Marcos Ambrose, driver of the No. 20 Ford F-150, claimed his first career Craftsman Truck Series Bud Pole this afternoon in qualifying for tonight's Built Ford Tough 225 at Kentucky Speedway. Ambrose, a two-time Australian V8 Supercar champion and native of Tasmania, claimed the pole in his 10th series start. The first native of Australia to compete in the Craftsman Truck Series, Ambrose commented on his pole-winning performance.

Marcos Ambrose No. 20 Team Australia/Aussie Vineyards Ford F-150 (Qualified 1st)
For a driver with a road-course background, you posted your fifth top-10 qualifying effort in 10 career Truck Series  starts. "To get a pole, I've always been a pretty strong qualifier and I really don't know why. It scares me a little. It's just great for the guys and great for the team. I've got so many people to thank for getting me over here. Ford Australia and Tom Gorman, and Dan Davis from Ford of America in the racing department to drag me halfway across the world. The team bosses, the Wood Brothers and Tad Geschickter, I just want to thank them for giving me the chance to compete on the ovals over here. I've got some great equipment and a fantastic team behind me. They're making me look better than I could have possibly hoped for in my rookie year. We're just trying to get me used to oval racing, and to get a pole so early in my NASCAR career is more than I expected."

Did you think you had a pole-winning truck heading into qualifying? "We had a strong race at Kansas and we're using the same truck here. It's the same setup basically. We've rolled it out and tinkered with it just a bit to suit this race track. We had a nice, late draw and we knew that was going to help us some, but I didn't expect the pole. Anything in the top 10 would have been fantastic."

Starting from the pole, do you feel confident enough in the truck that you can stay up front? "At least I get to control the start of the race tonight. If we can just circulate inside the top 10 and keep racking those laps up and getting the experience that we need, that's all that we can ask for. I'm happy running at the front there with those guys because they're very experienced and they're very professional, and I feel safer running at the front than what I do in the back because it's just chaos in the back."

Is the progression you expected, earning your first pole before capturing your first win? "Yeah, that's normally the way it works. You can go fast, but you don't know how to race. I'm still learning how to race these trucks in traffic, but we're making ground on it."