Marcos Ambrose Finds His Ride for 2009

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Former NBA star and current ESPN NASCAR analyst, Brad Daugherty, announced earlier this week that he has purchased a 50% interest in JTG Racing, which will be renamed JTG Daugherty Racing. The company currently runs two full-time entries in NASCAR’s Nationwide Series, driven by Marcos Ambrose and Kelly Bires. The team says that they will continue to run both of these teams next season, but will add a single team to the Sprint Cup Series as well, which we have learned will be driven by Marcos Ambrose. The entry will be the no. 47 car and will feature Little Debbie Snacks as the primary sponsor.

Ambrose is currently 13th in the Nationwide Series points standings and was ranked 8th last year. He also made his Sprint Cup Series debut earlier in the season behind the no. 21 Wood Brothers Racing car at Sonoma where he finished in a disappointing 42nd after a very successful run through the majority of the race. He is scheduled to run six races in the Cup Series throughout 2008.

Daugherty, a five-time NBA All-Star, also has previous experience as a car owner in NASCAR. The late Kenny Irwin Jr. won two Craftsman Truck Series events in a Daugherty-owned entry in 1997, and Robert Pressley won a (then) Busch Series race in Daugherty’s car all the way back in 1989.