Asian Motor Sports

QUALIFYING WASHED-OUT IN MANSFIELD

WHILE Team Australia’s Marcos Ambrose had plenty of success driving in the rain during his V8 Supercar career in which he won two championships for Ford, he has never been a big fan of the activity.

Running in the rain is something he no longer has to think about because it simply cannot be done on the oval circuits on which he now races his Team Australia/Aussie Vineyards Ford F-150 in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series.

Unfortunately rain fell late in the day at the Mansfield Speedway in Ohio today and cancelled the last 20 minutes of practice and then all of qualifying for tomorrow’s UAW-GM Ohio 250 – the seventh round of the championship.

In such situations the grid for tomorrow’s race is decided on owner points and Ambrose will start from 28th for the 250-lap race, while championship leader Todd Bodine will start from pole.

Former Champ car driver, Mexican Michel Jourdain Jr, and Todd Shafer did not make the show.

“There are not too many drivers who are fans of driving in the rain and I guess that’s something I no longer have to worry about,” said Ambrose.

“It was disappointing that the rain came tonight because I was looking forward to getting out there by myself for a couple of laps and seeing what we are capable of this weekend.

“We all stuck around as long as we could for the fans, but in the end a call had to be made. Hopefully we will get some clear weather tomorrow and put on a good show.”

Ambrose was 25th of 37 drivers in yesterday’s official open test.

He was 25th in this morning’s opening practice and dropped a couple of spots in the final practice session where less than a second separated the entire 38-truck field.

“We need to start building some results this weekend,” said Ambrose. “Our qualifying has been quite solid, but we have had three pretty ordinary results so far. Charlotte provided plenty of lessons for me last week and I won’t forget any of them in a hurry.

“This weekend is a totally different deal again because we are back to a short track. This time I can take in some of the things I learnt from my first truck race at Martinsville, which is just a fractionally longer track.”

Tips for Australian Fans

There are several websites relating to the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series where you can follow Ambrose’s progress.

The best three we have discovered so far are the official NASCAR.com site, truckseries.com and woodbrothersracing.com

You can register for Track Pass on the NASCAR site which will give you access to radio broadcasts, in-car audio and video of most races for a fee, but you will need a US credit card (so ring a mate!)

You can get a free radio broadcast of the races on truckseries.com by going to the trackside area of the site.

2006 Championship Points (After six rounds)
* Marcos Ambrose did not compete in the first three rounds of the championship.

1: Todd Bodine 1017; 2: Ted Musgrave 1000; 3: David Reutimann 896; 4: Mark Martin 844; 5: Terry Cook 808; 6: Johnny Benson 788; 7: David Starr 783; 8: Denbis Setzer 776; 9: Jack Sprague 765; 10: Matt Crafton 760; 40: Marcos Ambrose 180.

Schedule

Mansfield Ohio Times

Saturday, May 27, 2006
2.15pm – Race 250 laps, 125miles (200km)

Australian Times

Sunday, May 28, 2006
4.15am – Race 250 laps, 125 miles (200 km)

Record Book

Race record – Bobby Hamilton (2005) – 65.907mph (105.451kph)
Qualifying record – Ron Hornaday (2005) – 110.585mph (176.936kph)
Defending Champion – Bobby Hamilton

Track Facts

Length: 0.5-mile (800m)
Degree of banking: 12, 14 and 16 degrees
Degree of banking in Straights: 6 degrees