In 2009 Marcos Ambrose drove the #47 Little Debbie JTG/Daugherty Racing Toyota Getty Images/Sam Greenwood
Marcos Ambrose is a great character, a fine driver, and after a fairly successful full Sprint Cup season, it looks like he is going to be here for awhile. The best thing about Marcos is his constant smile. He always seems to be happy, happy just to be in the best racing series in America, and happy to be running fairly well.
First let us talk about the good news. Marcos completed 96.5% of the laps run in 2009. Of those he ran 76.2% on the lead lap. He had only 2 DNF’s due to engine failures, and that seems to indicate that Ambrose is not your average rookie Cup driver.
Ambrose grew up in the V-8 Super Car series in Australia. After coming to North America to compete in the Truck series, he spent two full years in the Nationwide series. In 2008 he ran 11 cup races, and in 2009 he ran all 36.
The bad news is Marcos did not finish in the top 20 of average running position. That means on average he ran worse than 18th place. Of course the 4.1 million dollars in purse money he won, and a 18th place finish in the points are great accomplishments that offset his team’s overall less than average run.
Marcos has a lot of talent, and his MWR equipment is getting better. Much like Juan Montoya he is trying to prove that he can run with the big dogs on the ovals. Both of his NASCAR wins (in the Nationwide Series) have come at the road curse at Watkins Glen. Until he wins on an oval, he will always have something to prove to NASCAR fans.
With that being said, Marcos is good for NASCAR, his smile is infectious, and his four Top 5 and seven Top 10 finishes in 2009 proves he belongs here.
2009 Sprint Cup season in review
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