Ambrose taking advantage of opportunity at Sonoma (cont'd)

"It's like a huge weight's been lifted off my shoulders," he said. "I hear these guys who qualify in every week saying, 'Oh, it's been a big pressure, blah blah blah.' Well, it is. It's just massive. It was harder lining up here to qualify than what it was lining up with one race to go to win a championship in Australia. The pressure was intense. One lap, three quarters of a lap to warm up, go or go home 4,000 miles, first Cup race, all that kind of stuff. Even going fastest in practice, it even added more. You expect to get in there. It's just been an awesome day. I feel like I've survived a marathon of stress and anxiety. I'm just going to really enjoy it."

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It's like a huge weight's been lifted off my shoulders. It was harder lining up here to qualify than what it was lining up with one race to go to win a championship in Australia.

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MARCOS AMBROSE

He backed up that performance Saturday, posting the fastest time in final practice before flying to Milwaukee for that night's Nationwide event. While Ambrose scraped the wall in Turn 10 and suffered some body damage, he fared better than David Reutimann, who crashed in the first practice, went to a backup car -- necessitating a start at the rear of the field Sunday -- turned his car over to Infineon driving-school instructor Chris Cook for happy hour, and bolted for Milwaukee. A.J. Allmendinger will also have to start at the rear after blowing an engine in the final session.

But they were all chasing Ambrose, whose times opened plenty of eyes in the Sprint Cup garage.

"I've heard of how good of a road racer he is," said five-time Infineon winner Jeff Gordon. "We've seen what he's done. I think that's fantastic to see him running that good, and I hope he keeps it up. It's always exciting to see somebody new into the mix."

Added Kurt Busch, who will start third: "He seems to be doing really well. I'm sure that the Wood Brothers told him that it pays a whole lot better to be 43rd than 44th, so he had to make sure that he put a lap underneath him to go out there and make the race. We'll see how he does on Sunday. We're looking forward to him running well."

Is he a legitimate threat to win the race? Second-place qualifier Jimmie Johnson isn't sure.

"I've not really raced with him much, so it's hard for me to really speak in a way about what I'd expect to see on Sunday," Johnson said. "He's won championships coming into the [Nationwide] Series and was very close to winning his first one in Canada a while back. So I think he'll be there. The Cup race itself is a little different than what he's experienced in the [Nationwide] Series and these cars are much different, so I'm not ruling it out. I think it would be difficult for him, but he's done a great job. He's really put up great laps the whole time we've been here."

Marcos Ambrose, winning a Sprint Cup race? In a Wood Brothers car? It seems unthinkable. But after the last two days in Sonoma, nobody is counting him out. He's beaten long odds already, just to get into the race.

"I feel like today is one of those days in your life where you know you've done something special," Ambrose said Friday. "The Wood Brothers have had a tough couple of years. We bounced back here today. Top of the time sheets in practice, qualify in the top 10, it's just an awesome, awesome day for us."