Q:
You were originally supposed to run this race in cup with the Wood Brothers/JTG Racing. What happened to that?
MA:
It was a combination of factors. I think our team is still growing. We built five teams from the get-go last year and we still have some growing pains. The #21 car is struggling to get back in the owner points and into the top 35. That’s a real focus for us as a team and as a group, so to bring on for one or two races – another Cup deal – it was just stretching us too thin. The budget wasn’t really there. It was a little tight on the budget, plus logistically it was very, very hard to get done. I actually should have put my hand up before Infineon and said, ‘Look guys, I’d like to do the road courses, but let’s just worry about what’s really important and that’s getting the 21 up in points. Let’s get the two Busch cars back on track.’ We’re running top 10 in the points in the Busch Series right now. That’s really a lot of my focus too, so there is a lot of good stuff going, we just didn’t think the timing was right for it.”
Q:
You took the high road after the race. What kind of feedback have you gotten from that?
MA:
It’s been fantastic. I’m just trying to be myself. Like I said, I’ve been down this road before where I’ve said things I’ve regretted and done things I’ve regretted, so I’ve learned from my mistakes. I know I just want to wake up the next morning and have a cup of coffee and not worry about what I’d said. I was really disappointed with the end result for my team and my team owners and myself and everyone that’s put so much effort into that weekend. It was a great day and just a bad end to a great day. We just really focused on the positive and I’m always an optimistic guy anyway. I know we didn’t win the race. We could have, should have, whatever, but at the end of the day it was still a great performance by us and it’s given us this opportunity so a lot of good has come out of a nasty situation.”
Q:
What were you going to meet about originally?
RG:
Well, I like the guy. To be honest with you, I like the guy and I know he’s new to the town. I’m still fairly new around here. I just work a lot, so I was like, ‘Hey, we’ll get together. We’ll go out on the lake. We’ll do something just to get to know each other more.’ I truly like the guy as a competitor. I like him as a human being and it’s obvious to see why he’s such a likeable guy with the way he communicates with people and the way he respects the sport and the competition.”
Q:
Did ford talk to you at all? Did they help you at all logistically? Was Dan Davis the guy who sent you the email? (laughter)
RG:
No, Dan wasn’t the guy that sent the email, but I can relate to their situation because I was one of those Ford guys that Ford had a lot to do with about bringing him over here. I know they don’t fully fund his program, but they support Marcos. They believe he’s a very talented driver. I know what Dan sees in Marcos and I can appreciate that. They did not facilitate it, but when I called them yesterday and said, ‘Here’s what I’m gonna do.’ They were over the top. They were like, ‘You’re gonna do that?’ I’m like, ‘Yeah, we’re gonna do it.’ ‘Can you do it? Is it gonna hurt your effort?’ ‘No, it’s not gonna hurt our effort. We’ll be OK. We’ll just figure out how to do it and we did. My conversation with Ford was great and, obviously, it’s one more Ford car that’s gonna have an opportunity to win this weekend. When I say ‘win’ I know you guys probably roll your eyes and say, ‘What do you mean, win?’ There’s no doubt in my mind that this guy can come out here and easily run in the top 10. In Nextel Cup racing, if you can run in the top 10, the door is gonna open up if you’re running there because things are gonna happen. We saw it at Sonoma. If you keep putting yourself in the position to go through the door, he might just find himself in Victory Lane in his first race.”
Q:
Do you see this as a possible first step of working more with the Wood Brothers/JTG and possibly combining efforts?
RG:
I think we’re taking big steps here trying to figure out how to put this together. Obviously, we are working together this weekend. There are things I’m sure we can do. It probably would have paid off even more like with the car of yesterday, if we could have shared body stuff. I actually talked with Mike McSwain before about doing an aerodynamic program at speedways and there was a guy available, I think he went to the 78 car, that he really wanted to build bodies. He was like, ‘Will you go in and partner with us and we’ll hire this guy and put him in business and he can do our speedway cars.’ So we have had conversations like that in the past, but they’ve built a new facility where they’re at and we’re building a facility here. Unfortunately, we’re probably too far apart for that or too far down our own separate paths, but you never know. Things change and things happen like always.”
Q:
What do you think this has done for your public image with the fans?
![Marcos Ambrose - Kingsford Charcoal/Wood Bros Ford [pic credit: BAM media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/292515.jpg)
