Bush’s Baked Beans will be positioned on Ambrose’s No. 47 Toyota’s hood for the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series events at Talladega Superspeedway on April 25, Richmond International Raceway on May 1, Bristol Motor Speedway on August 21, New Hampshire Motor Speedway on September 19 and Dover International Speedway on September 26.

Ambrose, who finished 18th in the championship standings, was pleased to hear the news.

“This is really great news,” Ambrose said. “I’ve always been a big fan of Bush’s Baked Beans. Because I love the outdoors, I really enjoying firing up the grill with my family and we always include Bush’s Baked Beans as a side item after we finish up grilling with Kingsford® Charcoal. It doesn’t matter if we are at home or at the track, grilling is a great experience all season long.”

Tad Geschickter, co-owner of JTG Daugherty Racing, has been partners with Bush Brothers and Company for nearly a decade.

“Bush’s Baked Beans is a great family brand,” said Geschickter. “It fits really well with our partner Kingsford® Charcoal. You need Bush’s Baked Beans on the side of your plate for every grilling occasion. They’ve been tremendously loyal to us and this is their ninth season in sponsorship with JTG Daugherty Racing. They have committed more resources to their program for 2010 than they ever have to really step up their involvement. We are pleased they are seeing their program pay dividends. We are happy Bush’s Baked Beans are going to be a bigger part of the sponsorship portfolio for our racing organization this year.”

Thanks in part to Bush’s Baked Beans’ support, Ambrose posted impressive finishes during his first season of full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup Series competition. After making history as the first Australian driver to compete in the Daytona 500, he became increasingly versatile and amassed four top-five, seven top-10 and 14 top-15 finishes. He recorded his career-best NASCAR Sprint Cup Series finish at Watkins Glen International with a runner-up finish on the heels of his second-career NASCAR Nationwide Series victory finish with JTG Daugherty Racing.

Ambrose is proud to represent and continue his relationship with Bush’s Baked® Beans during the 2010 NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season that kicks off with the Daytona 500 at Daytona International Speedway on Sunday, February 14th live on FOX at 1 p.m. ET.

CORNELIUS, N.C. – With more than 1,000 races in a quarter-century’s worth of NASCAR experience, you would think it would take a lot to get Michael Waltrip excited about an off-season race.

But Waltrip can’t wait for his first foray into the world of international sports car racing when the two-time Daytona 500 champion competes in the fifth-annual Dubai 24 Hour sportscar race at the ultra-modern Dubai Autodrome on January 14-16.

“I love racing cars,” said Waltrip. “The Daytona 500 is the ultimate race for a NASCAR driver to win. But how cool is it to go to Dubai on the other side of the globe and race a Ferrari? I never thought I’d have a chance to be part of such a unique experience.”

The Ferrari Waltrip refers to is a Ferrari F430 GT2 of the AF Corse team co-owned by Rob Kauffman who will be sharing driving duties with Waltrip, Marcos Ambrose, Rui Aguas and Niki Cadei.

Kauffman is also a co-owner of Michael Waltrip Racing which fields NASCAR Sprint Cup Series entries for Waltrip, Martin Truex Jr. and David Reutimann. The Waltrip team has a technical alliance with Ambrose’s team JTG Daugherty Racing.

Waltrip and Kauffmann tested the Ferrari at the ACI Vallelunga circuit in Italy. Success at the test led the pair to review options for sports car races around the world before deciding to race in Dubai.

The 3.5-mile track at the Dubai Autodrome is one of the most modern in the world; it is also one of the most challenging, as it has a combination of high-speed straights and technical corners.
The race expects to start about 80 GT and touring cars.

“I have always thought of myself as a pretty good road racer,” said Waltrip owns two top-five finishes in NASCAR road races. “But, this is different. This is an endurance race. This is 24 hours, not the normal three-hour NASCAR race.”

Race fans can track Waltrip’s progress during the race on his Twitter account MWR55 and watch video updates at www.youtube.com/24hafcorse

“I can’t Twitter while I’m competing during a NASCAR race, but I bet I can during this one,” said Waltrip who plans to keep fans in touch with in-race updates during driving breaks. “While I am on the other side the globe, I don’t plan on leaving my fans hanging.”

