NAME: Marcos Ambrose	CAR OWNER: Andy Murstein/Doug Bergeron/ Richard Petty
SPONSOR: Stanley Tools	CREW CHIEF: Todd Parrott
CAR #: 9	MANUFACTURER: Ford

Preseason Rank: 17

2012 Spin
From the time Marcos Ambrose debuted in the Sprint Cup Series in 2008, most people considered it only a matter of time until he snapped up his first road course win in the series. After that? It was a gamble at best. Well, the Tasmanian finally broke through in 2011, visiting Victory Lane at Watkins Glen to end an 0-for-104 race drought to start his Cup career. But what many didn’t count on was the former V-8 Supercar driver flashing some prowess on ovals. Collecting a career-high 12 top-10 finishes in 2011, Ambrose showed that he could race in circles, and that, even more than his win when making right and left turns, sets him up for an encouraging 2012.

Nothing highlights Ambrose’s versatility more than the tracks where the 35-year-old scored those dozen top-10 finishes. They included flat and banked intermediates, banked one-milers, short tracks and, of course, road courses. In fact, over his three full seasons on the circuit, Ambrose has scored top 10s on every type of oval NASCAR offers, registering as high as fourth at the series’ fastest superspeedway at Talladega. Ambrose impressed during his first season at Richard Petty Motorsports by developing that well-roundedness more than ever, riding the wave to a respectable 19th in the point standings.

Together with former teammate AJ Allmendinger, Ambrose — along with financial investors — helped to turn the once-flailing RPM into an underdog Chase contender for 2012 (although Allmendinger will be replaced by Aric Almirola in the organization’s flagship No. 43 entry). That’s a huge about-face for an organization that nearly did not make it to Daytona to start 2011. But while the investment money may have saved the team initially, the sponsors won’t return without the type of consistent, foundation-building performances Ambrose put forth. After he had failed to finish five races due to wrecks in 2010, that type of “wild child” on-track performance disappeared last season. He accrued only one DNF, courtesy of a blown engine in the season finale, while posting a career-high 22 lead-lap finishes.

With no major sponsor changes in their second year together — DeWalt and Stanley Tools return — Ambrose and Co. can focus on the most important aspect of any race team: making racecars go fast. Crew chief Todd Parrott has been in the game a long time, helping Dale Jarrett win a title in 1999, and that experience has been a boon to Ambrose. Entering a fourth full season, Parrott’s driver is more comfortable in Cup cars, meaning that they can work on fine-tuning them to go faster. Now that they’re no longer working on bare-bones basics, it’s the little things they must discover to make a top-20 car into a top-15 ride or better. The equipment is continually improving organization-wide, and RPM gets chassis from Roush Fenway Racing and also uses Roush-Yates FR9 engines, which have become the most powerful and durable in NASCAR.

What all of this means is that Ambrose is no longer just a “road course specialist.” Although he’s by no means a consistent race-winning contender, he can take a racecar to the starting line, race it hard and bring it home inside the top 10 when the breaks fall his way. His typically even-keeled and quiet on-track personality makes him a true darkhorse — and the best part may just be that Ambrose is still learning. That means he’s only going to get better, and with the right “wild card” breaks, the next step of his education could come inside the Chase.

What the Competition is Saying
Anonymous quotes from crew chief, owners, media members and fellow drivers
Marcos Ambrose continued to show signs of improvement throughout the 2011 season and was finally able to score that elusive Sprint Cup Series win at Watkins Glen. A significant threat on the road courses, Ambrose has a distinct chance to earn the Chase wild card in 2012 if he can sweep the road races at Infineon and Watkins Glen. But Ambrose is not just a road course ringer. Real improvement came on the mile-and-a-half tracks in 2011, something that should continue into 2012.

“You could put a blindfold on this guy on the road courses and he would win,” one garage insider says. “He is a shoe, but really came on strong in 2011 on the mile-and-a-half tracks. Strong, strong runs at the end of 2011 should really boost his confidence going into 2012. He’s always a threat to sweep the road courses but he could also get that breakout win on an oval. Something tells me it’ll come at Texas.”

2011 Stats
Starts: 36
Wins: 1
Top 5s: 5
Top 10s: 12
Poles: 0
DNF: 1
Laps Led: 49
Laps Completed: 10,212
Lead Lap Finishes: 22
Bonus Points: 10
Races Led: 7
Average Start: 17.5
Average Finish: 18.3
After First 26 Races: 20th
Final Points Standing: 19th
Driver Rating: 76.7 (22nd)

Visit AthlonSports.com each day throughout the month of February for exclusive preseason coverage of the 2012 NASCAR season.