Ambrose beats back issues in Atlanta

Marcos Ambrose has overcome a back complaint on his way to his best finish of the season so far in the fourth race of the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series in Hampton, Georgia.

Ambrose, running in the colours of Lance Crackers at Atlanta Motor Speedway on the weekend, has now scored two top 15 finishes in two weeks after a horror start to the season as a result of two engine failures.

In Atlanta, the fastest venue on the Sprint Cup schedule, Ambrose ran a solid race, running on track for a top 15 finish for most of the race and gaining more positions in the final stages in the flurry of late cautions punctuated by the spectacular Brad Keselowski – Carl Edwards crash.

Ambrose did not comment to media post-race, leaving his JTG Daugherty Racing crew chief Frank Kerr to explain the #47 team’s day.

“We just had a lot of issues,” said Kerr.

“Marcos’ back has been bothering him all weekend. It was a good day for points.

“We hung in there and we got the best of what we could out of that car today so we’re happy with how we finished.”

Ambrose has now risen to 27th in the series standings, beginning the recovery needed after engine failures at the first two events of the season in Daytona and Fontana.

With fast intermediate circuits highlighted pre-season as one of Ambrose’s targets for improvement, the Aussie will be pleased with the pace shown the past two weeks in Las Vegas and Atlanta.