Marcos Ambrose will start tomorrow’s Aaron’s 312 from 30th position after qualifying at Talladega Superspeedway in Talladega, Alabama today.

Ambrose is confident that his car is primed to run well under race conditions and with a long race ahead, will look to gradually move forward in the 117-lap race to make a run to the front over the closing laps.

Ambrose was third in both practice sessions held yesterday when cars were running in the draft – as they will in tomorrow’s race – but did not have front running pace on a single car run in qualifying today.

Tony Stewart earned pole position for the Aaron’s 312 ahead of Mike Bliss and Jason Leffer.

Marcos Ambrose - #59 Kingsford Hickory Ford Fusion

“I’m really looking forward to tomorrow’s race and I think we have a nice car for running in the draft,” said Ambrose.

“As a driver, I could put my grandmother in on qualifying day the way these cars run here. It’s irrelevant to us today. Today is just a relaxing day. We knew we weren’t going to qualify that well with our car. I’m hopeful that it’s going to draft okay, and I hope it does.”

Q: HISTORICALLY, AT THIS TRACK, ON THE CUP SIDE, THE CAR THE COMES OFF THE TRUCK IS PRETTY MUCH WHAT A DRIVER HAS FOR THE WEEKEND. IS THAT THE CASE IN THE NATIONWIDE SERIES, TOO?

MA: “Yes, definitely. There’s not much you can do when you get here – you might be able to get a tenth [of a second] out of it or so, but that’s about all you’re going to get out of it, at best.”

Q: YOU WERE THIRD-FASTEST IN BOTH PRACTICES YESTERDAY, SO, POTENTIALLY, THIS COULD BE A PRETTY GOOD WEEKEND FOR YOU.

MA: “We just got lucky with the draft on those times there. We went out in the biggest packs, and just by chance we ended up toward the top of the time sheets. But, we just want to finish the weekend and get a strong top-15 if we can and get out of here with some decent points.”

Q: YOU DID A LOT OF ROAD-COURSE RACING. IS THIS TRACK DAUNTING TO SOMEONE WITH YOUR BACKGROUND?

MA: “It’s daunting racing, it’s not a daunting track. It’s the racing that really gets your attention. Hopefully, we’re there at the end with 10 laps to go and running in contention.”

RESULTS: Qualifying
1. #20 Tony Stewart 51.676
2. #1 Mike Bliss 51.745
3. #38 Jason Leffler 51.768
4. #40 Dario Franchitti 51.809
5. #88 Brad Keselowski 51.917
6. #2 Clint Bowyer 51.944
7. #5 Dale Earnhardt Jr 51.958
8. #18 Kyle Busch 51.969
9. #33 Cale Gale 51.984
10. #32 Denny Hamlin 51.984
30. #59 Marcos Ambrose 52.818