Ambrose and No. 9 Team Showing Improvement
Heading into July
Blickensderfer-led No. 9 Stanley Ford Team Confident in Another Strong Finish
CONCORD, N.C. (July 2, 2013) – As the summer months roll into full swing, Marcos Ambrose and the No. 9 Stanley Ford team are showing again why this is their best time of the year. The team is coming off a seventh-place finish at Sonoma and 13th-place finish at Kentucky. In both races, the team qualified in the top-five.
With a little momentum on their side and some work on the aerodynamics of their superspeedway car, the team is confident they can contend for a win this weekend at Daytona International Speedway.
In his five-year Sprint Cup Series career, Ambrose has nine starts at the famed Daytona track. He posted his best finish of sixth in the summer event in 2009. The No. 9 Crew Chief Drew Blickensderfer is no stranger to victory lane at the Florida superspeedway. Blickensderfer has two wins under his belt. He visited victory lane for the 2009 Daytona 500 with Matt Kenseth and 2011 Coke Zero 400 with David Ragan. In his eight starts as crew chief, he has four top-fives, six top-10s and an average finish of 7.1.
Comments from Stanley Ford Fusion Driver Marcos Ambrose:
“Well, we have started to see improvements in the results the past few weeks on two different tracks, the road course and the mile-and-a-half. We have shown speed, qualified well and raced up front during both events. This weekend is a whole new animal, drafting and pack racing at Daytona.
“These superspeedway races are so difficult to stay out of trouble. Hopefully, we will be in the right place at the right time. If you avoid the wreck, your chances of a great finish dramatically improve in a matter of seconds. Then, it’s a matter of getting in the right position at the end for an chance to win.
“At Talladega, I think we really showed how strong we are at superspeedways. Our car had so much barebond on it that you could barely see the Stanley logos, and we still ran up front and finished 14th. I’m confident we will be strong again this weekend and will be able to run up front.”
Comments from Crew Chief Drew Blickensderfer on Daytona:
“We showed improvement in our superspeedway package from Daytona to Talladega. Marcos ran in the front for the majority of the race at Talladega despite having damage to most of the car. That race showed that Marcos is a good superspeedway racer. Hopefully, this weekend we can stay out of trouble. With less damage at Talladega, I think we had a shot at winning that race. We’ll just have to keep our fenders clean and make a run for it at the end.”
Chassis History:
The No. 9 team will bring superspeedway chassis No. 721 this weekend.
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.
