Ambrose heads to Lone Star State with new crew chief

Marcos Ambrose will travel to Texas Motor Speedway with a new captain at the helm of the No. 9 team, as Drew Blickensderfer will take over crew chief duties starting this weekend. Ambrose has had success in the past at Texas and hopes his experience coupled with Blickensderfer's knowledge will be just what he needs to bring home a good finish at the 1.5-mile speedway.

Blickensderfer comes to Richard Petty Motorsports most recently from Richard Childress Racing where he was the crew chief for Jeff Burton. Prior to his time there, the Mount Zion, Ill., native spent the majority of his career with teams associated with Ford Racing and Roush Fenway Racing. He is a former Daytona 500 champion and has multiple Sprint Cup and Nationwide Series wins on his resume.

Ambrose will be making his ninth NASCAR Sprint Cup Series career start at Texas Motor Speedway on Sunday. The Australian native's best finish (sixth) came last season and his best start (seventh) came in both 2011 and this season's spring event. He has completed 2,549 of 2,672 laps attempted at the Texas track, leading two of them. Ambrose enters this weekend's 500-mile race in 18th place in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series point standings.

Ambrose's car will have a different look this weekend as Mac Tools will return as the primary partner of the No. 9 Ford Fusion for the fourth and final time this season.

Marcos Ambrose's Thoughts on Racing at Texas: "Texas is one of my favorite race tracks. I've run really well there since I've been with RPM, and I'm looking forward to a great finish this weekend. I had success earlier in the spring until we ran into a fuel mileage issues at the end, so I'm hoping to get a second chance on Sunday. The intermediate tracks really seem to suit my driving style, and our Ford Fusions always seem to be really fast on the 1.5-mile tracks like Texas. We've got Mac Tools on the car for the final time this season and a new crew chief atop the pit box, so hopefully we'll be able to bring home a great finish for both."

Ambrose's Thoughts on New Crew Chief Drew Blickensderfer: "We have had success this season and now we're just looking for more consistency as we prepare for next season. Drew brings a strong resume to our team and can help us find the results that we want each week. I'm looking forward to working with him."

Comments from Crew Chief Drew Blickensderfer on Working with Ambrose and Going to Texas: "I had a great talk with Marcos earlier, and I'm really looking forward to working with him. I love how hard Marcos drives and how he gives 110 percent every single lap, no matter what. There are no preconceived notions with Marcos. If you make a change he's going to tell you if it's better or worse. I like that and it fits my style as a crew chief. I'm just really excited to get to Texas and start working with Marcos and the rest of the No. 9 Mac Tools team this weekend. Our first priority is being fast right off the truck at Texas. Our goal is to try and be the fastest in the world when we get there. Marcos qualified well at Texas back in the spring, so we're going to try and go there, sit on the front row and win the race on Sunday."

Chassis History: The No. 9 RPM team has prepared chassis No. 754 for this weekend's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Race at Texas Motor Speedway. This Mac Tools Ford was run previously this season at Martinsville, Dover, Loudon and Chicago.

Source: Richard Petty Motorsports