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NASCAR Sprint-Cup Series
CUP: Ambrose Takes Bite Out Of Bristol
Marcos Ambrose finished third in the most recent race at Bristol Motor Speedway...
Tom Jensen  |  Posted March 17, 2010   Charlotte, NC
Marcos Ambrose is currently 28th in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series points standings. (Photo: LAT Photographic)
Newcomers aren’t supposed to figure out Bristol Motor Speedway as quickly as Marcos Ambrose has.

Last year, in his first full season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series, the amiable Australian driver looked like he’d been rocketing around the high-banked 0.533-mile BMS oval since he was a kid growing up in Tasmania.

Last March, Ambrose posted an excellent 10th-place finish in the Food City 500, dodging mayhem along the way in a strong effort for the No. 47 JTG Daugherty Racing Toyota Camry.

Ambrose followed that up last August in the night race with a stellar third-place run behind Kyle Busch and Mark Martin. Naturally, that gives him some cause for optimism heading into Sunday’s Food City 500.

Truth of the matter is, Ambrose needs a good run this weekend. One of the preseason dark horse choices to make the field in the Chase for the Sprint Cup, Ambrose fell out of the first two races of the season, losing an engine in the Daytona 500 and overheating at Auto Club Speedway.

He’s improved the last two races, finishing 14th at Las Vegas and a season’s best 11th at Atlanta, but he’s mired in the 28th spot in the points. Now is the time Ambrose needs to pick up the pace even more.

“This track comes at a good time on the schedule for us to help build our confidence,” Ambrose said. “We hope to excel. We have Little Debbie on board for the first time this season and they are celebrating their 50th anniversary in their home state of Tennessee and we want to finish strong for them. ... We need to keep moving forward and get our first top-10 of the season.”

And there’s no place better to do it than at his favorite track.

“We’ve had two great races at Bristol and it’s one of my favorite tracks on the circuit, but it’s tough,” Ambrose said. “It’s going to be a big grinding match out there. There’s going to be trouble on the track somewhere, but you hope that you are not part of it. This track drives a lot better for drivers, but passing is tough. If you are at the front pack, you can be a little conservative. If you are in the middle closer to the back, you will take chances that you would not normally take. That’s a recipe for disaster.”

For all his early season struggles, Ambrose professed to not be overly concerned about how things have gone so far, instead focusing on what’s to come for the rest of the season.

“After not finishing the first two races, I started to look at the points because I was worried,” Ambrose said. “Now, we’re not concerned as much because we are safe. Now, what I’m looking for is for us to get from 28th in points to 18th to 10th. There’s no point to look behind. If you look behind, you will not get to the front.”

And just to show he’s got his own priorities in order, Ambrose took major advantage of a rare Sprint Cup weekend off to spend some quality time with his wife Sonja and daughters Adelaide and Tabitha, all of whom had just returned from Australia after being away two months.

“We made a veggie patch,” Ambrose said. “It’s been great. The kids have been running around and we’ve had a wonderful time. It’s so good to have my family home.”

Tom Jensen is the Editor in Chief of SPEEDtv.com, Senior NASCAR Editor at RACER and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. You can follow him online at twitter.com/tomjensen100 and e-mail him at Jensen is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of Speed,” and has appeared on numerous television and radio shows. Jensen is the past President of the National Motorsports Press Association and an NMPA Writer of the Year.

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