Marcos Ambrose heads to Charlotte Motor Speedway hoping for a win at what many consider to be the home track of NASCAR. With the majority of the teams based out of the Charlotte area and it being home to many of the drivers, a victory at the 1.5-mile track is a prestigious honor.
The famed Charlotte Motor Speedway offers a unique opportunity for family and friends to come out and witness what their loved ones do on a weekly basis. It is also a race that comes with a lot of bragging rights, as everyone is vying for a chance to win in front of the hometown crowd.
Ambrose has had success in the past at Charlotte with fifth- and sixth-place finishes last season and a stellar performance earlier this year. The Australian native will be making his eighth career start at Charlotte Motor Speedway this weekend. His best start (second) at the North Carolina track came earlier this season and his best finish (fifth) came in the 2011 fall race. Ambrose sits in 17th place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings heading into this weekend’s 500-mile event.
Ambrose’s car will have a different look this weekend as Stanley will return as the primary partner of the No. 9 Ford Fusion.
Ambrose on Racing at Charlotte: “I like racing in Charlotte because I get to stay in my own house at night, and it’s a weekend I don’t have to spend away from my wife and little girls. It’s hard for me and my crew to be gone from our families as much as we are and this gives us all a break from that. It’s also a great opportunity for our friends and families to come out and watch what we do on a weekly basis.
“Charlotte is an intermediate track and we’ve run well on 1.5-mile speedways this year. We had a great car there in May for the 600, qualifying second and running up front until we had mechanical issues that took us out of contention. We are taking that same car this weekend, so we are expecting to run well and put ourselves in position to win.”
Comments from Crew Chief Mike Ford on Going to Charlotte: “The fall race is on a Saturday night and the track temperatures will be cooler which makes the track really fast. We’ll have to make sure we have a good balanced race car for the weekend. It will be important that our Stanley Ford has a lot of horsepower and a lot of downforce.
“I really enjoy racing at Charlotte Motor Speedway because it’s so close to home. It’s one of the only times during the year the crew guys’ friends and families can see them in action, so running well at Charlotte is important for the team from a pride perspective. Everybody always wants to be the one who ends up in Victory Circle at Charlotte.”
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