Track action starts on Thursday, Jan. 14, with practice, qualifying and night practice. The 24-hour race will start on Friday Jan. 15 at 2 pm.

MONTREAL — Swear out a warrant.

On second thought, break out the champagne.

Carl Edwards’ grand larceny Sunday at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve ended with a back flip and a celebration, not a jail term.

With a pass for the lead on the final corner of the final lap of the Nationwide Series NAPA Auto Parts 200, Edwards capitalized on the only mistake Marcos Ambrose made all day to win his first road-course race in one of NASCAR’s top three divisions.

Running on rain tires after a mandatory change for the entire field on Lap 61, Edwards hounded Ambrose for both laps of a green-white-checkered-flag finish and made the winning pass after Ambrose’s car got airborne over the curbing and lost momentum in the final turn of Lap 76.

In collecting his third Nationwide Series victory of the season and the 23rd of his career, Edwards gave Roush Fenway Racing its first road-course win in the series.

“The two laps, Andrew Ranger (who finished third) and I went side by side into Turn 1 (on Lap 75),” said Edwards who trimmed the series points lead of 10th-place finisher Kyle Busch from 248 to 192. “He pinched me off into the grass—which I probably would have done if I was him, too—and I just drove into his door, and we came off of Turn 2 banging doors.

“It was wild, and I thought the whole time Marcos was going to get away with this thing. I broke away from Andrew, and I just gave it everything I had on that last lap, and Marcos just made that one mistake through the curves at the end and gave me the chance to get by.”

Former Formula One champion Jacques Villeneuve ran fourth to the delight of partisan Quebecers in the packed grandstands. Brad Keselowski came home fifth and tightened his hold on third place in the points standings.

Ambrose, who has finished seventh, third and second in the series’ three races at the 2.7-mile course was despondent at not closing out Edwards after leading 60 laps.

“I just made a mistake at the end there and lost the race,” Ambrose said. “Any other lap, any other corner, I would have got it straight back. It just happened to be the last corner of the race. We had a drag race coming off the hairpin. Carl got position on me, and I had to try to make sure I (outbraked) him.

“I feel pretty devastated, because I let my boys down. We came here to win, and anything less than that was a disappointment.”

Ambrose was in the lead and in control when NASCAR called the eighth caution of the afternoon after a shower hit the racetrack as the cars were working Lap 59. Two laps later, NASCAR ordered the cars to pit road and red-flagged the race while crews mounted rain tires and installed wipers and lights.

After refiring the engines, the field took the green flag double-file on Lap 64, with Ambrose in the lead and Ranger beside him on the front row. Ambrose held the top spot through three more cautions before Edwards, who led three times for three laps, made his move in the final corner.

VICTORY LANE

1 Carl Edwards takes home his first ever road course win

OTHER STORIES ON THE DAY

-Teams practiced AND qualified in the rain on Saturday

-Colin Braun had engine problems early on causing the longest caution in history!

-Patrick Carpentier had transmission problems while running top 5

-4 minutes per pace lap…excruciatingly painful

-Justin Allgaier lost control after a wheel hop, took out Ron Fellows and damaged Kyle Busch’s 18 machine

-Why can’t teams figure out how to make windshield wipers work at high speeds?

-In a late restart, Carl Edwards moved Marcos Ambrose aside, on the next set of turns, Ambrose returned the favor and took the lead back

-With 16 laps to go, rain fell for a full course caution

-NASCAR decided to continue racing in the rain, brought the cars down pit road, gave them a 5 minute clock to make preparations to race in the rain. This turned into a race in itself.

-Kyle Busch’s windshield wipers looked wicked cool

-With 3 to go on the restart, Kyle Busch was spun, giving Carl Edwards a chance for more points. Kyle lost a ton of positions

-A battle to the finish on the final lap of the race between Marcos Ambrose and Carl Edwards

-Marcos Ambrose dominated this race, leading 60 laps, and lost it on the last turn hitting the curb sending his #47 airborne, putting him in second. Marcos said “I made one mistake and it cost me the race”

“This is going to be great running in the Rolex Series in Montreal with Marcos Ambrose,” said Edwards. “This is my first time in the series and it should be exciting. We tested at Virginia International Raceway (VIR) and everyone on the team is really cool and I know it’s going to be a lot of fun. Now we are battling over who’s going to do the most driving.”

