It’s official: Marcos Ambrose will return to Australia to race V8 Supercars for Roger Penske

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JOLIET, Ill. – Richard Petty Motorsports announced on Saturday that Marcos Ambrose would not be returning to the team or NASCAR for the 2015 season.

Just over 24 hours later, Team Penske announced that it has hired Ambrose to compete for the V8 Supercars championship in his native Australia next season.

“Team Penske is excited to partner with Dick Johnson Racing to compete in the V8 Supercars Championship starting next season,” team owner Roger Penske said in a media release.

Dick Johnson Racing is an existing Supercars organization of which Penske will become a significant investor in.

“We believe in building our businesses through racing and our success on the track,” Penske said. “With our new business ventures in Australia, it makes sense to showcase our brands through the V8 Supercars Championship and the opportunity to work with DJR and Marcos Ambrose convinced us to go forward.”

It will be three-pronged homecoming for Ambrose, who turned 38 two weeks ago:

First, he’ll be returning to his native Australia.

Second, he’ll also be returning to the same racing series in which he won championships in 2003 and 2004, and finished third in 2005 before moving to the U.S. to begin his NASCAR career.

Third, he’ll remain in the Ford camp, as he was with RPM, driving the No. 17 Ford in the Supercars series.

The Team Penske release referred to Ambrose as “a true hero of Australian motorsports behind the wheel.” In 65 Supercars races between 2001 to 2005, Ambrose won nearly half (28).

A native of Launceston, Tasmania, Ambrose leaves NASCAR having earned a combined seven wins and eight pole positions in the Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series over the past nine seasons.

“This is a great opportunity to return home to a place that I love in a Series where I’ve experienced a lot of success,” Ambrose said. “It will be an honor to race for two motorsport legends in Roger Penske and Dick Johnson.”

The media release also noted that “Team Penske has produced more than 400 race wins and 26 national championships in its storied history, while DJR has earned over 80 victories and seven Australian Touring Car/V8 Supercar titles in over 35 years of racing.”

Johnson is a five-time Australian Touring Car champion, and also won the prestigious Bathurst 1000 three different times. He retired from racing in 1999 to field his own race team.

“We are certainly looking forward to this new challenge,” Johnson said. “I have always admired what Roger Penske has accomplished in business and with his racing teams and it will be a thrill to work with Team Penske and Marcos in 2015.”

A global teleconference is scheduled for Monday evening to give more details of Ambrose’s new deal. The teleconference will include Ambrose, Johnson and Penske. It will also likely be learned whether Ambrose will finish this season with RPM or if he’ll leave early to begin the next phase of his racing career.

 

Marcos Ambrose V8 Supercar Career Highlights:

* 2003/2004 V8 Supercar Champion.
* 15 round wins from 65 rounds between 2001 and 2005 – 23 percent winning rate.
* 30 podium finishes from those 65 rounds – 46 percent strike rate.
* 18 pole positions from those 65 rounds.
* Winner of 28 individual V8 Supercar Championship races.
* 2001 Bathurst 1000 Pole Sitter (second rookie in history to take pole as a rookie).
* 1 of only 12 multiple champions in Australian Touring Car/V8 Supercar Championship history.
* 1 of only 9 drivers in Australian Touring Car/V8 Supercar Championship history to win back-to-back championships.
* 1 of just 5 drivers to win back-to-back championships in Fords.

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Supercross 2023: Results and points after Seattle

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The final results from the Monster Energy Supercross race in Seattle suggests the season is turning into a two-rider battle as Eli Tomac scored his sixth win of the season to tie Cooper Webb for the points’ lead and Chase Sexton crashed in yet another race.

Tomac downplayed the neck strain that caused him to lose the red plate for two weeks, but without that holding him back, it would appear it might have been a bigger problem than he admitted. Despite finishing on the podium in Detroit, Tomac has not shown the late-race strength everyone has come to expect. He was in a slump after scoring a season-worst in Indianapolis and described his sixth win as a “bounce back”.

With this win, Tomac tied James Stewart for second on the all-time list with 50 career Supercross victories. Six rounds remain and there is no sign that Tomac is slowing down. Jeremy McGrath’s 72 wins remains untouchable, for the moment at least.

