Australian star Marcos Ambrose has made an impressive, but ultimately tough debut in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series at Martinsville in Virginia today.

Ambrose qualified his Ford F-150 in 20th spot in the 39-car field early in the day.

Ambrose entered the weekend with support from the Animal Adoption League, Petfinder.com and Fresh Step cat litter and was running as high as 18th when he experienced how tough oval racing can be.
.
Johnny Benson and Terry Cook got together in front of Ambrose at turn four on lap 150 and the Australian was left with nowhere to go.

He took the nose of his Ford and was forced back to the pits where his team did a repair job and got him back into the race, but unfortunately he was 52 laps down on the tight half-mile (800m) Martinsville track where a good lap time is less than 20 seconds.

He was officially classed in 33rd position and scored 64 points.

“To be honest, I am just proud to be a part of this show,â€￾ said Ambrose.

“It was great to qualify for the race were we did and we were running pretty well when a couple of those guys came together in front of me and I had nowhere to go. It’s tough getting caught up in someone else’s accident, especially after managing to avoid four other incidents earlier in the race.

“We were pretty conservative all weekend to ensure we made the show and kept ourselves out there. In the end we were just a couple of 10ths off pole and right in the mix.

“I feel like we have created a lot of momentum this weekend and I look forward to carrying that into the coming races.

“We are just out there learning as much as we possibly can and we certainly did that today. It is a good feeling to get my first ever oval race under my belt

“It was disappointing for the Wood Brothers/JTG Motorsports team to have the number 20 Ford end up back in pit lane after 150 laps, but that’s the nature of this business. The guys did a great job to get me back in the race.

“Every lap I can do is important and despite being so many laps down it was important to get back out there and keep my seat time ticking over.

“I cannot wait to get back out there in a few weeks time in St Louis.â€￾

David Starr managed to stay out of trouble in the 250-lap race which was plagued by a record 16 caution periods, including a red flag.

Mark Martin finished fourth in the race to continue his lead in the point standings.

Ambrose’s Wood Brothers Racing teammate Bobby East qualified 29th and finished 13th.

The next round of the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series will be the Dodge Ram Tough 200 at the Gateway International Raceway in St Louis, Missouri.

Hey, not too bad. Better than a DNF! Good to see he takes some points homes as well... good ol' NASCAR rules!

go marcus!

20 sec laps! damn

is there any way to watch this? foxtel? internet? pub?

Internet, trucks not on foxtel.

http://www.truckseries.com/