Marcos Ambrose 2013 Fantasy NASCAR Preview
2012 Stats: Points Finish 18, 1 Win, 3 Top Fives, 8 Top Tens, Average Running Position 16.9, Average Finish 17.9, Laps Led 74, Driver Rating 79.9
Strengths– There’s not a better road course racer in NASCAR than Marcos Ambrose. I would pick him at those tracks over Tony Stewart and Jeff Gordon. Ambrose also has dark horse potential at intermediate tracks.
Weaknesses– This team doesn’t perform good on a number of different track types. I would avoid him at flat tracks, plate tracks and short tracks with the exception of Bristol. This team also didn’t perform down the stretch last season. After they had four straight top tens in August they went the rest of the season without another one.
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Intermediate Track Grade- B, Last season on this track type the #9 team scored the 18th most points and had an 18th place average finish. For the year he had four top tens (two at Michigan) and three finishes worse than 30th (two at Charlotte). If you need a sleeper on this track type Ambrose isn’t a bad option because he’s had success and ran well at several of these tracks in his career. It’s important to note that there is a level of risk involved though. He’s far from a sure thing. In 2013 I think his best chances for having sleeper potential on this track type will be at Dover, Michigan, Charlotte, Texas, Darlington, Las Vegas and Kansas. In order to use Ambrose at these venues make sure you pay attention to ifantasyrace.com’s weekend content coverage.
Flat Track Grade- B- , Marcos Ambrose should be better on this track type but for whatever reason he struggled last season. In 2012 he accumulated the 21st most points on this track type. His best race of the year on flat tracks was the first race at Phoenix but in that race his engine blew up late while he was running in third (finished 32nd). His other two bright spots were 10th and 13th place results at Pocono. His other finishes on this track type were 18th, 19th, 20th and 24th. At many of these tracks Ambrose has struggled throughout his career. At Indy he’s never finished better than 20th and at New Hampshire he’s finished 19th or worse 75% percent of the time.
Short Track Grade- B-, Last season Marcos Ambrose ran better in his second trip to each short track. In his second go around at these venues he finished 5th (Bristol), 15th (Martinsville) and 15th (Martinsville). In the first race at these tracks he had finishes of 36th, 24th and 22nd. In terms of using him in fantasy racing I would only give him a look at Bristol. He’s an aggressive driver and that’s what it takes at the coliseum of racing. In eight races at Bristol Ambrose has four top tens and has finished in the top twenty 75% of the time.
Restrictor Plate Track Grade- C+, I wouldn’t recommend having Ambrose in your fantasy lineup at these venues. He’s a high risk option at both of them. At Daytona he has one top ten and a 24.1 average finish. His record is even worse at Talladega. He has one top ten there and a 25.1 average finish. In six of the last seven races there he’s finished 19th or worse. Last season on this track type Ambrose had two top fifteens but his 21st place average finish ranked as the 26th best in the series. In comparison Terry Labonte competed in all four plate races and had an average finish of 20.8.
Road Course Track Grade- A+, All that you need to know about Marcos Ambrose at road courses is that he should be on your team. At Watkins Glen he’s been nearly unbeatable. He’s won the last two races there and has never finished worse than third. He’s never won at Infineon but you can put an asterisk mark next to that statement. He’s had this race won before but made a late mental mistake. Excluding his first race at Infineon when he had transmission problems he’s never finished lower than 8th.
How to use Marcos Ambrose from a Fantasy NASCAR Perspective in 2013? I would use Ambrose at both road courses and at select intermediate tracks when he gets the nod from ifantasyrace.com’s weekend content coverage.
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