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CUP: Aussie Cracks Brickyard Field
Written by: Tom Jensen   
07/26/2008 - 01:49 PM
Indianapolis, In.
 
Marcos Ambrose stands in the garage area during practice for the Allstate 400 at the Brickyard at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. (Jason Smith/Getty Images Photo) ยป More Photos

Marcos Ambrose picked the right time to come up big.

Ambrose, who has competed in just one NASCAR Sprint Cup race to date, qualified 24th for Sunday’s Allstate 400 at the Brickyard, racing his JTG Racing Ford into the field at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

“I’ve never been so anxious and nervous and apprehensive in all my life,” said Ambrose, a native of Tasmania. “Two laps on the race track here at the Brickyard, which is so famous and so intimidating as well, I just had to suck all that up and let her rip.”

And rip he did, as the two-time Australian V8 Supercar Champion found pace he never neared on Friday, when he was able to complete just two laps of practice. “This is fairly spectacular considering the trouble we had yesterday,” said Marcos, who picked up 1.1 seconds in qualifying relative to his Friday practice times.. “We did a whole two laps yesterday and didn’t know what to do with the car.”

Marcos made his Sprint Cup debut at the Infineon Raceway road course in Northern California last month, where he ran well until a transmission broke. But the Brickyard, he reckoned, was a more proper NASCAR debut.

“We’re a start-up team and we made it today,” he said. “This feels like my first genuine Cup start. I feel like we have climbed
Mount Everest after yesterday’s effort. We had less than seven minutes on the racetrack and here we are, qualified.”

And there was no mistaking Ambrose’s emotions. “I feel like today I’ve made it,” he said. “I feel like we’re in the Brickyard. We’re gonna have a great day tomorrow no matter where we finish just because we’ve made it in. I just feel so elated for these guys and everyone who has supported me and gave me the confidence to try and do this. It’s just amazing.”

Tom Jensen is the Senior NASCAR Editor for SPEEDtv.com, the former Executive Editor of NASCAR Scene and a contributing Editor for TruckSeries.com. He is the author of “Cheating: The Bad Things Good NASCAR Nextel Cup Racers Do In Pursuit of SPEED,” and has appeared on television and radio shows to discuss NASCAR racing. Jensen is the President of the National Motorsports Press Association. Jensen is the 1997 National Motorsports Press Association Writer of the Year and has won numerous national and state awards for news reporting, columns and feature writing. The Answer Man is back at SPEEDtv.com. Tom Jensen answers your questions during every race week and looks forward to hearing from you - please e-mail it to

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