Pocono II: Marcos Ambrose preview

AMBROSE TO DEBUT iRacing.com LIVERY AT POCONO --

Marcos Ambrose will debut a new iRacing.com livery on his #47 JTG Daugherty Racing NASCAR Sprint Cup Series entry in the Sunoco Red Cross Pennsylvania 500 at Pocono Raceway this weekend.

The announcement of the single-event tie-up between the race team and the motorsport simulation company was made today by Steve Myers, iRacing's executive producer, and Tad Geschickter, co-owner of JTG Daugherty Racing.

"Our partnership with Marcos to help introduce iRacing to Australia and New Zealand has gone extremely well," said Myers.

"So, when this opportunity with his NASCAR team, JTG Daugherty Racing, became available, we jumped at it.

"With NASCAR-sanctioned online racing being introduced to the iRacing service in less than six months, this seemed like a great way to introduce ourselves to the more than 80,000 NASCAR fans who will attend the race in person and the several million more who will be watching on ESPN."

Ambrose has five top 10 Sprint Cup finishes so far this season, one of which was at his Pocono debut earlier this year, when the Australian finished in a strong sixth place at the 2.5-mile oval.

"We are a sponsor-focused race team, and we're eager to show the folks at iRacing what that means," said Geschickter.

"Perhaps they're only joining us for a single race, but we know that Marcos has a close relationship with iRacing and we're eager to show them what we can do to help them get the word out to NASCAR fans about how much fun it is to race with other fans and professional racing drivers on iRacing's internet-based racing service."

While NASCAR-sanctioned racing won't begin on the iRacing service until early next year, iRacing has already introduced exact digital duplicates of the vehicles raced in NASCAR's Camping World Truck Series, Nationwide Series and Sprint Cup Series, that perform exactly as their real-world counterparts do.

Myers noted that in celebration of the Pocono sponsorship, iRacing is making a special offer for new subscribers, a US$25.00 (half-price) three-month subscription to the service, which includes all of the cars and tracks necessary for oval and road-racing rookie and advanced rookie seasons.

"Plus, we're throwing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup car for free," Myers said.

"That's an additional $15.00 value."

According to Myers, while the virtual version of Pocono Raceway is almost ready to be made available to subscribers to the iRacing service, work is quite advanced and iRacing has been able to supply Ambrose with a pre-release version so that he can get in as many practice laps as necessary before he pulls out of the pits and onto the real-world version of the track.

"I will be getting a head start on the competition by practicing on iRacing before heading to the track to try and get every advantage I can," said Ambrose.

"Making sure I'm fully up to speed the first time I roll out of the pits on Friday means that we'll have more laps to focus on getting the car absolutely right."

So no one should be surprised to see Ambrose sitting in a simulator next to the JTG Daugherty Racing hauler in the garage area when his iRacing car isn't on the track. He'll just be getting ready for the next practice or qualifying session --

AMBROSE CHASING ANOTHER POCONO TOP 10 THIS WEEKEND --

When Marcos Ambrose headed to Pocono Raceway for the 14th race in this year's NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, he only had one day of testing at the unique venue under his belt.

Undeterred, Ambrose and #47 Crew Chief Frank Kerr were quick to get a handle on the long, fast, low-banked tri-oval, which features three very different corners, qualifying 20th and finishing in a sensational sixth place.

Ambrose brings a new car to Pocono for the 21st Sprint Cup race of the season, and is looking to post another top 10 to continue his strong showing so far this season, his first at the top level of NASCAR.

Ambrose is 12th in points if only the last six races are taken into account, showing the strong mid-season form of the Australian and his #47 JTG Daugherty Racing team, who are both in their first full season of top-level Sprint Cup competition.

WHAT MARCOS HAD TO SAY --

"Pocono is a unique race track and quite challenging, but we're pretty happy to be heading there this weekend," said Ambrose.

"We're debuting the iRacing livery and that's really cool. I think the car looks great and I can't wait to take it out on the track.

"Last time we were at Pocono we had a really great car, and Frank and the crew did a great job getting me up there in the top 10.

"We're keen to do our best and try to repeat that effort. We've been travelling along well but I think we're due for another strong run."

-credit: ma/bam