Sears Point: Marcos Ambrose preview

SONOMA, Calif. -- Sunday could be a day of firsts for Marcos Ambrose. Not only is he scheduled to make his Sprint Cup Series debut in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at the Infineon Raceway, the race will usher in a new relationship with Little ...

SONOMA, Calif. -- Sunday could be a day of firsts for Marcos Ambrose. Not only is he scheduled to make his Sprint Cup Series debut in the Toyota/Save Mart 350 at the Infineon Raceway, the race will usher in a new relationship with Little Debbie.

Ambrose hopes to make as many as eight Sprint Cup starts this year, and all will be supported by the popular snack cakes company.

"It's a big week," Ambrose said. "It's one of the biggest weeks of my career, logistically and the pressure and the expectation and everything. As professionals you've got to deal with all of that. I think it will be ok. I'm looking forward to it. I've got a great week. I've done an ad, a TV commercial shooting in LA during the week for Little Debbie, which was a lot of fun. That got us out to California early, so we're on the west coast time zone which is going to help us. "I'm just looking forward to it. I'm anxious about it, but at the same time, I'm really keen to get it going."

Ambrose will drive the No. 21 Little Debbie Honey Bun Ford for Wood Brothers Racing on the 1.99-mile road course. He has to race his way into the starting lineup on Friday. If he qualifies, he will practice on Saturday, fly to Milwaukee for Saturday night's Nationwide Series race, and return back to Northern California in time for Sunday's main event.

"There's a level of excitement, trepidation and anticipation," he said. "If I didn't have to qualify that car in, I'd have a totally different mindset; I'd just be totally fizzed to get it there. The very start of the weekend is the most difficult it's going to get. I'm anxious about getting the car in on speed, get it solid in for the race and that's what I'm focused on. I'm really focused on that. I'm anxious to get that car in.

b^0x001cRunning for the Wood Brothers and Little Debbie is special, and I just want to do them proud and hopefully put on a good show for my first Cup start.

"I can't wait to work with the great folks at Little Debbie. I hope we get our new relationship off to a good start."

Ambrose is a two-time Ford V8 Supercar Series champion in Australia. Those races came on road courses.