Marcos Ambrose says his NASCAR career had plateaued
Marcos Ambrose says that a belief that his NASCAR career had plateaued was a driving force behind his decision to quit stock car racing at the end of this season
Ambrose, who won two V8 Supercars titles before moving to the US to try NASCAR nine years ago, was confirmed earlier this week as the lead driver for the team being formed out of a partnership between Penske and long-standing V8 operation DJR.
The move was motivated in part by his family, with Ambrose wanting to be closer to his them in Tasmania and give his children the opportunity to grow up in his native country, but he also admitted that he has achieved all that he can in the US.
"I think the timing for me personally was right," he said.
"My career in NASCAR has flattened off, and I always said that when I felt like I wasn't going to be able to either keep progressing or wasn't going to be able to achieve what I came here to do, which was to win a championship, then I needed to look at my options, and that's exactly what I've done."
Ambrose will return to Australia shortly after the NASCAR season-finale at Homestead in November.
Testing is heavily limited in V8s, and he says that this will be his greatest obstacle in getting back up to speed.
"The biggest factor with getting ready will be the restrictions that the series has in place for the teams and drivers for testing the vehicles," he said.
"We have a test day or two left, I believe, in DJR's allotment of testing, plus we have some ability to do some media rides and corporate rides, and we're going to have a look at getting as much seat time as possible for me just to get used to sitting on the right-hand side again.
"As much as anything I've got to get used to shifting with my left hand and sitting on the 'wrong' side of the car.
"And the other factor that comes into play are the tracks, and when you look at the schedule for 2015 there are two tracks I haven't raced on, a couple of tracks that have had some changes to the circuit, so I'll be looking to get some track time [on those], as well, maybe not in a V8 Supercar but in another race car."
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