With the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series making its way to the road course in Sonoma, California this weekend, Marcos Ambrose is eager to show his skills. The second-year Cup Series driver cut his teeth on the road courses in Australia and that experience has translated to NASCAR’s top division.

Despite his extensive road racing background, Ambrose still does not prefer to be called a road course ringer and his stats as of late are starting to prove that. Thus far in 2009, the driver of the No. 49 JTG-Daugherty Racing Toyota has recorded one top-5 and three top-10s in the first fifteen races of the year, putting him 20th in Sprint Cup Series points.

“We’re looking for gold on track this weekend at Infineon Raceway,” Ambrose explained. “We have a lot of confidence heading into Sonoma. I’ve had some success on road courses and we’ve put a lot of work into this race. We’ve tested for it a couple of times and we feel like we’ve got a genuine shot at this one.”

In just his third career Cup Series start, the Aussie was able to score a third-place finish on the road course in Watkins Glen. Ambrose did not fare as well at Infineon, where a transmission problem relegated him to a 32nd-place finish. Yet, in the NASCAR Nationwide Series, Ambrose has a victory at Watkins Glen, one second-place and one top-10 at the Mexico City track, and one top-5 and one top-10 on the road course in Montreal.

“Infineon Raceway is a tough place to get around,” Ambrose added. “You have to use your fenders a lot and they get bent and so do egos. Usually, there are a lot of mad people by the end of the race.”

This year’s event will feature the double-file shootout style restarts for the first time on the road course. Previously, every restart after the initial drop of the green flag was single-file and Ambrose feels they will play a role in Sunday’s race.

“The double file restarts will be really interesting and will play a factor in the outcome because it’s a one groove type of track,” Ambrose pointed out. “Some cars will have advantages and some will have disadvantages. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out.”

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