THE car that nearly delivered Marcos Ambrose his first NASCAR Cup Series win has popped up, but not in North America.
The Michael Waltrip Racing-built Toyota Camry, chassis MWR621, has emerged in – Queensland!
Listed for sale via My105.com here, the car is to be sold as-is as a chassis on castors and comes with genuine NASCAR wheels, brand new tyres, diff housing and seat – so it requires quite a bit to take it back to as it was raced by Ambrose 14 years ago.
The two-time Supercars champion seemed almost certain to claim his first win in the top tier at Sonoma in 2010 in the car until a plan to cut his engine while going downhill under the final caution to save fuel came back to bite him.
The #47 JTG Toyota Camry failed to re-fire and the car stalled, leaving Ambrose stranded as the field rolled on by the race’s former leader.
The Tassie ace was able to restart and was re-placed in the field to restart seventh, but it all fell away as he spun Jeff Burton and was passed by Jeff Gordon to eventually finish sixth.
“I was told to (cut the engine off),” explained a frustrated Ambrose post-race.
“I tried to crank it on the left-hand bend (Turn 1) and it just didn’t refire. My bad luck … I just feel really disappointed. I may not like the call, but it is what it is and I should have had the motor cranked up and it never would have never been an issue. I kept rolling, but it’s a judgment call.
“I know the rules. I didn’t stop, the car kept rolling. It’s just uphill about 40 degrees and it is what it is. It’s a terrible way to finish.”
Ambrose eventually broke through to take his first win in the NASCAR Cup Series at Watkins Glen the following year aboard a Stanley Tools Ford Fusion.
That car, restored to its 2011 Watkins Glen-winning spec and livery, was secured by a private Australian collector and arrived in Australia last year, as reported here by V8 Sleuth.
Read all about the 2010 Sonoma race and much, much more in Issue 160 of Motorsport eNews, available here now from the V8 Sleuth Issuu site.
