Full Throttle

Tasmania’s favorite son Marcos Ambrose, the Devil Racer, will become a full-time Sprint Cup driver next season, thanks to a new partnership former NBA player Brad Daugherty has with JTG Racing.

Daugherty, who choose to wear Richard Petty’s number – 43 – throughout his NBA career has bought a financial stake in JTG Racing.

The new team, renamed JTG Daugherty Racing, will continue to field two Nationwide Series entries, but add a full-time Sprint Cup entry next year with Ambrose at the wheel. Little Debbie snack cakes will continue to sponsor the car which will use # 47.

“I have a tremendous passion for racing,” Daugherty said Tuesday. “This gives me another avenue to be involved in the sport. It’s a big stake to do this at he Cup level, and I hope it opens doors in the sport for other minorities and women.”

“I can’t think of a better partner to be involved with this team than Brad,” Ambrose said. “He’s a real racer. I hope I can deliver the results for him. We have a lot of hard work to do to get ready for 2009, but time is on our side. I’m just really excited to get started.”

While continuing to play pro hoops, Daugherty supported and mentored several up-and-coming drivers as an owner of Liberty Racing in the Nationwide Series and NCTS, explaining that he wanted to nurture their talents and see their careers grow.

Drivers included the late Kenny Irwin Jr., Wayne Anderson and Kevin Harvick. Irwin won two Craftsman Truck Series races driving for Daugherty in 1997, the first at Homestead-Miami Speedway in March and the second at Texas Motor Speedway in June.

Daugherty and NASCAR chief executive Brian France co-founded NASCAR’s Diversity Council several years ago.

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