Marcos Ambrose bagged his 12th top-ten finish of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Season at Phoenix International Raceway today, coming home eighth in the penultimate race of the year.
For the second successive outing, Ambrose spent the majority of the event inside the top-ten, with overtaking proving to be difficult on the repaved and reconfigured one mile long oval.
The result for the DEWALT Ford Fusion consolidates Ambrose at 17th in the season point standings.
"We had a good car today, we just needed a bit of clean air to get the nose down and feeling good," Ambrose said.
"I am proud of my DEWALT team, they did a good job and we were solid all day long.
"It bodes very well for next season."
From the third starting position, Ambrose quickly worked his way into second spot, but a pair of caution flags within the first 10 laps of the 312 lap encounter made it hard for the field to get into a rhythm.
Once racing was under way properly, Ambrose struggled with a slick track that was washed clean by overnight rain, and pitted from fifth position on the lap 41 competition caution.
Ambrose remained in fifth until lap 93, when Geoff Bodine brought out his second caution for the day, with the Richard Petty Motorsports crew electing to take on four new tyres at the pit stop.
This saw Ambrose take in the green flag from eighth, which he quickly turned into seventh.
The race then ran clean for an extended period, with Ambrose dropping to ninth before pitting early to have set-up changes made to the car.
Unfortunately, Bodine brought out his third caution for the day shortly after the stop, which negated any new tyre gain for Ambrose, and saw the Australian take a wave around back onto the lead lap, where he restarted from 21st.
Ambrose drove up to 18th when rookie Cole Whitt spun, and was gifted 13th when Brian Vickers drove championship challenger Matt Kenseth into the turn four wall.
For an extended period, Ambrose sat around the edge of the top-ten, managing to claw his way back to eighth at the chequered flag, with the last 87 laps held under green flag conditions.
Kasey Kahne broke through for his first race win of the season, heading home Carl Edwards and Tony Stewart, who will go into the final race of the season split by only three points.
Next week the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series concludes at the Homestead Miami Speedway, but it will be a week of activity in Florida for Ambrose.
On Tuesday, the Devil Racer will get behind the wheel of a Roush Fenway Racing Ford Fusion in a closed test session at Daytona International Speedway, as NASCAR attempts to create a new aerodynamic package for next year's restrictor plate races.
In other Ambrose news, Christmas orders are flowing in through Ambrose's new online store, which can be found at www.marcosambrose.com.
With prompt shipping worldwide, the store features an ever growing array of Ambrose themed supporter gear.
Phoenix Review - Race Results
1. Kasey Kahne (Toyota)
2. Carl Edwards (Ford)
3. Tony Stewart (Chevrolet)
4. Jeff Burton (Chevrolet)
5. Ryan Newman (Chevrolet)
6. AJ Allmendinger (Ford)
7. David Reutimann (Toyota)
8. Marcos Ambrose (Ford)
9. Paul Menard (Chevrolet)
10. Clint Bowyer (Chevrlet)
NASCAR Sprint Cup Series Standings (After race 35 of 36)
1. Carl Edwards (Ford) 2359 points
2. Tony Stewart (Chevrolet) 2356
3. Kevin Harvick (Chevrolet) 2308
4. Brad Keselowski (Dodge) 2294
5. Jimmie Johnson (Chevrolet) 2291
6. Matt Kenseth (Ford) 2289
7. Dale Earnhardt Jr (Chevrolet) 2257
8. Kurt Busch (Dodge) 2252
9. Ryan Newman (Chevrolet) 2252
10. Denny Hamlin (Toyota) 2249
17. Marcos Ambrose (Ford) 931
