Ambrose Qualifies Fifth In Las Vegas

Marcos Ambrose has earned his best ever Sprint Cup qualifying result by driving to fifth fastest in qualifying for the Shelby 427 at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada today.

Ambrose turned in a superb effort in qualifying at the 1.5-mile speedway, giving him a third row starting position for the third race of the 2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series on Monday morning Australian time.

The result is Ambrose’s best qualifying performance in the top level of NASCAR, eclipsing his previous best result of seventh on the Infineon Raceway road course in Sonoma, California last year.

Ambrose will make his 14th Sprint Cup start in Las Vegas aboard the #47 Kingsford-backed entry of JTG Daugherty Racing in what will be the 32-year-old’s first Cup start at Las Vegas.

The Australian currently sits 21st in the series standings after finishing 17th in the Daytona 500 and 22nd in California last weekend.

It was a strong performance from all three cars out of the Michael Waltrip Racing stable, with David Reutimann in fourth and Michael Waltrip 15th fastest.

Kyle Busch won pole position ahead of his brother Kurt, with three-time series champion Jimmie Johnson to start from third place.

WHAT MARCOS HAS TO SAY:

“There is nowhere to hide,” said Ambrose.

“At this level you have got to really step up and I want to be a player at this level.

“I just love NASCAR, I love my team and I’m having a blast. I just really want to deliver a performance to really justify why I’m here.

“That’s a hard lap here, this place is so fast. It’s faster than Texas in my opinion in the feel of it all.

“I had to suck in a few deep breaths and just commit to it.

“I drove harder on my qualifying lap than I had in practice and I told myself too at the start of the lap I wasn’t going to brake. I still did, I still chickened out a little bit and tried to roll with as much speed through the middle of the corner as I could.

“The crew guys did a great job and we have a Kingsford on the car for their very first Cup race ever. I’m really excited about that and looking forward to Sunday to hopefully give them a strong day.”

RESULTS: Sprint Cup Qualifying
1. #18 Kyle Busch 29.033 seconds
2. #2 Kurt Busch 29.078
3. #48 Jimmie Johnson 29.081
4. #00 David Reutimann 29.091
5. #47 Marcos Ambrose 29.117
6. #39 Ryan Newman 29.127
7. #9 Kasey Kahne 29.129
8. #5 Mark Martin 29.104
9. #29 Kevin Harvick 29.145
10. #14 Tony Stewart 29.155

2009 NASCAR Sprint Cup Driver’s Standings - After Race 2 of 36
1. Matt Kenseth 385 points
2. Jeff Gordon 304
3. Kurt Busch 294
4. Tony Stewart 294
5. Greg Biffle 268
6. Clint Bowyer 266
7. Michael Waltrip 264
8. David Ragan 262
9. Carl Edwards 260
10. Juan Pablo Montoya 256
21. Marcos Ambrose 209

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