Ambrose and DEWALT Team Ready for First All-Star Race
No. 9 Pit Crew Prepped for Pit Crew Challenge
CONCORD, N.C. (May 16, 2012) - Marcos Ambrose and the No. 9 DEWALT team are ready to put it all on the line for a cool million. Ambrose will make his first start in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series All-Star Race on Saturday night at Charlotte (N.C.) Motor Speedway. The winner of the non-points event takes home $1 million. Previously Ambrose has made three starts in the Sprint Showdown, the qualifying event for the All-Star Race. He finished ninth in last year's Showdown and his average finish in the qualifying race is 8.25.
The 90-lap, 135-mile All-Star Race will consist of five segments. The leader at the completion of each of the first four segments will be repositioned directly behind the pace car and in front of all other cars prior to the opening of pit road for a mandatory pit stop before the fifth segment. The order of the cars returning to the track after the pit stop will determine the starting order for the fifth and final segment.
The No. 9 RPM team will also be going for a win on Thursday night during the Pit Crew Challenge at Charlotte's Time Warner Cable Arena. Twenty-four teams will compete in the exhibition pit-stop contest, which airs on SPEED at 8 p.m. ET. Doors open at 5:30 p.m. and the event begins at 7 p.m. Tickets start at $15.
Continuing race activities in Charlotte next week, Richard Petty Motorsports will host its third annual Fan Appreciation Day on Thursday, May 24, from 7 a.m. to noon at the RPM shop in Concord, N.C. The first 200 fans in line who donate a nonperishable food item to the Second Harvest Food Bank of Metrolina will receive a commemorative ticket allowing them access to the shop and an autograph session with Ambrose, Aric Almirola, Michael Annett and Richard Petty. Other activities include a Q-and-A session with the RPM drivers and Richard Petty hosted by Miss Sprint Cup, raffles, give-a-ways and free food.
Comments from DEWALT Ford Fusion Driver Marcos Ambrose on the All-Star Race:
"I'm really excited to be in the All-Star Race for the first time this weekend. I've got a great team behind me and they deserve to be in this All-Star event as much as I do. I've got a lot to race for on Saturday night under the lights in Charlotte: my sponsors, my team, 'The King' and of course a lot of cash.
"My mentality is completely different going into this weekend than it has been in years past. Normally I worry about just making the big show via the Showdown and I really don't think about the opportunity to win a million dollars. This year, I'm already locked in and all I can think about is how to get my DEWALT team to be aggressive and how I can be aggressive so we can give ourselves the best chance to be in position to take home the big check at the end of the night.
"We'll probably make some enemies out there because there are no points involved; there is nothing on the line but pride and a huge pay check. 'It pays a lot more to win,' that's what Dale (Earnhardt) Sr. always said and I'm going into this weekend with that mentality."
Comments from Crew Chief Todd Parrott on the All-Star Race:
"Being in the All-Star Race for the first time is a great opportunity for Marcos and our DEWALT race team to be able to show the fans what we are made of. We've got some momentum going into this weekend after finishing in the top-10 in Darlington last Saturday. Charlotte everybody's home track, so that makes this event extra special. It's going to be a lot of fun for the guys as many of them will have their families watching from the stands this weekend. We're just going to go out Saturday night, enjoy the race and do our best to bring home that million bucks."
Chassis History: The No. 9 RPM team has prepared chassis No. 693 for this weekend's NASCAR Sprint All-Star Race at Charlotte Motor Speedway. This DEWALT Ford was run previously last season.
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