Welcome to Day 2 of my 35-day venture throughout the Top 35 teams in the owner standings for 2009.
Today, we look at a driver who spent little time behind the wheel in 2008 in the Cup Series, but one who finished 10th in the Nationwide Series points.
I changed my format from yesterday just a bit and added two additional fields, My Prediction for 2009 and Will this team remain in top-35. I thought it’d be fun to give a little preview on how I think each team will do throughout the season.
Hope you enjoy part two of 35!
Reminder: 34 days until the cars hit the track at Daytona for the Budweiser Shootout.
Countdown to Daytona: Owner Point Style No. 34
Today’s Spotlight: No. 47
Team: JTG Daugherty Racing
Driver: Marcos Ambrose
Sponsor(s): Kingsford Charcoal, Clorox, Bush’s Baked Beans and Little Debbie. For a look at the paint schemes, visit Jayski.com
Driver 2008 Stats: Ambrose finished the 2008 season ranked 45th in the driver’s points. In 12 starts, he finished in the top-5 and top-10 once and brought home just over $1.1 million.
In the Nationwide Series [where he competed full-time], Ambrose finished 10th in the points with three top-5 finishes and six top-10 finishes. He earned just over $1 million in the series.
News: This is another team that benefited from the closing of two DEI teams, because it moved them up into the Top 35. It’s also a confusing situation, because when the car first hit the track in 2008, it was a Ford Fusion driven under the Wood Brothers banner.
Later in the season, it was transformed into a Toyota under the Waltrip stable and essentially took over the No. 00.
Ambrose has what it takes to be competitive at this level and will definitely compete for a win at both road course races in 2009.
During NASCAR’s off-season, he was voted Australian Driver of the Year by Australian motor racing magazine Auto Action for the second consecutive year.
Ambrose fared well during his final four races in a Toyota and improved each weekend, with the exception of the season finale in Homestead.
He averaged a 27.5 place finish, which would no doubt have been higher had he not finished 42nd in the final race.
My Prediction for 2009: This team will be a middle of the pack team in 2009. Ambrose has the ability to compete in several of the races and should finish with a couple top-10 finishes, he may even pull off a win at a road course, but overall these are still more or less Waltrip Racing cars and Ambrose still has some learning to do.
Will this team remain in the Top 35: I could see this team being out of the Top 35 or just barely in by the end of the first five races, but I’m confident they will pull it off and finish the season with no problem inside the Top 35.
B-Blog
This article also appears on my blog: Sports101
7 comments Last one added 6 months ago — Leave a Comment
Mary Jo Buchanan 6 months ago
I really like Marcos and all he brings to the sport. While I wish he would do better, I see him as a middle of the packer as well.......hope he proves us wrong.
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S M Napier 6 months ago
Like Ambrose, he's quite the character, think he'll do better affiliated to Michael Waltrip Racing than as a stand alone. Be exciting to see were he'll end up as a middle of the pack, think anything top 30 or better been a great year for him.
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Ben Bomberger 6 months ago
He is definitely in a better position being in Waltrip equipment [mainly because Toyota devotes so much time and money to their teams] than he would have done in a Woods Brothers Ford. No offense to the Wood Brothers, they were great back in the day, but just like the Petty's the they fell behind the curve.
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ray wells 6 months ago
i think marcos ambrose will surprise you all i am predicting that he will finish in the top 10.i have been following him since the V8 supercars and into nascar ,trucks and nationwide.the only thing he has been missing is a good car and he may have it now.his driving ability won't let him down so top ten it is."go u good thing "as they say in australia.
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Ben Bomberger 6 months ago
I don't disagree that Ambrose has amazing talent, I haven't watched him much, but I just don't see him competing with the top-10 or really even the top-20 drivers just yet. Now after he gets a year under his belt, I might change my opinion.
Though I wouldn't have any problem with him being a top-10 driver, he seems like a great guy and I'd like to see some different drivers at the top of the charts every weekend, it makes the sport better!
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Daniel Lam 6 months ago
pretty much in the same situation as u ray.
i started supporting him in 02, and then he started his sucess in 03, 04 and 05.
i do know that 2006 in trucks wasnt all that good of a year for him, but he proved his worth with the performance in the busch series in 07. and again last year.
his performances were really good in the final few races in the Toyota, a shame to see him leave ford, but its the best move for him.
now that he's got a secured ride, its when will he come home, and what manufacturer, as we all know, Toyota has been interested in V8 Supercars, along with T888 joining them.
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ray wells 6 months ago
we will see ben but i will stick to my opinion and i am hopeing that u will eat those words ha ha
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