Marcos Ambrose says he’s disappointed not to have taken advantage of the potential to score big results in the early races with NASCAR’s new Generation 6 rule package.
Ambrose has finished no better than 18th in any of the four races held so far this season, although his consistency has yielded a championship position of 15th heading into this weekend’s Auto Club 400 in Fontana, California.
“It’s been a quiet start for us,” admitted Ambrose.
“I feel like we haven’t done as well as we should have, but while it’s been a quiet start it has also been consistent.
“We’ve finished all of the races and have made our car better by the end of the events, but we just haven’t finished as well as we should have. So, for me, I’ve been disappointed with my start.
“I just want to pick it up here and run with it and consistency is everything. This is my fifth year in the Cup Series and every year I’ve gotten off to a rocky start with mechanical problems or accidents, so this year is good because we’ve been out of trouble, but we just haven’t run as fast as we needed.
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“We’re looking for a top 10 here in the next couple of weeks and that will calm us all down and get us ready for the focus of the summer.”
Ambrose has won the Sprint Cup event on the Watkins Glen road course in each of the last two years, but has yet to find success on an oval.
The 36-year-old Tasmanian says winning on an oval remains his number one priority.
“I’ve got to win one, so it’s definitely at the top of the bucket (list),” he said.
“Winning comes first and then making the Chase comes second and winning the championship sort of completes that sequence.
“You can’t win a championship if you can’t win a race, so that’s where I’m at. We’ve just got to win.
“The last two weeks I haven’t felt closer, but we’ll keep striving towards it,” he added.
“We’ve got all of the ingredients to do it and it’s my job to put it all together.”
Ambrose’s Richard Petty Motorsports team-mate Aric Almirola is currently 20th in the standings and is also without a top 10 finish in 2013.
The championship is being headed by reigning champion Brad Keselowski, whose Penske Racing team switched from Dodge to Ford equipment in the off-season.
