Marcos Ambrose

Robert Pressley

WEST ALLIS, Wis. – It took two helicopters, a jet and an assist from Robert Pressley to help Marcos Ambrose finish 16th in Saturday night’s Camping World RV Rental 250 at The Milwaukee Mile.

Ambrose practiced at the Infineon Raceway Saturday morning in Northern California in preparation of his Sprint Cup Series debut, and then he raced across the country in time to start the main event for the Nationwide Series. Since Pressley qualified the STP/Kingsford Ford, Ambrose started last. He was an impresive 18th after just 35 laps but then his progess stalled.

“We had a tight race car towards the end and it really hurt us. We made some changes and worked on it during the race. But we’ve got to look at the big picture. We came all this way to keep the points from ticking over and we did that.”

After the race Ambrose flew back to California in time for Sunday’s race.

"We can’t say enough about the job Robert did for us,” said crew chief Gary Cogswell. “He practiced the car and qualified it for us. Every driver has his own feel. Robert gave us a pretty good baseline. Without his help, today could have been a disaster.

“When the race started, Marcos quickly worked through traffic and got to mid-pack. That’s when it seemed like he hit a wall. When he got in the middle of all that traffic, it took all the air off the front valance and made it hard to turn. Everyone in that little pack of traffic had the same problem.”

“We just couldn’t go,” he said. “It was tight all night. We were getting close there for a while and we were looking in good shape to get close to the Top 10. But we couldn’t get it just right and it started to get worse.

Ambrose is scheduled for double-duty again next weekend at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway. This time, he only needs the help of a golf cart to shuttle between garages since both series are at the same track.

“It’s been a lot of fun doing both races,” Ambrose said. “This was an exciting weekend. A lot of things had to fall into place to make this happen. It’s something I’ll never forget.”

FAST & FUN FACTS:
- Ambrose is 13th in the NASCAR Nationwide Series standings with three Top-10 finishes in 17 starts for JTG Racing.
- Carl Edwards won the Camping World RV Rental 250. Joey Logano finished second, followed by Clint Bowyer in third, David Ragan in fourth and David Reutimann in fifth.
- JTG Racing teammate Kelly Bires finished 11th in the No. 47 Clorox Ford.
- The Camping World RV Sales 200 is next Saturday at 3 p.m. at the New Hampshire Motor Speedway.