
START IN TEXAS LEAVES AMBROSE WITH 17TH-PLACE FINISH
FORT WORTH, TX — Marcos
Ambrose crossed the finish line 17th in his No. 47 Tom
Thumb/Viva Toyota backed by Little Debbie® snacks at
Texas Motor Speedway. The race
was rescheduled for Monday due to inclement
weather.
“We made a lot of changes during the race,” Ambrose
said. “We fought handling all day. We were just
really tight, and the front was hitting the ground
pretty hard. It just would not turn in the middle.”
On Friday afternoon, Ambrose qualified 32nd for the
334-lap event. Tony Stewart won the pole and Sam Hornish
Jr. started second, Greg Biffle qualified third, Jimmie
Johnson was fourth and Kasey Kahne was fifth. The following
day both NASCAR Sprint Cup Series practice sessions
were rained out, and there was more rain on Sunday
which cancelled the race.
No rain Monday morning finally allowed NASCAR to dry
the 1.5-mile quad-oval and get the event underway.
When the green flag dropped on the 334-lap event, Ambrose's
car was immediately tight center off and hitting the
track. Crew chief Frank Kerr radioed Ambrose that
they anticipated raising the track bar on the first
pit stop.
“I was loose in too,” said Ambrose, who
was running 25th.
A competition caution at Lap 25 allowed the JTG Daugherty
Racing team to change four Goodyear tires, add fuel
and raise the track bar a quarter-round. Back to green
flag racing with Tony Stewart leading the way on Lap
32, Ambrose was 30th. By Lap 64, Ambrose was scored
in 21st place.
After Dale Earnhardt Jr. took the lead, 11 laps later
Brian Vickers spun in Turn 3 due to a flat tire bringing
out the second caution of the race. Ambrose headed to
pit road for
four fresh tires and to go up another quarter-round on
the track bar.
The No. 47 restarted 22nd on Lap 83 with Tony Stewart
in the lead, Jimmie Johnson in second, Jeff Gordon
in third, Dale Earnhardt Jr. in fourth and Clint Bowyer
in fifth.
“On that run, I was too tight in the center
and loose on both ends,” said Ambrose.
Ambrose pitted again under caution for four fresh
Goodyear tires at Lap 101. Coming down pit road to
enter his pit box, the Australian driver sustained
damage to the right rear quarter panel and bumper from
contact with David Ragan.
“We had some damage,” Ambrose said. “After
that, the car
was just extremely tight.”
A caution at Lap 111 allowed the pit crew to make
repairs and attempt to free up the car's handling.
Once everything was said and done, Ambrose went back
to work at Lap 116 in 28th place.
“The whole front was hitting the ground,” Ambrose
said. “It was really tight.”
Running 19th as green flag pit stops began around
Lap 151, Ambrose prepared for his stop. When he entered
pit road for four tires, he was shown in ninth place.
He returned to the track in 25th place once the field
cycled through.
As he battled with a tight race car, Ambrose
could see leader Jeff Gordon in his mirror.
“It would not roll through the middle,” said
Ambrose, who was passed by Gordon approaching Lap 200.
With a long green flag run, the frontrunners began to
pit again. When it was Ambrose’s turn, he headed
to pit road in seventh place for four tires, a half a
round of wedge out and an air pressure adjustment.
When the fourth caution occurred for an accident involving
Juan Pablo Montoya at Lap 232, Ambrose was 23rd and
looking for big changes to the No. 47. Kerr called
for the pit crew to go up a round and a half on the
track bar, put a half-round of wedge in and make an
air pressure adjustment on the four fresh Goodyear
tires and add fuel.
Restarting 25th on Lap 237, Ambrose said the car felt
a little better.
“It was better, but for some reason it just
wouldn’t turn in the middle,” Ambrose said. “As
I made more laps, it was too tight. The right front
seemed to have way too much on it. The right front
was also hitting the ground on top of the track.”
The JTG Daugherty Racing team continued to work on
the car on Lap 281. They changed four tires and took
wedge out.
As the laps began to dwindle, Ambrose communicated
he was still tight while running 27th at Lap 301. Nine
laps later, Ambrose’s teammate David Reutimann
had a mechanical failure that brought out the next
caution. Ambrose was eligible to be a wave around car.
He restarted 26th on Lap 316.
With 18 laps to go, a big wreck that started with
Stewart and Gordon forced NASCAR to red flag the event
for more than 20 minutes. Jamie McMurray, Joey Logano,
Clint Bowyer, Juan Pablo Montoya, AJ Allmendinger,
Paul Menard and Carl Edwards were also involved in
the collision.
Ambrose escaped unscathed and once the red flag was
lifted, he pitted for four tires and a spring rubber
in the right rear. As he restarted on Lap 322 in 20th
place, eventual winner Denny Hamlin was in the lead
with Kyle Busch in second and Dale Earnhardt Jr. in
third.
Ambrose went on to finish 17th in the eighth race of
the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season. Hamlin won the event,
Johnson was second and Kyle Busch was third. Courtesy
Jennifer Chapple, JTG Daugherty Racing
Samsung Mobile 500
Results:
1. Denny Hamlin
2. Jimmie Johnson
3. Kyle Busch
4. Kurt Busch
5. Kasey Kahne
6. Mark Martin
7. Kevin Harvick
8. Dale Earnhardt, Jr.
9. Martin Truex,
Jr.
10. Greg Biffle
17. Marcos Ambrose
Next Race — Aaron's
499:
Where: Talladega Superspeedway, Talladega, AL
Time: Sunday, April 25, 2010
Network & Time: FOX Television, 1:00 p.m.
/ MRN Radio, Noon
All Times Eastern
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