Transcript – Marcos Ambrose Bristol Media Conference

23 August 2009

QUESTION: Marcos, just an outstanding performance. You were up there all evening long. Your thoughts about the race?

“Just a wonderful night for me. It's my first year in the Cup series and to be racing with Mark on his 1000th start and be racing with Kyle Busch, who will probably go down in history as one of the best of all time, I just feel privileged to be out there running.

“It's a great day for me - a great night for all our sponsors. Just really thrilled. We're a first year team and I'm a first year driver and to be running up there on a wild Saturday night like we had tonight is pretty special.

“I got Dale Jr behind me and Greg Biffle beside me and I'm good friends with Greg. If I did the wrong thing by Dale, I was going to get lynched by about 50,000 people as I was trying to get out of here, so I really didn't want to mess up.

“I wanted to race them hard. I wanted to race them. But you know that you're in very special territory up there and I just am so thrilled to be up there and thrilled to finish like we did with good car speed.

“We didn't have anything for Mark (Martin) and Kyle (Busch) at the end but it was such a great night.”

QUESTION: Marcos, usually when people who aren't 'lifers' as stock car racers, the last place they get good is on short track, probably specifically Martinsville but certainly here (at Bristol). You can win on road courses and you can finish near the front on the short tracks like Bristol. Just where can't you do well?!

“(Laughs) I don't know why I've run so well here. Both races we've done really well this year. I just try to drive the race car. I don't do anything but just rely on my instincts and try to drive around the track as fast as I can.

“I love Bristol and I just love NASCAR. It's the best form of racing I've ever experienced.

“The cars are hard to drive, they've got way too much power, not enough tyre, not enough brakes and it's just a real challenge to survive out there and we're doing it. We're out there amongst them.

“I don't think there is any track where we can't do this. I've had trouble at places like Michigan and Atlanta, but I'm not sure whether it's me or the way I'm trying to set the car up.

“I'll work it out over time but I just want to be here for the long haul. I just want to be here again and again and again because I just love NASCAR and I feel privileged to be in the sport and I love every lap that I do.”

QUESTION: Marcos, when you first came over here you had some struggles in the Nationwide Series trying to learn the tracks like everybody that comes over here. Tonight is further proof that you've definitely made it. When did you realise that 'hey, this thing is going to work for me'? What are your expectations moving forward now?

“I don't feel like I'm comfortable, I don't feel like I'm safe in the sport. I don’t. Consistency is an issue for me. I have good runs like this and then I'll back it up like last week and run 35th.

“So I don't feel secure. I feel privileged to be driving for JTG Daugherty Racing, with Brad Daugherty and Tad and Jodi Geschickter, they've given me a chance of a lifetime and I want to pay them back as much as I can.

“I'm just thrilled to be in the sport. Like I said, I didn't expect anything and I didn't ask anything from anybody. I didn't expect to be given any breaks or want any special treatment. I knew I had to learn from scratch and just work my way up through the categories. I've finished top 10 both years in the Nationwide Series with limited budget against the big Cup teams on an almost privateer scale and just really proud of what we've done.”

“We've kept growing and kept moving forward and we haven't finished. We're still moving forward. We've announced a wonderful sponsor today in Kleenex in a time where sponsorship is dropping and while teams are reducing what they're doing, we're growing. It's just a very exciting time for us.”

QUESTION: A couple of questions for Marcos. Next to last restart it looked like you bobbled a bit. What did you learn from that to pick up on the last restart. Secondly, I went and checked your car and it's very clean. How much does that play in to making 500 laps here and getting a good finish?

“Well I just got greedy on a couple of restarts there. I wanted to win the race so bad and you’ve got 850 horsepower and hot tyres and a concrete track and I just got greedy on the right foot and spun the tyres.

“So the last restart I just tried to baby it to try and make sure I solidified my position and managed to get past Greg (Biffle) on the inside there. He was pinched down and that's all I needed to do.

“I'm learning as I go. When you get an opportunity to run at the front like that with six laps to go you can't learn that anywhere else but when you're out there doing it.

“You're up against the best and when you make a mistake, you're exposed. I'm really proud to have finished third tonight and had a good last restart.

“I just try to always keep my nose clean. I don't want to ruin anybody's race. I want to race as hard as I can and when my night's on I'm going to race as hard as anyone and take those chances and try to do it cleanly.

“I did it at Watkins Glen on Kyle (Busch) and I did it tonight and hopefully I'll do it next week at Montreal.

“But when I get my chance at the front I try to do the right thing and I try to race them hard but fair.”

QUESTION: Marcos, you probably could have finished anywhere from first to 10th tonight and you talked about spinning the tyres on one restart there. How do you balance what you can and can't do in situations like this where you have to have patience because of the situation but you're so close to winning that you might want to go for that too. How do you balance all of that out?

“Well, racing is about controlled aggression. I mean, if we all go out there full of testosterone, none of us will ever finsh. There are a million ways not to finish a race. I just try and control my aggression the best I can and keep a level head and to race fair. That's my goal.

“When I came to NASCAR I promised myself that I'd be happy every day. Just be happy that I'm here and racing. I want to go to bed and wake up the next morning not regretting anything I've done.

“I've learned from times where I've gone over my head and done things that in retrospect you shouldn't. Like I said, it's my first year and I've got to be very careful about the legends of the sport that I’m racing around and I respect them. That's the key component of it, respecting who you are driving against. I'm driving against the best in the business, who have built this sport, continue to grow it and I’m just happy to be a part of the scene.

QUESTION: Marcos, you said during your driver introduction something that a lot of fans got a chuckle out of, that you just hoped to finish. What led you to say that tonight?

“It didn't impress my crew any, I'll tell you that. You're in for a wild Saturday night. The night race at Bristol, as a fan back in Australia watching it on TV in 2000-and-whatever, you always used to watch the Saturday night Bristol race because you knew there were going to be lots of crashes.

“So I knew what I was getting myself into. I just wanted to finish if I could. I guess that I shouldn't of said it. Maybe I should have said that I'll spray champagne in Victory Lane or something. I don't know - I was just being honest. I was worried about finishing the race.”

Of Note

Marcos Ambrose earned the Mobil 1 Command Performance Driver of the Race Award in the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway tonight
Tonight’s Sharpie 500 was held before a sell-out crowd of 160,000 fans in Bristol, Tennessee
Mark Martin made his 1000th NASCAR start in Bristol tonight
Ambrose and the #47 JTG Daugherty Racing team earned US$190,473 for tonight’s third place finish, taking their season total to US$3,016,439 after 24 races

All media requests for interviews, press releases, information, or images to be directed to:

Melissa Arbuthnot
melissa.arbuthnot@communecom.com.au

Janina Czado
janina@communecom.com.au

CommunEcom Strategic Communications
P.O. Box 689
Balgowlah NSW 2093

Ph: +61 2 9949 9788
Fax: +61 2 9949 9688

Transcript – Marcos Ambrose Bristol Media Conference

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