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2012 New Hampshire II: Marcos Ambrose NASCAR Sprint Cup Race Recap
Marcos Ambrose fought an uphill battle at the latest round of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series at Loudon, bringing home a 24th place finish from the 28th race of the season.
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The flat one mile New Hampshire Motor Speedway proved hard to tame, with the Stanley Ford unable to strike a speedy balance over the 300 mile race.
Long stints of green flag running transpired against the team, which made track position difficult to make up.
"It was a bad day and I just feel bad for everybody," Ambrose said.
"We all put a lot of effort in and it's just nasty when you get results like that.
"The car felt like it wasn't handling that well and it never got any faster.
"We'll keep our chins up and head to Dover, it's been good to us lately and we'll look to bounce back there."
Starting from 21st position, Ambrose fell back to 26th in the early running, before a competition caution due to overnight rain slowed the field on lap 40 of 300.
By the time the first green flag stop of the race came on lap 109, Ambrose had worked his way up to as high as 12th position, with the handling of the car improving as the fuel load lightened.
However, during the sequence of pit stops Ambrose dropped a lap down on the race leaders, with the fight to regain the lost ground then becoming the focus of the remaining laps.
A debris caution flew on lap 129, with Ambrose hoping to take the wave around back onto the lead lap, but with some front running drivers remaining on circuit, the number nine returned to pit lane for a service.
Another debris yellow slowed the field on lap 178, with the team making further adjustments to the Stanley Ford Fusion.
From the green flag, Ambrose raced hard with Kurt Busch for the Lucky Dog free-pass back onto the lead lap, which became a moot point when Kyle Busch's engine issues dropped him a lap down.
Ambrose remained in 26th position for the run up to the final green flag service, which fell on lap 233.
The third and final debris caution for the day waved on lap 272, with Ambrose taking the opportunity to stop for one last round of new tires and adjustments.
In the run to the chequered flag, Ambrose was able to pick up a couple of positions to be classified in 24th place, remaining 17th in the season point score.
The race was dominated by Denny Hamlin, who took victory over Jimmie Johnson and Jeff Gordon.
Next week the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series continues at a happy hunting ground for Ambrose, the Monster Mile at Dover.
Loudon 300 Results
1. Denny Hamlin (Toyota)
2. Jimmie Johnson (Chevrolet)
3. Jeff Gordon (Chevrolet)
4. Clint Bowyer (Toyota)
5. Kasey Kahne (Chevrolet)
6. Brad Keselowski (Dodge)
7. Tony Stewart (Chevrolet)
8. Joey Logano (Toyota)
9. Brian Vickers (Toyota)
10. Ryan Newman (Chevrolet)
24. Marcos Ambrose (Ford)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Standings (after 28 of 36 races)
1. Jimmie Johnson (Chevrolet)-2096points
2.Brad Keselowski (Dodge)- 2095
3. Denny Hamlin (Toyota)- 2089
4.Tony Stewart (Chevrolet)- 2086
5. Kasey Kahne (Chevrolet)- 2081
6. Clint Bowyer (Toyota)- 2081
7. Dale Earnhardt Jnr (Chevrolet)- 8070
8. Kevin Harvick (Chevrolet)- 2065
9. Greg Biffle (Ford)- 2063
10.Martin Truex Jnr (Toyota)- 2062
17. Marcos Ambrose (Ford)- 772
Australian TV Guide
Times in AEDST, check local guides for details.
Monday September 24th
7:00pm- Loudon 300, SPEED + SPEED HD
Tuesday September 25th
4:30am- Loudon 300, ONE HD
6:00am- Loudon 300, ONE HD
5:30pm- NASCAR Now, ESPN + ESPN HD
Wenesday September 26th
5:30pm- NASCAR Now, ESPN + ESPN HD
Thursday September 27th
2:00am- Loudon 300 Qualifying, ONE HD
3:00am- Loudon 300, ONE HD
4:00pm- Loudon 300, SPEED + SPEED HD
5:30pm- NASCAR Now, ESPN + ESPN HD
Friday September 28th
12:00am- Loudon 300, SPEED + SPEED HD
6:00am- Loudon 300, ONE HD
5:30pm- NASCAR Now, ESPN + ESPN HD
Saturday September 29th
9:30am- Dover 400 Final Practice, SPEED + SPEED HD
7:30pm- Dover 400 Final Practice, SPEED + SPEED HD
Sunday September 30th
4:00am- Loudon 300, ONE HD
8:30am- Dover 400 Qualifying, SPEED + SPEED HD
Monday October 1st
3:00am- Dover 400 LIVE, SPPED + SPEED HD
Dover 400 Preview
Dover International Speedway
Track Distance: 1 mile/ 1.61km
Track Type: Intermediate Oval
Crowd Capacity: 140,000
Marcos Ambrose Results at Dover International Speedway
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series
2012 (1): 10th
2011 (2): 9th
2011 (1): 3rd
2010 (2): 20th
2010 (1): 36th
2009 (2): 14th
2009 (1): 20th
2008 (2): 32nd
NASCAR Nationwide Series
2008 (2): 16th
2008 (1): 30th (contact)
2007 (2): 20th
2007 (1): 6th
NASCAR Truck Series
2006: 26th
PaddockTalk Perspective
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