Amborse to pull double duty at Montreal

AMBROSE MAKES TOP LEVEL SPORTSCAR DEBUT IN MONTREAL--

Marcos Ambrose will make his prototype Sportscar debut when he partners with fellow NASCAR Sprint Cup star Carl Edwards in the Montreal 200 at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Canada this weekend.

It will come just one week after Ambrose posted arguably the finest result of his career with third place in the Sharpie 500 at Bristol Motor Speedway in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

This weekend's 10th race in the 2009 Grand-Am Rolex Sportscar Series will see Ambrose and Edwards drive the #77 Dallara Daytona prototype of Doran Racing, with backing from Aflac, iRacing.com, Subway and Au wines.

Ambrose and Edwards tested the car at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) last week on August 18, setting respectable lap times, learning the car and even practicing driver changes in what is a serious attempt at a race victory from the pair, despite their relative inexperience in 500-horsepower Grand-Am prototype machines.

Ambrose and Edwards finished second and third respectively in the Sprint Cup race at the Watkins Glen road course two weeks ago and both have previous top 10s at the 2.71-mile Circuit Gilles Villeneuve road course in Nationwide Series competition.

Kevin Doran's #77 Daytona Prototype has competed in all nine rounds to date in the 2009 Grand-Am Rolex Series, with a best finish of fifth at Virginia International Raceway in April, with Memo Gidley and Brad Jaeger at the wheel.

Ambrose has made one previous Grand-Am start, in the GT class at the 2005 Daytona 24 Hour in a Porsche GT3 Cup car with fellow Australians Paul Morris, Craig Baird and John Teulen.

ARMOR ALL ENTRY COULD BE THIRD TIME LUCKY FOR MARCOS IN CANADA --

Marcos Ambrose hopes that it's third time lucky in the NAPA Auto Parts 200 in the Nationwide Series at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal, Canada this weekend.

Ambrose will drive the #47 Armor All-backed entry of JTG Daugherty Racing in Montreal as he looks to erase the bad luck of the past few seasons, where the Australian has been the class of the field only to lose the race with untimely bad luck.

In 2007 it was Robby Gordon who robbed Ambrose of victory in Montreal, when the American deliberately spun Ambrose at the second turn after a late-race restart as Ambrose was in the lead.

Last year it was weather and a pit lane speeding violation that cost Ambrose the win at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, after he led 27 laps and was clearly the pacesetter in wet conditions, but was in third position when the race was red flagged due to heavy rain.

In his past two Nationwide Series starts on a road course, both at Watkins Glen, Ambrose has scored victory on both occasions for JTG Daugherty Racing, with Ambrose keen to net a 'hat trick' this weekend.

'PRIMARIES' ALL PART OF THE NASCAR WORLD--

Major sponsors, or 'primary' sponsors as they are known in NASCAR, have seen Marcos Ambrose racing in many different paint schemes this season -- and the Australian admits that there is not much room left in his wardrobe for more race suits.

After Montreal's double duty this weekend, Ambrose will boast the following list of 'primaries', having raced in the colours of:

- Little Debbie
- Kingsford
- Clorox
- Clorox/Bashas
- Bush's Beans
- RaceSavers.com
- iRacing.com
- STP (Nationwide)
- Armor All (Nationwide)
- Aflac (Grand-Am)

Next season you can add Kimberly-Clark brand Kleenex to the list, with the world famous brand joining Ambrose and JTG Daugherty Racing's #47 entry as primary sponsor in five events in the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series.

WHAT MARCOS HAS TO SAY --

"I've got a chance to win two races this weekend at Montreal and that is what I'm going there to try and do," said Ambrose.

"We'll have two great cars up there with our Armor All car in the Nationwide Series and the Grand-Am entry with Carl.

"Everyone involved on both sides of things has put in a lot of preparation and we are a real chance to win both races.

"The racing at Montreal is always really good and I've been so close to winning that Nationwide race for the past two years.

"I'm really keen and very motivated to make up for the last two years and close the chapter on my bad luck up there by taking the win.

"I'm pretty determined. The Bristol result is huge for me -- absolutely huge. So I'm feeling great and I'm looking forward to this weekend.

"Carl (Edwards) and I got down to some respectable lap times at VIR and we made sure we got our driver change times down to being in a respectable window.

"The Montreal Grand-Am race is going to be something different for both of us and if the VIR test is any indication, we can head there and be competitive.

"I have to really thank Kevin Doran and his team for this whole Grand-Am deal. I really want to repay their faith with a good run."

AND A WORD FROM GRAND-AM CO-DRIVER CARL EDWARDS --

"This is going to be great running in the Rolex Series in Montreal with Marcos Ambrose," said Edwards.

"This is my first time in the series and it should be exciting. We tested at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) and everyone on the team is really cool and I know it's going to be a lot of fun.

"Now we are battling over who's going to do the most driving.

"I love racing at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve. The Montreal fans are great and to have two opportunities to race there is just awesome. I'm really looking forward to the weekend."

-credit: ma/bam