HOMESTEAD, Fla. -- Marcos Ambrose may be starting third in Sunday's Ford 400 at Homestead-Miami Speedway, but it won't be long before he's back to being a regular bloke -- if a 30-hour plane flight from Miami to Tasmania isn't considered long. After being away from his native Australia for the past 10 months, Ambrose is more than excited to know he'll soon be home.

"My offseason started [Thursday]," Ambrose said Friday after his qualifying run. "I left the house, locked it up and I'm not going back to it. Basically, I'm flying out from Miami on Monday straight back to Australia."

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It's a crazy world we live in and sometimes you just need a moment to reflect on what you're all about and I use my offseason well. I really try to get back, get my feet on the ground and not move for a while.

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-- MARCOS AMBROSE

For Ambrose, finishing his first full-time Sprint Cup season on a high note would cap a great year. Heading into the season finale, Ambrose has four top-five finishes this season, including second at Watkins Glen and third at Sonoma. And he backed up his qualifying effort by running 12th-quickest in Saturday's final practice session.

Jeff Burton's lap of 165.736 mph topped the Happy Hour leaderboard, followed by teammate Kevin Harvick and Mark Martin. Points leader and pole-sitter Jimmie Johnson was seventh. There were no major incidents in the final 60-minute session, although Erik Darnell scraped up the right side of his No. 96 Ford in the first of two practices after running into the outside wall. However, he returned to complete 35 laps without further incident in the final tune-up.

A season that runs from February to November can truly be considered a grind at times, so imagine what it's like for Ambrose, who finally will have the opportunity to get away from racing for a few weeks and decompress by hanging out with friends and family Down Under.

"It's just about getting back home, forgetting about turning left for a while and get back to normal living," Ambrose said. "I've got a little townhouse in Launceston, my hometown and I like going down and getting the milk and paper in the mornings from the local store. Just being a normal, average Joe.

"It's a crazy world we live in and sometimes you just need a moment to reflect on what you're all about and I use my offseason well. I really try to get back, get my feet on the ground and not move for a while."

In addition to relaxing while he's back in Australia, Ambrose will literally find himself in the spotlight.

"I've got some TV stuff to do down there," Ambrose said. "I've got an American film crew coming down to do some filming during testing in Tasmania, which is exciting. I'm going to go to the last round of the Australian V8 Super Car Series and do some television work as well for SPEED."

As a two-time champion in that series, Ambrose had been hoping to perhaps take a busman's holiday by competing in the Sydney finale, but the powers that be intervened.

"I got turned down [for a license]," Ambrose said. "I had sponsors in play and everything ready to go. I was going to go back and do it this year. The last race is in two weeks, it's at a street track around Sydney. I thought it would be very cool to go back and see old friends and have a race or two and they wouldn't let me in."

If there's one thing Ambrose will take away from 2009, it's his faith in his own ability to drive competitively in NASCAR's premier series.

"I think inner confidence is very important, feeling that you belong in the sport," Ambrose said. "Knowing that you can save a car when it gets out of shape because it gets out of shape about four or five times a lap. You just have to believe in yourself and have your crew believe in you and believe in what you're telling them as far as feedback goes.

"Just learning to drive the heck out of these race cars because they don't want to go as fast as we push them. You just have to really be on your game. There's nowhere to hide out there in the Cup Series. All the cars are very good, the drivers are very good and the competition is very high."