Asian Motor Sports

Marcos Ambrose has driven superbly to finish in 10^th place in the Silverado 350 at Texas Motor Speedway in Fort Worth Friday.

Ambrose drove the #20 Team Australia/Aussie Vineyards to his fourth top 10 finish of the season by passing two trucks at a restart late in the race in what was the Australian’s 20^th race in NASCAR.

The strong finish elevates Ambrose into the top 20 in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series standings, the result rising Ambrose three spots to 19th place in the championship. Ambrose also raised one spot in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year award and now sits third in the rookie standings.

After starting from 18^th the Australian drove a smart and consistent race, slowly progressing up the order. The #20 Aussie Vineyards F-150 was ‘tight’ in the early running, leading Ambrose to conserve his truck and wait for later in the race to make his move.

The two-time Australian V8 Supercar Series Champion made a charge in the late stages, passing two trucks in a spectacular move at the final restart with three laps remaining to grab 10^th place.

This top 10 result follows other top 10 finishes by Ambrose at Kansas (third), Nashville (third) and Las Vegas (seventh). Ambrose was also the second Raybestos Rookie of the Year contender home, finishing one place behind top rookie and fellow Ford driver Erik Darnell.

Clint Bowyer won Friday’s Silverado 350 ahead of fellow Nextel Cup driver Kyle Busch, followed by Mike Skinner, Jack Sprague and Ron Hornaday.

Marcos Ambrose – #20 Team Australia/Aussie Vineyards Ford F-150“We just kept digging all night and it is great to come away with a top 10,” said Ambrose.

“The truck was really tight early and I just let a few of them go. You are never going to win this race before the first stop.

“The whole team just kept fighting all day. We have had a new crew chief (Michael Cooper) the last couple of races and that has been exciting as we have worked things out.

“We just fought as hard as we could and we were rewarded with a top 10 and came away with a straight truck, which is really important with Phoenix next weekend and the final round at Homestead the following week.

“The truck kept getting better, but in the end we just ran out of time. We have had a couple of those late re-starts go against us this season, so it was nice for things to go our way out there in the end.

“This is a just reward for the effort the Team Australia/Aussie Vineyards team put in this weekend and I am looking forward to similar results or better in the final two races of the season.”

Craig Gore – Team Australia: “The move by Marcos on the last restart to pick up a couple of spots was a great indication of the how his confidence has grown in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series this season,” said Gore.

“That sort of result would not have come three months ago.

“Marcos is really doing the whole Team Australia program proud and has again shown what hard work and perseverance can achieve. “He dug really deep today and still has second place in the Raybestos Rookie of the Year title in his sights.”