Image9/2/2009
Australian motor racing star Marcos Ambrose will become the first Australian driver to race in the world-famous Daytona 500 in the opening race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season in Daytona Beach, Florida this weekend.

Ambrose will begin his first full-season in Sprint Cup, the top level of NASCAR, this weekend in what will be the biggest race of his career.

It was confirmed over the weekend that Ambrose’s #47 entry of JTG Daugherty Racing would receive one of 35 guaranteed starting spots in the Daytona 500. On Monday morning Australian time Ambrose posted the 30th fastest time in qualifying at the 2.5-mile Daytona International Speedway, which gives the 32-year-old the 14th starting spot in the first of two Gatorade Duel ‘heat races’ later this week.

Yesterday Ambrose was 21st and 26th fastest in the two practice sessions held at the 2.5-mile superspeedway, the first time Ambrose has driven around a properly sanctioned circuit since November due to the testing ban implemented by NASCAR over the off-season.

Ambrose is also the first Australian to race in any level of NASCAR full-time, and one of two foreign drivers to take a NASCAR victory (former Formula 1 driver Juan Pablo Montoya of Columbia has two NASCAR wins, both in 2007).

REGARDLESS OF RESULT – BIGGEST EVER PAY-DAY …

Regardless of where Marcos Ambrose finishes the Daytona 500 this Sunday, he will earn the biggest-ever haul of prizemoney in NASCAR.

The Daytona 500 is not only the most prestigious stock car race in the world, it is also the most lucrative.

Last year veteran Kenny Wallace earned US$256,735 (A$382,509) for being classified in the 43rd and last position after completing 143 of the 200 laps, his race ending with engine failure.

2008 Daytona 500 winner Ryan Newman earned US$1,506,045
(A$2,253,846) for taking the victory.

The previous best prizemoney haul for Ambrose in a single race came in last year’s Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, where Ambrose and the #47 JTG Daugherty Racing entry picked up US$148,825 (A$221,734) for finishing in 18th place.

TWO AUSSIES ON RACE DAY AT DAYTONA …

Ambrose will not be the only Aussie in the limelight come race day at the Daytona 500.

Grammy Award winner and country music superstar, Australian Keith Urban, will perform at the Daytona 500 Pre-Race Show.

Urban is set to perform three of his eight #1 songs prior to the 51st annual Daytona 500.

Urban, who is the only artist to ever win both the CMA for Best New Artist and top honours as the Entertainer of the Year, has sold more than 10 million albums.

His eight #1 songs have collectively spent nearly 30 weeks on top of the Charts. Urban joins a long list of star-studded names that have performed in the Daytona 500 Pre-Race Show such as Brooks & Dunn, Bon Jovi, Kelly Clarkson, LeAnn Rimes and Mariah Carey.

Urban, originally from Caboolture in Queensland, is married to Australian actress Nicole Kidman, who is familiar to NASCAR fans from her starring role in the 1990 film ‘Days of Thunder’.

THE START OF A NEW CHAPTER FOR AMBROSE …

Marcos Ambrose begins his first full season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the top level of NASCAR, in the biggest race of them all, the Daytona 500, on February 15 in Daytona Beach, Florida

For Ambrose, it’s the realisation of a dream that officially began in March 2005, when the two-time V8 Supercar champion announced his intention to move to the United States with his young family to pursue a career in NASCAR.

It has been a gradual climb for Ambrose, who made 22 starts in the Craftsman Truck Series in 2006 before two full seasons in the Nationwide Series, highlighted by his first NASCAR win last season at Watkins Glen.

After all the hard work, learning and sacrifices, Ambrose now embarks on his first full season in Sprint Cup, after 11 starts at Cup level last season, with a best finish of third place at Watkins Glen.

AUSTRALIAN SPORTING HISTORY IN THE MAKING …

Ambrose’s start in the Daytona 500 will come just two weeks after Arizona Cardinals punter Ben Graham also etched his name into Australian sporting history.

Graham, a former AFL player with the Geelong Cats, made his own switch to US sport in 2004 and became the first Australian to compete in the biggest game in the NFL season, Superbowl XLIII, on 1 February 2009.

Like the Daytona 500, the Superbowl was staged in the state of Florida, in Tampa Bay.

Ambrose actually spoke with Graham about his move Stateside back at a function for the Ford Motor Company in 2004, which was a common sponsor of Graham and Ambrose.

“Ben Graham has come from AFL, which is our version of football in Australia,” said Ambrose.

“He's had a lot of success. I sat down with him around 2004 at a function, and he was saying how he was coming over here to have a crack at it. So good luck to him because I know just how big a move that is.

“Unfortunalety for Ben, Arizona couldn’t quite get across the line in the Superbowl, but it was a great game. Hopefully I can get the job done and win the 500 to make up for it …

“But I wouldn't put any bets on that. I think just the experience for me this first year is what it's all about. I just want to settle in, do the right thing and show everybody that I can do it.”

Ambrose will become the first Australian to race in the world-famous Daytona 500 when he takes the green flag aboard the #47 Little Debbie machine of JTG Daugherty Racing.

NEW ERA FOR JTG DAUGHERTY RACING AND MICHAEL WALTRIP RACING …

The 51st running of the Daytona 500 marks the first official race in the technical alliance between JTG Daughtery Racing and Michael Waltrip Racing.

The deal, announced last September, sees Ambrose’s #47 entry built and maintained out of the 140,000 square foot MWR facility in Cornelius, North Carolina.

