TALLADEGA, Ala. -- Each year since he's been in NASCAR, Marcos Ambrose has made the 9,500-mile journey from Miami to his native Tasmania to be home with friends and family for Christmas. But when the season ends next month, Ambrose and his family will remain in North Carolina.

"This year I'm not going back to Australia," Ambrose said Friday at Talladega Superspeedway. "It's all getting pretty hot and heavy, so I've got to stay here and really get ready for 2011."

If Ambrose has a Christmas wish list this year, his No. 1 request has to be an infusion of cash for Richard Petty Motorsports, the team he's planning on joining next season. Since news broke that the team was struggling, Ambrose has been in constant contact with his future employers.

"I talk to them a lot," Ambrose said. "I have no control over the decisions that are going to get made and the direction they want to take. But I'm fully committed to them and look forward to driving for them in 2011."

The team reportedly defaulted on its roughly $90 million loan last February, and George Gillett, who owns as much as 70 percent of the team, has been unable to restructure it. Efforts are under way to find additional investors, not only to finish out the season, but to guarantee that the team, which expects to drop from four to two cars next year, is still around for the season-opener at Daytona.

"They're in a tight situation, no doubt about it," Ambrose said. "All I can do is voice my commitment to them and try to help them through it, if I can. And just keep the optimism up. Racing is a difficult business and you go through cycles. They're having to restructure and rethink about how they're going about the business side of the sport. I wish them the best of luck."

After recording four top-five finishes and finishing 18th in the points in 2009, much was expected from Ambrose and the No. 47 Toyota team in 2010. But mechanical failures in the season's first two races have contributed to a season-long slump for Ambrose in his second full-time Cup season. For example, he led 40 laps last weekend at Martinsville before contact with Jimmie Johnson led to a wreck that ruined his day.

While the short-term future remains cloudy, Ambrose hopes a change of scenery in his personal life this off-season carries over to his professional one.

"It's going to be my first Christmas away from Australia," Ambrose said. "We're looking forward to it. We'll have a white Christmas instead of a hot one. We're getting more assimilated with the U.S.A. every year and we're looking forward to staying around and having a good American Christmas.

"[It'll be] just myself and my family are going to stay here and reconnect a little bit. It's been a pretty long season and I just want to reconnect with my wife and my kids and a have a good time, be a dad for a while."

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