CONCORD, N.C. (June 26, 2012) – Marcos Ambrose will sport Mac Tools colors on his No. 9 Ford Fusion for the second time this season as he heads to Kentucky Speedway for this weekend’s 400-mile race. The Australian native heads to the Bluegrass state looking for his third consecutive pole award and top-10 finish in three weeks.
Ambrose will make his second career NASCAR Sprint Cup Series start at Kentucky Speedway on Saturday night. Though it is only his second Cup Series start, the driver of the No. 9 machine has had success at the 1.5-mile track in the Nationwide Series, finishing no worse than 11th in two starts. Ambrose started from the 11th position in last year’s Sprint Cup Series Race at Kentucky Speedway and finished the 400-mile event in the 20th spot. He has completed 100 percent of laps attempted in Cup Series competition at the Sparta, Ky., track. Ambrose gained one spot in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings after Sonoma and enters this weekend’s 267-lap race in 16th place.
Don’t forget to tune into Sirius XM Radio on Channel 90, Friday, at 10 a.m. ET for the Morning Drive with Pete Pistone and Mike Bagley to listen to Marcos talk about Sonoma results and Saturday night’s upcoming race at Kentucky. In addition, Ambrose will join the Performance Racing Network staff at the SPEED stage on Saturday for “PRN Up To SPEED” at 3 p.m. ET.
Marcos Ambrose’s Thoughts on Racing at Kentucky:
“Kentucky is a fun track, and I’m excited to be going there this weekend and racing under the lights on Saturday. Night racing always adds extra intensity, and I expect this weekend to be no different. My team and I are really strong on the intermediate tracks like Charlotte and Texas, and Kentucky is a sister track to both of those venues. Our qualifying efforts and race results speak for themselves at the 1.5-mile speedways this year, and I’m looking forward to another strong run this weekend. We’ve got Mac Tools as a primary partner on the No.9 this weekend and we really want to put on a good showing for them and hopefully end up in Victory Lane at the end of the night.”
Comments from Crew Chief Todd Parrott on Going to Kentucky Speedway:
“When we go to Kentucky we have to manage all of the bumps and roughness of the race track. Going back this year will be rougher than last year, because as the track ages and goes through the winter, it tends to get bumpier. We have the same tire going back to Kentucky this year that we had in last year’s inaugural race. The biggest problem we had as a team last year was getting through the bumps without upsetting the car too much on entry into Turn 3. This year we are really going to focus on getting the car to be as smooth as possible. We have new rules this week as they raised the side skirts up another half inch, so the aero platform on the Mac Tools Ford will be different than what we had last year. Our engineers are working on simulation stuff to try and come up with a good setup for this weekend’s race. Hopefully, we will be in good shape on Saturday and Marcos can bring home another good finish in the Mac Tools Ford at the end of the night.”
Chassis History: The No. 9 RPM team has prepared chassis No. 693 for this weekend’s NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race at Kentucky Speedway. This Mac Tools Ford was run previously this season in the All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway.
About Richard Petty Motorsports
A performance and marketing driven company, Richard Petty Motorsports, co-owned by NASCAR Hall of Famer Richard Petty and successful business entrepreneurs Andrew Murstein and Douglas Bergeron, is one of the most recognized brands in all of motorsports. With a history of over 200 wins and business partnerships with national and global leaders, today the race operation fields two teams in competition in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series. Aric Almirola pilots the famous No. 43 Ford Fusion with primary partners Smithfield Foods, U.S. Air Force and STP and Marcos Ambrose drives the No. 9 machine with primary partners Stanley and DEWALT. In addition, Michael Annett wheels the No. 43 Pilot Flying J Ford Mustang full-time in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. The team is headquartered in Concord, N.C.
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