Marcos Ambrose clocked the 26th-fastest speed on Friday morning of Busch Series testing. Credit: Brian Cleary/Motorsports Images & Archives

Trip to Bristol hooked Ambrose on NASCAR

Australian preparing for first season in the Busch Series

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. -- It was the dead of winter around Marcos Ambrose's residence in Brisbane, Australia, which means it was still warm enough to go to the beach.

	Marcos Ambrose had four top-10s in his first year racing in the Truck Series. Credit: Autostock
	Inside the Numbers Ambrose's Truck Series stats Starts 22 Wins 0 Top-5 2 Top-10 4 Avg. Start 12.7 Avg. Finish 21.4 Laps Led 77 DNFs 2 • Complete stats, click here MOVING ON UP •   Wood Brothers ink Ambrose to 10-race Cup deal for 2007

But the beach wasn't on Ambrose's mind. Bristol Motor Speedway was.

Ambrose, a regular on the Australian V8 Supercar circuit, badly wanted to see a race at Bristol. Ford was one of his sponsors, and it provided tickets and a garage pass.

The rest was up to Ambrose.

No problem. Ambrose, a savvy Internet user, rented an RV online. He bought a ticket on a Qantas jet from Brisbane to Los Angeles, where he caught a connecting flight to Charlotte. He then picked up a 28-foot RV for the four-hour trip to Bristol.

It was like a scene straight out of Planes, Trains and Automobiles.

He convinced a friend to tag along with him, and the two parked the RV in a lot outside the track.

"I went to Bristol to have a look," Ambrose said. "I had a friend that flew over with me. We camped out in the outfield with all the fans, and walked in. I got tickets from Ford and sat in the stands. During the practices, I went to the inside.

"It was pretty wild. I got hooked."

When Ambrose returned home, he told his wife, Sonja, that he had found what he wanted to do for the rest of his life.

"I just knew [NASCAR] was a crazy deal," Ambrose said. "There is no other racing like it in the world. I wanted to experience it first-hand before I even contemplated coming across. I was sold. I did everything I could to put it together."

The hard part was that Ambrose, then 27, didn't live anywhere near Charlotte, which isn't beneficial when job-hunting. He was still living and racing in Australia, so he focused his efforts on winning everything there was to win in his homeland.

If he could dominate in Australia, he reasoned, Ford might be willing to bankroll a NASCAR tryout.

"Once I realized I could make a career out of this sport, I wanted to make it to NASCAR," Ambrose said. "I didn't know if I could ever get it done from half a world away.

"I knew then I had to do a lot more in Australia before I could even attempt to come over."

His gamble paid off.

He won V8 Supercar titles in 2003 and 2004, pestering Ford the entire time, asking for a stock car test. Eventually, the manufacturer said yes.

Ford brought Ambrose over to the United States in 2005 and tested with him at Kentucky, Rockingham and Caraway. He didn't embarrass himself, and Ford placed him in the Craftsman Truck Series with the new Tad Geschickter/Wood Brothers operation.

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Ambrose was in Australia when Geschickter called to offer him a ride in the No. 20 Ford, and Ambrose finalized the deal over the phone.

The 2006 season went well -- Ambrose had nine top-10 starts, including a pole position at Kentucky, and went on to finish third at Kansas and Nashville. It earned him a full-time Busch ride in Geschickter's No. 59 Ford for 2007.

The initial Bristol experience remained a powerful memory for Ambrose. When the Truck Series visited Bristol for its annual stop there in 2006, he made sure to bring Sonja, who has been with him since they were teenagers.

"I said 'Sonja, if you're ever going to come out to the track, you have got to come to Bristol,'" Ambrose said. "It was the day before [the race], and there were no cars on the track.

"She said, 'It is pretty cool, [but] what is all that gray stuff for? Why do they have concrete up there? Why haven't they got a solid wall?'

"I said, 'No, no, they go up there.' She thought they raced on the apron. I said, 'No, we run up on the hill.' She didn't believe me until she saw the cars go around."

Ambrose didn't run at Daytona in the Truck Series during his rookie season because NASCAR hadn't cleared him to race on the 2.5-mile superspeedway. As a result, he didn't visit NASCAR's hallowed ground until Friday when he arrived to run his Busch car during the opening day of testing.

Ambrose said he felt a rush of emotion when he came through Daytona's Turn 4 tunnel. As he entered the infield, he realized he would probably be stateside for many more years.

"For me, it feels like I have made it," Ambrose said. "Here I am running a Busch car with a great American sponsor and a great team. It doesn't get any better than that."