RESULTS: Click here for full 450 Overall Results; Click here for 250 Overall Results

Cooper Webb was disappointed with second-place, but he recognized the Supercross results at Seattle could have been much worse. He rode in fifth for the first nine laps of the race, behind Tomac and Sexton. When Sexton crashed from the lead and Tomac took the top spot, Webb knew he could not afford to give up that many points and so he dug deep and found enough points to share the red plate when the series returns in two weeks in Glendale, Arizona for a Triple Crown event.

Justin Barcia scored his third podium of the season, breaking out of a threeway tie of riders who have not been the presumed favorites to win the championship. Barcia scored the podium without drama or controversy. It was his fourth consecutive top-five and his 10th straight finish of eighth or better.

Click here for 450 Heat 1 | Heat 2 | Last Chance Qualifier | Lap Chart

Jason Anderson kept his perfect record of top-10s alive with a fourth-place finish. Tied for fourth in the standings and 49 out of the lead, his season has been like a death of a thousand cuts. He’s ridden exceptionally well, but the Big Three have simply been better.

Sexton rebounded from his fall to finish fifth. He entered the race 17 points out of the lead and lost another five in Seattle. Mistakes have cost Sexton 22 points in the last three races and that is precisely how far he is behind Tomac and Webb. Unless those two riders bobble, this deficit cannot overcome.

The rider who ties Anderson for fourth in the points, Ken Roczen finished just outside the top five in sixth after he battled for a podium position early in the race.

Click here for 450 Overall results | Rider Points | Manufacturer Points


The 250 West riders got back in action after four rounds of sitting on the sideline and Jett Lawrence picked up where he left of: in Victory Lane. Lawrence now has four wins and a second-place finish in five rounds. One simply doesn’t get close to perfection than that.

Between them, the Lawrence brothers have won all but two races though 11 rounds. Jett failed to win the Anaheim Triple Crown and Hunter Lawrence failed to win the Arlington Triple Crown format in the 250 East division. In two weeks, the series has their final Triple Crown race in Glendale. When he was reminded of this from the top of the Seattle podium, Jett replied, “oof”.

Click here for 250 Heat 1 | Heat 2 | Last Chance Qualifier | Lap Chart

RJ Hampshire finished second in the race and is second in the points. This is fourth time in five rounds that Hampshire finished second to Lawrence. If not for a crash-induced 11th-place finish in the Arlington Triple Crown, he would be much closer in the points standings. With that poor showing, he is 23 points behind Lawrence.

Cameron McAdoo made a lot of noise in his heat. Riding aggressively beside Larwence, the two crashed in the preliminary. McAdoo could never seem to get away from Hampshire in the Main and as the two battled, the leader got away. It would have been interesting to see how they would have raced head-to-head when points were on the line.

Click here for 250 Overall results | 250 West Rider Points | 250 Combined Rider Points

The Supercross results in Seattle were kind to a couple of riders on the cusp of the top five. Enzo Lopes scored his second top-five and fourth top-10 of the season after crossing the finish line fourth in Seattle.

Tying his best finish of the season for the third time, Max Vohland kept his perfect record of top-10s alive. Vohland is seventh in the points.

2023 Results

Round 11: Eli Tomac bounces back with sixth win
Round 10: Chace Sexton wins, penalized
Round 9: Ken Roczen wins
Round 8: Eli Tomac wins 7th Daytona
Round 7: Cooper Webb wins second race
Race 6: Eli Tomac, Jett Lawrence win
Race 5: Webb, Hunter Lawrence win
Race 4: Tomac, H Lawrence win
Race 3: Chase Sexton, Levi Kitchen win
Race 2: Tomac, J Lawrence win
Round 1: Tomac, J Lawrence win

2023 SuperMotocross Power Rankings

Week 10: Chase Sexton leads with consistency
Week 8: Chase Sexton unseats Eli Tomac
Week 7: Jason Anderson narrowly trails Tomac
Week 6: Perfect Oakland night keeps Tomac first
Week 5: Cooper Webb, Sexton close gap
Week 4: Tomac retakes lead
Week 3: Ken Roczen takes the top spot
Week 2: Roczen moves up; Sexton falls
Week 1: Tomac tops 450s; Jett Lawrence 250s