Notebook: Ambrose has rough Saturday in Sonoma

SONOMA, Calif. -- After consistently being at or near the top of the speed charts in practices and qualifying third in his No. 47 Toyota, driver Marcos Ambrose was dealt a blow when his car blew an engine early in Saturday's final practice. He will now have to start in the rear of the field for Sunday's SaveMart 350.

"It blew up pretty good," Ambrose told SPEED TV. "It's a real shame for us. ... We'll have to do it the tough way now and come from the back."

Sonoma Video

• No. 47 loses engine in practice
• Ambrose, Johnson tangle
• Gilliland slams into Andretti

Ambrose was able to return to the track for a couple laps at the end of final practice and had more trouble. After practice ended, Ambrose hit the rear of Jimmie Johnson's car twice.

"It was my fault -- the second lap on the track and I'm just trying to get a lap time on the board to see what we could do," Ambrose said. "I outbraked myself a little bit, bumped Jimmie and he just aborted the lap and couldn't get going. I just thought that he was going to move on, and I ran into him again."

Also dealt a potentially damaging blow during the final practice Saturday was David Gilliland, who collided with John Andretti in the pits and now will have to go to a backup car at the rear of the field Sunday.

"It was 100 percent my fault," Gilliland said. "I was exiting pit road and looked down for a brief moment to turn on my fan switches, and John stopped in front of me to let some cars go by, and I hit him," Gilliland said. "This just increases our motivation for the race. I smashed a couple of grapes on the Adobe Road Winery car this morning, so [Sunday] we will try to make some wine."

Gilliland would have started 32nd while Andretti, whom Gilliland is battling with to get into the top 35 in points, was slated to start 42nd even before the incident. (Continued)