Ambrose ready to race in Australia: Marcos Ambrose is wasting little time in his return to racing V8 Supercars. Two days after the season-ending NASCAR Sprint Cup race at Homestead-Miami Speedway last Sunday, the former two-time Supercar champ flew back to his native Australia. He's already had two tests and preparing for his first race in nearly a decade in the Supercars series, the Sydney 500, on Dec. 5-7, as a wildcard entry for his new team, DJR Team Penske. "I am happy with my choices. I am very comfortable with what I have done," Ambrose told New Zealand's Stuff.co.nz. At 38, Ambrose could very easily have had another 5-10 years in NASCAR, but he chose to return home for family reasons, plus the challenge of racing in the Supercars series for Penske. "I left some unticked boxes but nothing is ever perfect, is it," Ambrose said. "It was nothing but success for me," Ambrose said. "I went across there on a whim and tried to make it work. I survived for a long time, won races in the NASCAR Sprint Cup level and left on my own terms, knowing I could compete against the best." Now he'll be competing against the best in the Supercars series, including Jamie Whincup, who has dominated the series by winning the last four V8 championships and six of the last seven. Ambrose's return to Supercars has motorsport fans in his homeland buzzing in a positive way, particularly wanting to see what he can do against Whincup. In another interview with The Telegraph of Sydney, Australia, Ambrose said returning to his homeland and Supercars is actually a significant step down financially for a man the newspaper said is worth at least $20 million and is reportedly taking at least a $4 million per year pay cut. "I am really motivated to come back here and take Team Penske to the top," Ambrose said. "I am bringing Team Penske and DJR together and I want to give them the best chance of success. I am really motivated to do this and I am not doing it for money. That is not my motivation." Ambrose still has a couple more tests planned in his new ride in preparation for the first race back in two weeks. But he already feels very much into the swing of things and old times when he was winning past championships.(
NBC Sports)(11-24-2014)