Marcos Ambrose has a lot to play for as he enters the fourth race of the NASCAR Busch Series at Las Vegas Motor Speedway in Las Vegas, Nevada this weekend. source: Kingsford Charcoal NASCAR Busch Team The Australian currently lies equal fifth in the NASCAR Busch Series standings and is the equal leader of the Raybestos Rookie of the Year award with ex-Formula One driver Juan Pablo Montoya. Ambrose will race in familiar territory this weekend at the 1.5-mile Las Vegas Motor Speedway. Not only did Ambrose perform well at the recently reconfigured speedway in the preseason test at the venue on February 5-6, the two-time Australian V8 Supercar champion also raced at the venue in last year's NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series event, where he netted a strong seventh place finish and lead 12 laps. The Las Vegas Motor Speedway was reconfigured last season shortly before the truck race, with the banking in the turns increased from 12 degrees to 20, making for a much faster race track. Ambrose took a liking to the fast nature of Las Vegas in last year's Truck Series event, finishing seventh and leading laps in the last half of the race despite being sent to the back of the field for speeding in pit lane early in the race. Ambrose made a second visit to the venue in February when the drove the #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion in preseason testing, finishing the test as seventh fastest and the leading non-Cup driver on the final day. Coming off the back of his best Busch Series finish yet in his NASCAR road course debut in Mexico Ciity, the Australian is aiming to continue his consistent approach to the early part of the season this weekend, but is confident that the #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion can run strongly around the fast 1.5-mile speedway. Marcos Ambrose - #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion "We had a really good test at Las Vegas in the preseason and I managed to get comfortable in the car pretty quickly," said Ambrose. "It's really fast around Las Vegas in a Busch car - when you are running at up to 190mph and doing 30-seconds flat around a 1.5-mile oval you're really moving. "It's a handling track so you've really got to be comfortable in the car and know what it's doing. It's very different to driving the Busch car and the Truck around there but if you are solid in one you should carry that over to the other. "Last year's truck race in Las Vegas was a good one for us. We had a really strong truck and had it really moving along, especially towards the end of the race. That's the key to so many of these events - having a car that's fast in the last half of the race." "We just need to keep doing the laps, finishing races and getting solid results. That's always been our goal for the first part of the season and so far we have finished every lap. "The points situation is looking good for us so far so we need to keep improving and continue to finish these races in a strong position."
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