Marcos Ambrose

Marcos Ambrose

Born:	September 1 1976 (1976-09-01) (age 31)
Birthplace:	Launceston, Tasmania
Awards:	2003 and 2004 V8 Supercar champion 1999 European Formula Ford champion
NASCAR Nationwide Series Statistics
Car #, Team	#59 - Wood Brothers/JTG Racing
2007 NNS Position:	6th
Best NNS Position:	6th - 2007 (Busch Series)
First Race:	2007 Orbitz 300 (Daytona)
Wins	Top Tens	Poles
0	6	1
NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Statistics
2006 NCTS Position:	21st
Best NCTS Position:	21st - 2006 (Craftsman Truck Series)
First Race:	2006 Kroger 250 (Martinsville)
Wins	Top Tens	Poles
0	4	1
All stats current as of October 28, 2007.

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Marcos Ambrose (born September 1, 1976 in Launceston, Tasmania) is an Australian racing driver. He was the Australian V8 Supercar champion in 2003 and 2004, and is credited for virtually single-handedly reviving Ford Racing in Australia, after years of Holden domination. In 2006 he raced in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series, piloting the #20 Team Australia/Aussie Vineyards Ford for Team Australia. He moved up to the 2007 NASCAR Busch Series, driving the #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion for Wood Brothers/JTG Racing.^[1]

Early Years

Ambrose began racing karts at the age of ten. He won four Tasmanian state junior karting titles and was the Australian karting champion in 1995 in the Clubman Heavy class at the Dubbo circuit in New South Wales. He moved into Formula Ford in 1996. The Ambrose family have a rich history in this formula as Marcos' father Ross Ambrose, along with Ralph Firman Sr, co-founded Formula Ford chassis builder Van Diemen. Ambrose finished second in the Australian Formula Ford championship in 1997. In 1998 Ambrose moved to Europe in a bid to reach Formula 1, competing in British Formula Ford in 1998 and 1999. In 1999 he won the European Formula Ford Championship. In 2000 he began the season racing in the French Formula 3 Championship, before switching mid-season to the British Formula 3 Championship. At the end of 2000 Ambrose did not have the budget to continue in racing in Europe, and returned to Australia. In October 2000 he was invited to compete in a Young Guns invitational race held at the Lexmark Indy 300. Ambrose won against a host of young drivers in Honda road cars.

2001-2005: V8 Supercars Australia

Ambrose in his Stone Brothers Racing Falcon at Indy 2005

For 2001 Ambrose was signed by Stone Brothers Racing to drive the Pirtek Racing Ford Falcon. Ambrose stunned the V8 Supercar world when he qualified on pole for his first ever V8 Supercar race, supporting the Australian Grand Prix (a non-championship event before the championship season). Qualified on pole again in round three at Eastern Creek Raceway, round 9 at Queensland Raceway and round 11, the Bathurst 1000 at Mount Panorama Circuit. Ambrose went on to finish eighth in the championship, winning the Rookie of the Year award. He won the fourth round of the season, at Hidden Valley Raceway in Darwin, although he did not win any of the three races in the round.^[2] The 2002 season saw Ambrose start the season snaring the pole position at Phillip Island before recording his debut race win in the first race. He eventually finished third in the V8 Supercar Championship. With a new BA Falcon, Ambrose gave the Ford team a great start to the 2003 season with victory in the first race of the Clipsal 500 in Adelaide. He followed this fantastic start with a third career win at Eastern Creek Raceway where he led Ford home to a memorable 1-2-3 at the Sydney track. This was Ford's first clean sweep of the podium since Eastern Creek 1997 and Ambrose’s first win for the season. After 13 rounds in the 2003 V8 Supercar Series, Ambrose was presented with the driver’s series trophy, 102 points clear of second place. In 2004 Ambrose claimed three pole positions and five round wins and went into the final round at Eastern Creek Raceway with a virtually unbeatable lead. In the end he collected his second championship in the opening Saturday night race and then went on to clean-sweep the round in record-breaking style in his Pirtek Falcon. This was the first time Ford had won back-to-back titles since 1988-89. Teammate Russell Ingall also drove a superb final round to finish second in the championship, giving Stone Brothers Racing a memorable 1-2 Quinella finish. Ambrose won the coveted Barry Sheene Medal in 2003 and 2004. He started 2005 the way he ended 2004 with a clean sweep of the opening round in Adelaide. He remained in the championship lead until Round 10 at the Bathurst 1000 when he was involved in a controversial crash with Greg Murphy approaching The Cutting on the way up 'The Mountain' late in the race. The two drivers, infuriated with one another, shared some heated words after the crash.

This crash, combined with a poor performance at the co-hosted (with the Champ Cars) round on the Gold Coast arguably lost him a third straight title. He thereafter supported teammate Russell Ingall's title bid successfully, and the two helped Ford and Stone Brothers Racing take the Drivers, Teams, and Manufacturer's championships. Ambrose finished third in the championship behind Ingall and fellow Ford driver, and good friend Craig Lowndes. Marcos is still the only driver to have a round win in every V8 Supercar season he has participated in.