Ambrose will keep Frankie Kerr as his Sprint Cup crew chief. Kerr, a former Sprintcar star himself, was Ambrose’s crew chief with JTG Daugherty Racing and MWR for six Cup events last season. Kerr has a past relationship as a crew chief with MWR in 2007 with driver David Reutimann before joining JTGD in 2008.

The technical alliance also sees JTG Daugherty Racing switch from Ford machinery to Toyota. MWR was formed in 2007 to coincide with Toyota’s entry into the Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series.

GUARANTEED STARTS A RELIEF FOR AMBROSE …

As a result of the #47 entry being elevated into the Top 35 in Sprint Cup owner’s points, Ambrose will not only have a guaranteed start in the Daytona 500, but the first five races of the 2009 season.

The #47 entry ended the 2008 season in 36th place in owner’s points, but was elevated into the top 35 when the #41 of Chip Ganassi Racing was removed from contention as a result of that team’s merger with Dale Earnhardt Inc. Unlike the #01 and #15 entries from DEI, the #41 was not transferred to another team.

At each Sprint Cup event, the top 35 car entries in owner’s points are assured a start in the race regardless of their qualifying performance. The following eight spots are open to ‘go or go home’ entries, with one of the eight reserved for a past Sprint Cup champion if necessary.

The first five races of the 2009 season assure the top 35 from 2008 as the guaranteed entries, with the sixth race of the season in Martinsville going on 2009 owner’s points.

“Qualifying in on speed to those Cup races is the most nerve-wracking thing I’ve done in my life,” said Ambrose.

“I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy.”

RESTRICTOR PLATE RACING A THROW OF THE DICE …

Four times a season, the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series races on the 2.5-mile superspeedways at Daytona and Talladega.

The long straights and steep banking create a massive, flat-out challenge for drivers and teams and as such, NASCAR mandates that engine horsepower is cut at races on these two tracks to keep speeds under control.

With restrictor plates fitted between the engine manifold and carburettor to slow engine power, the racing tends to be tighter, tougher and closer, with cars drafting each other in a pack. At times, the entire 43-car field can run in one bunch, two, three or even four abreast.

This situation can sometimes lead to what is known as ‘The Big One’, where contact in the pack can lead to massive accidents that can effect up to half of the field.

WHAT MARCOS HAS TO SAY:

On the Daytona 500 …

“I have to pinch myself every day because it is the biggest race there is,” said Ambrose.

“I’m really looking forward to my first Daytona 500 because it is huge for me personally to be able to experience firsthand. For years, I have read about the race in magazines while living in Australia and it intrigued me. I want to be able to finish it and finish well for Little Debbie and all of our sponsors. I’m proud to have them on board for my first Daytona 500.”

“I’m just lucky to be here and I have always respected the Series, drivers and the teams.

“I never thought I’d be a driver or be talking about the Daytona 500 with my background and where I’m from. I just loved racing growing up and had a passion for it and I was just very competitive in general. I never dreamed that I would be racing, or coming into NASCAR. I’m grateful to Little Debbie, Kingsford Charcoal, Clorox, Bush’s Beans, and JTG Daugherty Racing for making it possible.

On being locked into the Daytona 500 and the first five races of the season ...

“JTG Daugherty is still new to the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series level and we are very fortunate to be a guaranteed starter.

“Being locked into the first five races is really going to really help set the stage for us. Luckily, things fell into place thanks to receiving help from Michael Waltrip Racing.

“At the end of last season, we were outside the top-35 by only 13 points, but with the merger of two teams and that organisation not fielding as many cars, it moved us up.

“Now, we are definitely going to start the first five races and that changes things up completely. I wouldn’t give that feeling of trying to qualify a car to my worst enemy.

On the first race of the 2009 season ...

“This is our first race of our first season in Sprint Cup and it’s the Daytona 500. It doesn’t get any bigger than that.

“The first five races of the year are really the foundation that you build on for the rest of the season. It’s very important to run well and put points on the board.

“I’m really looking forward to getting on track. I’ve really been focussed over the off-season and with no testing we really haven’t had much track time.

“This is a big year for me, our sponsors and this whole team, so we’re all very keen to get started. You can’t help but excited by the prospect of racing in the Daytona 500, so I’m sure there will be some nerves before the race.”

On the track …

“Daytona International Speedway has so much history and you can feel it when you drive into that place.

“I had no idea what it was all about until I had experienced it and seen the place first hand. Years ago, I didn’t know what this style of racing was all about and how great it really is and how this place really does have something special about it. I mean, when you turn up here and you look at the banking, it is a special place.

“Daytona is obviously very fast, but it’s one of the toughest tracks we go to in a season. It drives differently to Talladega and you are really on the edge through the turns.

“Obviously in the restrictor plate scenario, you are going to be in a pack more often than not, so you have to have your car set-up well enough to be able to run in the pack and stay in your groove.

“If you get too loose and get out of shape while you running, flat-out in the pack at Daytona, you can end up wrecking your car as well as 20 other guy’s cars.

“If it looks easy running at Daytona, it definitely is not. It’s tough, it takes a lot of concentration and it’s very, very fast.”

On his qualifying lap ...

“We’ve got a decent spot there for the Duels and we’ll make it a good race car in drafting practice. Just a fun way to start the season.

“The Duel is my only chance to learn and get confidence in the pack and let people see that I’m going to be safe if I’m somewhere near the front. I’m just going to try to find a good hole and just be consistent so people know what I’m all about.

"It’s surprising how they the Cup cars don’t handle that well even in single car runs. Everyone is very aggressive in trying to get as much speed out of them. They are less stable than what I anticipated for a single car run. I’m looking forward to getting in the draft and seeing what I've got.”
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