After leaving the pits on Lap 67 of the aforementioned race, a tire from Marcos Ambrose's pit wall started rolling down the stretch line and towards the grass area of the in-track. Watts wanted to bring the tire in, but got approximately 70 feet close to the track in the process, causing the yellow caution flags to go off and temporarily stop the race.
The Atlanta officials cautioned the race due to safety reasons, interfering with some crews' pit strategies in the process. As a consequence of that pointless caution, some of the drivers pitted at the time were automatically relegated an additional lap behind the leading pack.
“It was a disaster. But I think the penalty was a good one. You can't have guys running out to the race track. It's just not the thing to do. Jimmy is a great guy. He went on instinct. You can't blame the guy for that, either. I mean, he just went on a reaction and it was the wrong reaction. He needs to be an example for others not to do the same,” said Ambrose, according to NASCAR's official website.
Ambrose's nightmare that Sunday ended with an engine failure on Lap 179. However, the Toyota driver was pleased because his team – JTG/Daugherty Racing – did not receive any suspensions or fines as a result of the incident.
“I'm pleased they didn't do any points or monetary fines because we're a brand-new team and we're doing everything we can to try and get ourselves in this championship, and use all our money to survive out there,” concluded Ambrose.
Google News