CUP: Ambrose Tops Happy Hour

Sprint Cup

CUP: Ambrose Tops Happy Hour

Ambrose, who qualified seventh for his first Sprint Cup race, topped the speed charts during Happy Hour with a lap of 91.418 miles per hour..

Tom Jensen | Posted June 21, 2008 Sonoma, Calif.

Marcos Ambrose will start seventh in his Sprint Cup Series debut on Sunday.(Geoff Burke/Getty Images Photo)

Marcos Ambrose had a brush with greatness on Saturday. Unfortunately, the Australian also had a brush with the tire wall at Infineon Raceway, where he set fast time during the final Happy Hour practice for the Toyota/Save Mart 350. Fortunately for him, the contact was light and will not force him to a backup tomorrow.

Ambrose, who qualified seventh for his first NASCAR Sprint Cup race, topped the speed charts during Happy Hour with a lap of 91.418 miles per hour in the Wood Brothers No. 21 Ford Fusion.

That was good enough to best another road-course ringer, Ron Fellows, who ran 91.418 mph subbing for Regan Smith in the No. 01 Dale Earnhardt Inc. Chevrolet.

A surprising third was California native David Gilliland in a Yates Racing Ford, which had a best lap of 91.367 mph. Completing the top five were the Joe Gibbs Racing Toyota of Denny Hamlin, 91.260 mph, and Martin Truex Jr., 91.258 mph in a second DEI Chevy.

The second five consisted of Juan Pablo Montoya, Brian Vickers, Dale Earnhardt Jr., Kevin Harvick and Tony Stewart.

Jeff Burton looped his Richard Childress Racing Chevrolet in Turn 11, but escaped without making contact. Ryan Newman later had a similar spin in his Penske Racing Dodge.

TOYOTA/SAVE MART 350 PRACTICE 3 RESULTS

Tom Jensen is the Senior NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the President of the National Motorsports Press Association. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Tom Jensen

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