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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Thunder From Down Under
Marcos Ambrose had the best oval-track finish of his 20-race Sprint Cup career at Talladega Superspeedway.
Tom Jensen  |  Posted April 29, 2009   Charlotte, NC
Marcos Ambrose, driver of the No. 47 Toyota Camry for JTG-Daugherty Racing, is a contender for the Chase for the Sprint Cup, now just 126 points out of 12th place. (PHOTO: LAT Photographic)

Don’t look now, but Australian expatriate Marcos Ambrose is quietly putting together a very respectable first full season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

Ambrose, who drives the No. 47 Toyota Camry for JTG-Daugherty Racing, had the best oval-track finish of his 20-race Sprint Cup career Sunday at Talladega Superspeedway, where he ended the Aaron’s 499 fourth behind Brad Keselowski, Dale Earnhardt Jr. and Ryan Newman. It was Ambrose’s first top-five finish in the Sprint Cup Series and the fourth time in the last five races that he’s finished 14th or better.

Now, with nine races down on the season, Ambrose sits 19th in points, a mere 126 points out of the 12th and final spot for eligibility in the Chase for the Sprint Cup. It’s little wonder, therefore, that the team is feeling optimistic heading to Richmond International Raceway, where quasi-teammate David Reutimann led the most laps in last September’s race.

“We thought at the beginning of the season that we would have a shot to win at a road course, but now we feel like we have a shot to win before we even get to a road course,” said Ambrose’s crew chief, Frank Kerr. “We keep getting better and unfortunately the points are not indicative of just how well we have been running. If it hadn’t been for a few mechanical failures, we would be in the top 10.”

Although he has 1,001 laps in a NASCAR Nationwide Series (NNS) entry with JTG-Daugherty Racing at Richmond, it is still déjà vu for Ambrose tackling yet another track where he has no Cup experience. That hasn’t dampened his optimism, though.

“We’ve surprised ourselves and we are doing really well,” said Ambrose, who has two top-15 NNS finishes with JTG-Daugherty Racing at RIR. “We’re just going to keep doing what we have been doing and go to Richmond to race without expectations. The team is keeping an open mind.”

Ambrose, Kerr and the entire JTG-Daugherty Racing team have been very receptive to new ideas and sharing information with the two Michael Waltrip Racing teams and the alliance has proved to be beneficial.

“David (Reutimann) led the most laps in the fall at Richmond and we looked at what the No. 00 Aaron’s Dream Machine Toyota Camry did there last year,” said Kerr. “We feel like we can also be a contender. I was worried about places like Bristol, Martinsville and even Phoenix, but we excelled. We have found some new things for Richmond that will help all of us and we are really looking forward to this weekend.”

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief 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 television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. 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

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