2006: NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series

Marcos Ambrose in his Team Australia/Aussie Vineyards Truck at Charlotte

At the first V8 Supercar race of 2005, Ambrose called a press conference on the Saturday morning to announce that he would leave V8 Supercars at the end of the 2005 season to try and make a career in NASCAR. The Ford Motor Company signed Ambrose to participate overseas in the United States with Wood Brothers/JTG Racing in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series in 2006. However, Ambrose had to wait until part way through the 2006 season to begin. NASCAR did not clear Ambrose to race the NCTS' first three races, as they were held on intermediate to high-speed ovals, and like fellow Wood Brothers/JTG Racing driver Bobby East, Ambrose was not cleared to start in the faster races. Ambrose made his Truck Series debut on April 1 2006 at the Kroger 250 at Martinsville Speedway, qualifying 20th and finishing 33rd after being caught up in an incident unfolding in front of him.^[3] Ambrose is the first notable Australian driver in a NASCAR series event since Dick Johnson in 1990. Ambrose made history by finishing third in the O'Reilly Auto Parts 250 at Kansas Speedway on July 2, 2006. This was the first time a non-American driver has finished in the top five of a truck series event since Canadian Ron Fellows won on the Watkins Glen road course on June 26, 1999. He also took the lead in the opening laps, becoming the first Australian to lead laps in NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series competition. The next week, he made further history by scoring his first Bud pole position for the Built Ford Tough 225 at Kentucky Speedway,^[4] and then leading the most laps in the race itself, though he finished 19th.^[5] Ambrose scored his second podium result of his debut Craftsman Truck Series season, finishing 3rd in the Toyota Tundra 200 at Nashville Superspeedway after qualifying 11th. Ambrose reached as high as 19th in the championship points,^[6] but finished the season 21st overall and 3rd in the Rookie of the Year standings, despite having missed the first three races of the year.^[1]

Nextel/Sprint Cup

Ambrose attempted the 2007 Centurion Boats at the Glen at Watkins Glen International in the #77 Camping World Ford for Robby Gordon Motorsports but failed due to being rained out, he is scheduled to attempt the 2007 Dodge Dealers 400 at Dover International Speedway in the RGM Ford. In 2008 Marcos will have his own sponsor in the #21 car sharing car with Jon Wood & Bill Elliott in the Sprint Cup.^[7][8]

2007: NASCAR Busch Series

For 2007, Ambrose stepped up to the NASCAR Busch Series, putting him one step closer to his goal of a drive in the NEXTEL Cup. He drives the #59 Kingsford Ford Fusion fielded by Wood Brothers/JTG Racing, the same team he drove for in 2006 in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series. In the first two races of the 2007 season, he finished on the lead lap, in 16th and 25th, on tracks he had never previously raced on. In the third race of the season, the Telcel-Motorola México 200, Ambrose finished eighth, his career best at the time. having gained several positions in the last few laps of the race. He followed up his 8th place finish in Mexico with another top 10, finishing 10th in the Sam's Town 300 in Las Vegas, NV. He recorded a career best Busch Series finish of sixth after starting third. After 17 races in the season, Ambrose sits in the 7th position in the points standings, highest of any driver not also competing in the Nextel Cup and is 2nd in the Busch Series Rookie of year, nine points behind David Ragan. At the 2007 NAPA Auto Parts 200 NASCAR Busch Series race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal Ambrose was the dominant driver of the day, having led for 37 laps. After a caution period had finished, Ambrose had well known Nextel Cup regular and Dakar Rally racer Robby Gordon behind him. At turn 3, Gordon successfully made a pass on Ambrose. At the next corner, Ambrose made minor contact with the left-rear of Gordon's car, spinning him around. Due to a caution being brought out because of a large crash behind them, Gordon rejoined behind Ambrose. NASCAR officials ordered him to move back to 14th position but Gordon refused. He was black flaged (disqualified). When they restarted, Gordon ran into the back of Ambrose at turn 2, spinning him around. Ambrose dropped back down the field but recovered to finish in 7th. Following the race, before the NASCAR Nextel Cup race of which Gordon was to start, Gordon was prohibited from starting the race. Instead, P.J. Jones was substituted in for him. Gordon was also handed a $35, 000 fine by NASCAR, and was put on a suspended sentence which if he repeated this, would see him be further punished. According to NASCAR, all of these penalties were handed to Gordon for ignoring the disqualification. Following the Busch race in Montreal, and the second Pocono race for the Cup, Ambrose was offered a ride for the Watkins Glen road race by Robby Gordon. His cup debut featured the No. 77 Camping World Ford Fusion, and also carried some signage from Ambrose’s regular sponsor Kingsford Charcoal. However, qualifying was rained out and the field was set by owner's points, and Ambrose did not make the race. [1].

See also

• Team Australia

References

1. ^ ^{a b} Marcos Ambrose (18 November 2006). "AMBROSE HAS TOP 10 RESULT SLIP AWAY IN MIAMI". Press release. Retrieved on 2006-11-18.
2. ^ 2001 SCS Round 4 Overall Hidden Valley Raceway - 13/05/2001. VESRIX Vee Eight Supercar Statistics. conrod.com.au. Retrieved on 2006-11-21.
3. ^ "Ford Race Notes: Martinsville", TruckSeries.com, April 1 2006. Retrieved on 2006-11-18. 
4. ^ Charles Krall. "Ambrose on Kentucky Truck Pole", TruckSeries.com, July 8 2006. Retrieved on 2006-11-18. 
5. ^ "Another Huge Day for Ambrose in Kentucky", TruckSeries.com, 9 July 2006. Retrieved on 2006-11-18. 
6. ^ NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series Official Driver Points Following Race 24 - Phoenix International Raceway - November 10, 2006. TruckSeries.com (2006-11-13). Retrieved on 2006-11-18.
7. ^ "Race Day: Dodge Dealers 400", The Charlotte Observer, September 23 2007. Retrieved on 2007-09-24. 
8. ^ Jayski #21 Team News. ESPN. Retrieved on 2007-09-24.

Career results

External links

• Marcos Ambrose Official Site
• Team Australia Official Site