The Montreal 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve will precede the Nationwide race next week and marks the duo’s debut in the series. In preparation for the event, Edwards and Ambrose tested at VIR August 18 and look to be strong contenders.

Edwards has two Nationwide starts at the 2.709-mile road course and has posted one top-10 finish. Ambrose also has two Nationwide starts at the track and has posted one top-five and two top-10 finishes. It’s a track that Edwards has always been fond of.

“I love racing at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.” Edwards continued, “The Montreal fans are great and to have two opportunities to race there next weekend is just awesome. I’m really looking forward to next weekend.”

The Montreal 200 at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve will air live on SPEED beginning at 2:00 p .m. EDT on Saturday, August 29.

After a major adjustment early in the race got Stewart’s No. 14 Chevrolet handling the way the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points leader wanted, Stewart held off Marcos Ambrose during a 17-lap run to the finish and crossed the finish line 2.969 seconds ahead of the Australian road-course ace.

The victory was Stewart’s fifth at Watkins Glen International, his third of the season and the 36th of his Cup career. Stewart opened his lead in the series standings to 260 points over polesitter Jimmie Johnson, who finished 12th after spinning off the course in Turn 1 late in the race.

The second-place finish was Ambrose’s series-best to date, improving by one position over his results at the Glen last year and at Infineon Raceway in June. Carl Edwards came home third after a strategic run from the 33rd starting position.

Kyle Busch ran fourth, and though he remained 13th in the standings, he trimmed his deficit in points to 12th position — now occupied by Monday’s 14th-place finisher Matt Kenseth — from 101 to 58 points with four races remaining before the field for the 12-driver Chase for the NASCAR Sprint Cup is set Sept. 12 at Richmond.

From Stewart’s point of view, making changes to the car under caution on Lap 19 was a critical juncture in the race.

“Our crew did an awesome job on the pit stop,” said Stewart, who led the last 24 laps after out-braking Busch into Turn 1 after a restart on Lap 67 of 90. “We had asked for a lot of changes there — and a lot of lengthy changes. Our guys did a great job of getting us in and out of the pits there, and we never lost very much track position, so we were able to make it up. We had a fast car today.”

Stewart’s car was fast enough to withstand pressure from Ambrose, who dogged Stewart until the final two laps, when the driver of the No. 47 Toyota backed off to conserve fuel.

“I was watching him,” said Stewart, who will clinch a spot in the Chase when he takes the green flag Sunday at Michigan. “There were parts of the track where we were stronger than he was and parts where he was stronger than us. But I think we were stronger in the parts of the track that we needed to be to hold him off, if he got any closer.”

Ambrose said the setup of his car wasn’t quite right for a track that became hotter and slicker on Monday, after rain on Sunday washed the rubber from the racing surface.

“We missed it just a little bit,” said Ambrose who was trying to complete a double at the Glen after winning Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series race. “I thought our car in practice on Saturday was better than what we had today.

“It was on the edge the whole time. If I had the perfect line — did everything just right — I could get away with it. But the track was slick. We were slightly aggressive on our setup for it. We didn’t really get a chance to tune on it, either. I think we only changed a quarter-pound of tire pressure all day because we were pitting under green and didn’t have time to do anything to it.”

Jeff Gordon, third in the standings, took a major hit in points after taking a major hit on the racetrack. After contact from Kasey Kahne, Sam Hornish Jr.’s No. 77 Dodge bounced off the tire barrier at the exit of Turn 5 and back across the track into Gordon’s No. 24, ending the race for both drivers on Lap 63.

Gordon finished 37th, and though he retained third place in the series standings, he fell 342 points behind Stewart. The accident, which also involved Jeff Burton, Andy Lally and Joey Logano, caused a 19-minute, 35-second stoppage while track workers cleaned debris from the crash.

