Ambrose confident time will be on his side at Dover

Sunday looks to be a big day for Marcos Ambrose.

Nextel Cup debut? No. What was planned to be a gift from Robby Gordon to Ambrose was turned down by the Aussie. Gordon went so far as to enter another car in the Cup race at Dover and put Ambrose in it, but for reasons Ambrose said was to not "rush into it" he respectfully declined.

But rush is exactly what Ambrose will do this weekend. His wife, Sonja, is due with the couple's second child any day, and if she carries full term, the delivery will be Sunday.

By the Numbers

Carl Edwards has led more laps on concrete this year than most drivers have led all season.

• Complete story, click here

"We've got a plan on standby and we'll be fairly unlucky for the baby to come at a time when I can't get back, if we have to," said Ambrose, whose wife is in Charlotte. "Otherwise, she should go full term, which is Sunday anyway, so we've got our fingers crossed."

Oh yeah, that goes for the race, too.

Ambrose's team is taking a brand-new setup to Dover for Saturday's RoadLoans.com 200 (3 p.m. ET, ESPN2). That doesn't sound odd for a team with a rookie driver. But considering that Ambrose's best finish of the season came in the June race at the Monster Mile when he wound up sixth, it is a bit of a head-turner.

"I think we know what we are trying to find and what we are trying to do," a confident Ambrose said. "Whether we actually execute it on the weekend is a big question. Last time we finished sixth and we felt that we had a solid top-10 run, but we weren't good enough to do any better than that. So we've made some changes and we're trying to improve our situation."

Since the June race at Dover, Ambrose has only improved one position in the standings, from eighth to seventh. And now he's in the middle of a heated back-and-forth battle with Stephen Leicht to maintain that spot. He leads Leicht by just four points.

More importantly, however, Ambrose has improved behind the wheel. Before the Dover race, he had just two finishes of 15th or better. Since then, he has seven.

"There's no secret to this thing, it's about experience, and it's about confidence," he said. "I feel like I'm getting more confident in knowing what I want behind the wheel ... in my abilities to stay out of trouble and make the right decision on the racetrack. I think it's just time and confidence behind the wheel."

Time and confidence may be what carry Ambrose through this weekend -- on and off the racetrack.

"I'll run the gauntlet this weekend," he said. "Sonja wants to go full term if she can, and that's her decision to make. I'll just do whatever I can to be there if at all possible."

Paying back his debts
Martin Truex Jr. is firing his engine for payback on Saturday -- for his father.

"I always have a lot of friends and family come to this race, but this weekend's gonna be extra special," said Truex, who will make just his third start of the season on Saturday. "I'm running in the Busch race with my dad's company, Sea Watch, on the car. He sponsored my cars back in the day and he got out of his car and basically retired so I could take over his seat. It'd be great to pay him back with a victory." (Continued)