Marcos Ambrose has bounced back from the toughest week of his career to finish 13th at New Hampshire Motor Speedway for the Lennox Industrial Tools 301, helping to ease memories of last weekend’s race in Sonoma where he came within a whisker of victory.By contrast to last week’s biff and barge on the California road course, New Hampshire was for the most part a clean race, with only 16 cars finishing on the lead lap at the completion of racing.
“It’s great to be able to put the last week behind us, I’m incredibly proud of the team for the effort that they’ve put in,” Ambrose said.
“We’ve picked up another solid haul of points, which is what we need to put that bad luck behind us.
“The car was quick today when we were out on our own, and the team did a great job to tune it in over the long green flag sections.
“Next week we’re back at Daytona, we’ve always run well on the Superspeedways but they are always a bit of a lottery, I can’t wait!”
After starting from 12th position, Ambrose initially struggled with the handling of his Lance Toyota Camry, until an early caution flag to retrieve debris from the race track.
Pitting for four tyres and adjustments while other cars only took on two tyres dropped Ambrose back down the order, restarting the race on lap 49 in 24th position with lots of traffic ahead of him.
At the halfway point of the race, Ambrose was drifting around 20th position, with the car running well on its own in clean air.
After a round of green flag pit stops, Ambrose was lapped by race leader Jeff Burton, although Ambrose’s car was running quicker lap times than the cars ahead of him on the track.
Ambrose lost the ‘Lucky Dog’ free pass back onto the lead lap by when his team mate Martin Truex Jnr slipped by, and after a third caution when Kasey Kahne blew his engine, Ambrose restarted the race in 17th.
With 20 laps to go, Ambrose was finally the beneficiary of the ‘Lucky Dog’ when Juan Pablo Montoya crashed heavily after contact with Reed Sorenson between turns three and four.
Ambrose picked up more positions when Kyle Busch spun after contact with Jeff Burton, restarting the ten lap sprint to the finish in 13th.
After gaining a spot when Truex Jnr slid wide at turn one, Ambrose raced hard to the finish with early race leader Burton, who snuck by for 12th place on the very last lap.
For the second weekend in a row, Jimmie Johnson took the race win, after getting past Kurt Busch on the second last lap.
Highlights of the Lennox Industrial Tools 301 will be shown on One HD at 10:00pm tomorrow, hosted by Marcos Ambrose.
The NASCAR Sprint Cup Series now moves back to the high banks of the famous Daytona International Speedway, with the Coke Zero 400 presented by Coca Cola.
NASCAR Sprint Cup Race Review
New Hampshire Motor Speedway- Lennox Industrial Tools 301
1. Jimmie Johnson (Chevrolet)
2. Tony Stewart (Chevrolet)
3. Kurt Busch (Dodge)
4. Jeff Gordon (Chevrolet)
5. Kevin Harvick (Chevrolet)
6. Ryan Newman (Chevrolet)
7. Clint Bowyer (Chevrolet)
8. Dale Earnhardt Jnr (Chevrolet)
9. Joey Lagano (Toyota)
10. A.J. Allmendinger (Ford)
13. Marcos Ambrose (Toyota)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Standings (after race 17 of 36)
1. Kevin Harvick (Chevrolet)- 2489 points
2. Jimmie Johnson (Chevrolet)- 2384
3. Kyle Busch (Toyota)- 2328
4. Denny Hamlin (Toyota)- 2304
5. Jeff Gordon (Chevrolet)- 2302
6. Kurt Busch (Dodge)- 2288
7. Matt Kenseth (Ford)- 2204
8. Jeff Burton (Chevrolet)- 2159
9. Tony Stewart (Chevrolet)- 2158
10. Greg Biffle (Ford)- 2126
11. Mark Martin (Chevrolet)- 2047
12. Carl Edwards (Ford)- 2020
27. Marcos Ambrose (Toyota)- 1593
Next Event
Daytona International Speedway- Coke Zero 400 powered by Coca-Cola
Australian TV Guide
Check local guides for regional viewing times
Race Replays
Fox Sports 1 (Plus Fox Sports 1 HD)- Monday June 28th, 4:30pm – 7:30pm
One HD (Hosted by Marcos Ambrose)- Tuesday June 28th, 10:00pm – 11:00pm
One HD (Hosted by Marcos Ambrose)- Friday July 2nd, 12:30am – 1:30am
For further information on Marcos Ambrose, visit
