Catchfence

Marcos Ambrose

Have you tested with the new spoiler?

“We ran the new spoiler at New Smyrna (Fla.), just at the short track. I really didn’t feel much difference to it. Aesthetically, it looks a little nicer. The fans were calling out for it, NASCAR has been listening and they’re on their front foot trying to make the sport better for the fans and make the racing high quality.”

Do you feel added pressure racing with a country of fans?

“You can’t put any more expectations on your own shoulders than what you do yourself. I answer to myself first, and I set myself high goals. I appreciate being known around the world, especially spreading the word about NASCAR — how great the sport is. It’s a great sport. I love it. I think it’s the best form of racing in the world. We have really tried giving Australia, in particular, spreading the message. I think NASCAR has had a huge increase in following. And I have noticed it, anecdotally, when I go home. I went home in the off-season and saw a huge shift in how many people were tuning into NASCAR and knew about it. They knew the drivers, they knew the tracks, they knew the formats and that has come a long way in the last 12 months. I’m pleased I could play a part, and hope to continue to do so.”

How excited are you for 2010 after the success you had last season?

“It’s really exciting for us. There’s a lot of hard work to be done, so we can’t get carried away. We just want to build on what 2009 was — 2009 was a great year. We really finished the year well and strong with some great results. There is no guarantee of success in racing, so we have got a lot of hard work to do. We just have to be cautiously optimistic and keep our expectations in check. It’s easy to get carried away in your second year and lose confidence and motivation because it’s not going your way, and we’re conscious of that. We just want to get off to a solid start and build a good base to start 2010.”

Do you see your team as one to beat this year?

“I wouldn’t say that. There are a lot of great teams and great drivers out here, and it’s just a matter of who’s hit the combination the best. I feel like we can contend for wins any week. Whether we string together enough races to contend for the Chase, we’ll find out. I’m just trying to manage expectations. There’s a lot of talk about our team really improving and getting better and better. We just have to be careful and consistently finish. If we can consistently finish and eliminate bad days, then we should be in the front half of the field and we can work towards the front from there.”

How good are the NASCAR drivers on road courses?

“They’re very good. Now the level is so high in the Cup Series, anybody coming in that is a road race expert is not necessarily going to run at the front because the quality is already very high. It’s a tough race. It’s as tough a road race as you’d ever find. There are tougher road races in NASCAR than any normal race because the cars are very heavy, they don’t handle well, they’ve got a lot of horsepower and the drivers are very good.”

How does your team try to improve at tracks you have found difficult?

“There are certain race tracks that we go to that have certain characteristics as others, but some you run well at and some you don’t. You can’t focus on places that you run bad at. You just try to apply the knowledge that you learn from the year before and previous trips to get better. You’re always moving forward.”

- Toyota Motorsports, Press Release