Ambrose keen to bounce back

Marcos Ambrose tackles the Nascar track in his Ford F-150.

Two-time V8 Supercar champion Marcos Ambrose has finished 34th in the Nascar Craftsman Truck series round at the 1.25-mile (2km) Gateway Speedway in Illinois.

Ambrose was running just outside the top 10 when a pile-up involving Mike Skinner, Kyle Krisiloff and Justin Martz ended the Australian's hopes on lap 61 of 160.

The entire right-hand side was ripped from Ambrose's F-150 racing truck. Only Martz was able to continue in the race.

"I saw him [Mike Skinner] go up into the wall and I tried to stay low, but I just couldn't stay low enough," Ambrose said. "He came back down the track and I had nowhere to go.

"I guess that's an introduction to Nascar and what it's all about. These cars are strong because that was a decent lick.

"We've taken a pretty tough start with two crashes in two races, so we want to bounce back a bit from this."

It was a tough weekend for Ambrose, who had no practice or qualifying after showers cancelled all but a short practice session just before the race. In that one session he was 17th fastest out of a field of 36 trucks.

Qualifying was set from team owner points, with Ambrose starting from 19th position. By lap 31 he was 12th and well on his way to a top-10 finish before the pile-up put him out. The Dodge Ram Tough 200 was won by Todd Bodine.

Ambrose is 43rd in the championship, having competed in just two of the five events. He next races at the 1.5mile (2.41km) Lowe's Motor Speedway outside Charlotte, North Carolina, on May 19 in the Quaker Stake and Lube 200.

Despite his success in Australia, Ambrose admits there's a lot to learn during his rookie season with Wood Brothers/JTG Racing. "You realise very quickly that no matter how much you know, there's always a lot more out there. It's been a big adjustment so far, but we've come a long way. The racing part I picked up pretty quick. But the way they race, the way they set up the trucks, that's all new to me."

Ambrose qualified 20th in his first race but was caught up in another accident and finished 33rd. "We accomplished a lot in our first race," Ambrose said.

"We consistently raced in the top 10 until we got caught up in somebody else's wreck. The important thing is that I responded really well to the information the team was giving me and they responded really well to the information I was giving them about our Ford F-150.

"The racing over here is completely different ... very close, very fast and very competitive."