Marcos Ambrose 2012 Fantasy NASCAR Preview
2011 Stats: Points Finish 19th, 1 Win, 5 Top Fives, 12 Top Tens, Average Running Position 18.8, Average Finish 18.3, Laps Led 49, Driver Rating 76.7
Strengths- Ambrose is arguably the best road course racer in NASCAR. He’s equally impressive at both Infineon and Watkins Glen. If you need a default pick at those tracks pick Ambrose.
The #9 Stanley Ford also shows muscle at intermediate tracks. In 2011 they were good on this track type at the beginning of the season and at the end. They lacked speed in the middle segment of the season.
Weaknesses- Ambrose really needs to improve on the big flat tracks. These should be “give me tracks”. Wild Card tracks have also been really tough on him.
Intermediate Track Grade- B+, Last season Marcos Ambrose accumulated the 15th most points in the series on intermediate tracks. Although those are the numbers of a mid packer Marcos Ambrose can get the job done. Last season in the Chase he finished in the top eleven in four out of the six intermediate track races. His finishes outside the top eleven came at Chicagoland (fuel mileage race) and Homestead (engine failure). His main intermediate track struggles came on the 2.0 mile ovals where he finished 28th, 23rd and 27th last season.
RPM equipment (Roush) is top-notch (for intermediate tracks) and he should be even better on this track type in 2012. RPM gets the best engines available from Roush Fenway Racing and I have a hunch that EFI (electronic fuel injection) will prove to be an advantage for the Fords.
Flat Track Grade- B-, Ambrose should be better on this track type but his resume says you should avoid him. Through his career his has zero top twenty finishes at Indy, five finishes in a row lower than 20th at Pocono, and a 21st place average finish at New Hampshire. Phoenix is by far his best flat track. He finished 8th on the new track configuration and he sports a 14th place average finish.
Restrictor Plate Track Grade- C, Both plate tracks have historically been a struggle for Ambrose. He has one top ten finish to his name at both plate tracks. His Talladega average finish is 27th and his Daytona average finish is 25th. His best finish in 2011 on this track type was 17th.
Short Track Grade- B, 2011 was a struggle for Ambrose on the short tracks. At Martinsville he finished 29th in both races and I expect him to continue to struggle there as long as he drives a Ford (bad track for that auto maker). I like him at Richmond but he didn’t come home with good finishes last season (21st & 23rd). Before his RPM stint he had an average finish of 11.75 at the .75 mile oval. Bristol continues to be a good track for him and in fantasy racing he’s worth a pick there if your in an allocation league. Ambrose is given B based on how good he should be, not how good he performed last season.
Road Course Track Grade- A+, Who’s better than Ambrose at road courses right now? No one. At road courses he has seven straight top six finishes in a row. In August he won at Watkins Glen and out dueled Kyle Busch and Brad Keselowski for the win.
How to use Marcos Ambrose from a Fantasy NASCAR Perspective in 2012? If you don’t want to fall behind in fantasy racing then you need to use Marcos Ambrose at road courses. Also look for strong runs out of him at the “cookie cutter” tracks.
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