Ambrose excited about Bristol result

The Australian, who is contesting his first full season in the Sprint Cup, finished 10th in the Food City 500 thanks to some good strategy early on and strong pace throughout the race. The result was his first top ten finish on an oval.

Ambrose was one of seven cars that did nit pit during the first caution of the race, gaining track position and moving inside the top five.

After that the former V8 Supercar champion was able to remain in touch with some of the fastest cars of the day and despite a sick engine in the closing stages of the race and a few bumps typical of short-track racing, he was able to secure 10th place in the end.

"We lost the number two and number four cylinders so we were running on six at the end, but somehow we brought it home," said an excited Ambrose, who drives a Toyota for JTG Daugherty with technical support from Michael Waltrip Racing.

"We've just been working away at it. We've been sneaking up there getting more confident. We've had good runs every single race this year. We've just had problems - might have blown up at Atlanta and then we had some other issues with our deal at Vegas and here we are.

"We're finally hitting our form and showing everybody what we got. I just can't wait to start hitting these tracks the second time. This is my very first COT race at a short track - first time at Bristol in a COT and I'm just really excited with the result today and hopefully it leads to better things."

Ambrose believes his Bristol showing will earn him the respect of some of the most experienced drivers as he was able to race a few of them closely during Sunday's race.

"It just feels great to be up there racing with those guys, passing Jeff Gordon. I mean, he's just a hero of mine," Ambrose said. "I've just watched him forever and just admired him so much. And, yeah, we're in the middle of it.

"I'm getting a few bumps here and there and I'm bumping a few guys. It's just a lot of fun. I'm learning the craft and hopefully these kinds of runs will help me cement my reputation in the series with my fellow drivers to know that I can do it when I'm on form."

Following his best result of the season, Ambrose ranks 24th in the championship and his entry is comfortably inside the top 35 in the car owner standings, securing him the start for the next few races.