Marcos Ambrose is confident that last weekend’s breakthrough top five finish at Bristol will be the start of a resurgence for Richard Petty Motorsport.
Ambrose had endured a 51-race drought without a top five, stretching back to the Bristol Night Race in August of 2012.
The result moves the former two-time V8 Supercars champion to 15th in the points standings.
“We have a lot of confidence that we can continue this level of performance,” said Ambrose ahead of this weekend’s Auto Club 400 at Fontana.
“California is a tough track, really fast with a lot of grooves, but we’re ready to step it up there and get a good finish.
“We haven’t had the results we have wanted there, but we’ve put in work with these new rules to get better.
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“I know the guys will be busy this weekend so we get the best car possible for Sunday.”
Ambrose believes he has a strong chance of making the Chase for the first time this year following off-season changes to the play-off format.
The Chase field has been extended from 12 to 16 drivers.
Each race winner will be granted a spot in the Chase, with the remainder of the field made-up of the highest non-winners in the points standings.
If there are more than 16 winners, the points order will be used as a tie-breaker to decide which winners make the field.
“With this new Chase format, you just don’t know how it’s going to shake out, but if we get ourselves a win, it takes care of a lot,” he said.
“At the same time, we need to put ourselves in the best point position, too, so we can possibly grab a spot that way.
“Right now, we’re really close. There is still a lot of time, and a lot of things can happen, but we’re not in a bad position after Bristol.”
Ambrose took 18th and 26th place finishes in the two races held at Phoenix last year on the way to a lowly 22nd in the points standings.
