Marcos Ambrose Gears Up For Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on Aug. 30

In 2007 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve as shown above, NASCAR driver Marcos Ambrose qualified fifth and finished seventh place overall. The following year in 2008, he made his way to third. This year, Ambrose will join Carl Edwards and Patrick Carpentier in the Aug. 30 NAPA Auto Parts 200 Presented by Dodge in Montreal.

Montreal, May 13, 2009 – Australian Marcos Ambrose, one of only three NASCAR drivers to finish in the top 10 in the first two editions of the NAPA Auto Parts 200 presented by Dodge, announced today that he will take part in the Nationwide race at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve on August 29-30, 2009.

He joins Patrick Carpentier and Carl Edwards who posted their entries earlier last month.

Ambrose, who is running his first full Sprint Cup schedule this year, will make one of his rare appearances in a Nationwide car in Montreal. Back in 2007 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve, where he qualified fifth, the Australian motorsports superstar was fighting for the lead late in the race before an incident with Robbie Gordon sent him back to seventh place overall. Last year, he qualified and finished third in a rain-soaked race won by Ron Fellows.

Born in Launceston, Tasmania, Ambrose will turn 33 on September 1, and hopes to enjoy his off-weekend from the Sprint Cup Series to discover the charms of Montreal with his family.

“Thanks to his charming personality and his on-track performances, Marcos has quickly become one of the most popular characters on the NASCAR scene, and we are very pleased that he has decided to add our event to his busy schedule,” said Francois Dumontier, promoter and spokesperson for Stock-Car Montreal.

“His racing skills added to his road racing experience made him one of the favorites to win the inaugural NAPA 200 and he nearly succeeded. Last year’s rain shortened race prevented him from celebrating his first Nationwide win in Montreal rather than at Watkins Glen a week later. We are happy that, despite the pressure of running his first full Cup schedule, he has decided to return to Montreal for a third time.”

Following the Darlington race last weekend, Ambrose is 20th overall in the Cup standings, but still very much in the hunt for a spot in the Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup. His best Cup result so far this season is a fourth at Talladega in April. Highlights of his Nationwide Series career include a pole in Memphis in 2007 where he closed the season 8th overall, and a win at Watkins Glen last year that enabled him to finish 10th in the standings. His two-year Nationwide stats include four Top 5s and 12 Top 10s.

Following a remarkable career in the Australian V8 Supercar Series, a cross between NASCAR and the DTM Series, the Tasmanian native came to America in 2006 to pursue his career in NASCAR, first in the Truck Series. In five seasons of V8 competition, Ambrose won two consecutive Supercar titles in 2003 and 2004 and finished third twice.

Commenting on the NAPA Auto Parts 200 presented by Dodge, Marcos Ambrose, NASCAR driver said, “I’m definitely looking forward to coming back to race in Montreal again. The fans are fantastic and we’ve been able to put on a really good show for them the last two years. Those races had quite a bit of calamity. I’m hoping this year will be a little cleaner but I’m sure some kind of action will stir it up!”

“I love the city of Montreal, and I’m looking forward to bringing my wife and family with me this year. We’re going to spend some time enjoying the city and all of its culture.”