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (Aug. 8, 2009) — When Marcos Ambrose and Kyle Busch came to the chicane or “bus stop” on Lap 64 of Saturday’s NASCAR Nationwide Series Zippo 200 at Watkins Glen International, Busch stopped — out of necessity — and Ambrose didn’t.

Ambrose’s bold move into the chicane proved to be the winning pass, as the driver of the No. 47 Toyota held the lead the for the final 19 laps, winning the event for the second straight year.

Busch wasn’t happy with the aggressive pass, which forced him to miss the chicane and stop on the track for a three-second penalty, but he rallied to finish second, the record 10th straight time he has posted a first- or second-place result in a NASCAR Nationwide Series race.

Carl Edwards ran third, after Busch passed him to the outside through Turn 1 in the closing laps. Polesitter Kevin Harvick came home fourth, followed by road-course specialist Ron Fellows. Jeff Burton, Greg Biffle, David Ragan, Brad Keselowski and Scott Speed completed the top 10.

“I just didn’t quite have the top-end speed to make a classic pass on him,” said Ambrose, who won in his only start in the series this year. “I knew I was going to have to bomb him somewhere to get the win. He wasn’t going to make a mistake on his own. I was going to have to force one on him.

“It’s Kyle Busch we’re talking about, and he’s going to race you hard, and so I just tried to throw the element of surprise in. I came from a fair way back — about a length-and-a-half back on him — and just bombed up in there. I knew that it was a high-risk move, but it was one that was needed to be made to try to win the race.

“We’re not here to come second. We’re here to win, and I had that mindset all weekend.”

Busch said he would not have tried the winning move Ambrose made.

“I wouldn’t have made it, because I would have wrecked,” said Busch, who expanded his series points lead over second-place Edwards to 212 points. “I think we would have wrecked if one of the cars didn’t give, (and) I was the car that gave. I don’t think it was a fair move. It won him the race. He had to do something.

“Yay for him. Good job — whatever. I wouldn’t have been able to it. I would have wadded my stuff up.”

Ambrose countered by pointing out that he hadn’t touched Busch’s No. 18 Toyota.

“You’re racing against one of the best in the business,” Ambrose said. “The element of surprise was my attack. He clearly reacted late to me coming on the inside there. I don’t know what he’s got to complain about.”

Edwards saw nothing wrong with Ambrose’s pass.

“Marcos knows more about road racing than all of us,” Edwards said. “I wasn’t happy that he moved me out of the way into (Turn) 1 earlier (after a restart on Lap 48), but he apologized for it and I believe him.

“I saw replays of it (the pass into the bus stop) on the big screen when we were driving around, and it looked like just a pass. If I could have put my car in that position, I sure would have. I think anybody out there would have.”

Ambrose’s pass wasn’t the only controversy of the afternoon. Robby Gordon and Joey Logano repeatedly got together on the track. The last contact between the two sent Logano into a tire barrier, only to carom back onto the track. The car burst into flames, and Logano escaped unscathed but angry.

“You can’t fix stupid,” Logano said of Gordon’s aggression. “It’s forever.”

Notes: Ambrose led a race-high 26 laps, edging Edwards by one. … Busch led once for 15 laps, leading his 19th straight Nationwide race. That tied a record held by Sam Ard. … Ambrose has two Nationwide wins in 71 starts, and he’ll try to keep his 2009 Nationwide record perfect Aug. 30 at Montreal.

VICTORY LANE

For the second year in a row, Marcos Ambrose dominates for the road course win in New York. Marcos made a dive bomb move into the bus stop part of the track on Kyle Busch which turned out to be the winning move of the race.

OTHER STORIES ON THE DAY

-Kevin Harvick started on the pole with a track record, and led early

-Robby Gordon and Joey Logano mixed it up resulting in two wrecked race cars, Gordon blew a tire, and Logano hit a tire barrier and caught fire

-Paul Menard, while running up front took the term road course too literally and ended up in the sand trap

-Brian Vickers broke a transmission early in the race

-Ryan Newman had fuel issues