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.
Another crash while leading at Seattle dropped Chase Sexton from the top of the NBC SuperMotocross Power Rankings while solid performances by Cooper Webb and Eli Tomac allow them to climb the chart and threaten to make this a two-rider battle with six rounds remaining in the 2023 Monster Energy Supercross season.Cooper Webb wags his finger at Chase Sexton after winning his heat in Seattle. – Feld Motor Sports
During the race, Webb knew he had ground to make up. Riding behind both Tomac and Sexton early in the Main, he was as far back as fifth on Lap 7 at Seattle. That position would cost him the red plate and give away the advantage he began to build with his first win of the season in Tampa. Sexton is often at his best as he battles from the back and he methodically worked his way through the field. At the end of the feature, he was nearly five seconds off Tomac’s pace, but during the past 45 days, he holds the advantage. A resurgent Tomac that could erase that advantage quickly though.
Tomac struggled in Indianapolis with a neck strain. That contributed to his worst performance of 2023 and his second result outside the top five. He finished third in Detroit two weeks ago, but it was a distant third after finishing off the podium in his heat during that round. In Seattle, it appeared the same thing might happen when Tomac finished third in the prelim behind his two principal competitors Webb and Sexton. The Main was a different story.
Tomac dropped to fourth in the opening laps behind both of his rivals early in the race, but he got around Webb on Lap 2 and kept charging. When Sexton fell to the ground on Lap 11 and dropped to fourth, Tomac was in position to strike. He scored his sixth win of the season to tie James Stewart for second on the all-time wins list. He now shares the red plate with Webb as the rounds wind down.
Sexton has the speed, but he lacks the seasoning of Webb and Tomac. He’s pressing hard on every lap and that has bitten him several times this year. Sexton’s mistakes are costing him with a 10th-place finish at Indy, the loss of seven points at Detroit and a fifth in Seattle as the riders he’s battling stood on the podium. No one seriously questions Sexton’s talent or speed, but ultimately the results are what counts.
Justin Barcia is hitting his stride. He advances two positions this week after scoring his fourth consecutive top-five and second podium in that span of races. Barcia finished between sixth and eighth in five consecutive rounds from Anaheim 2 through Arlington, but he’s mostly avoided controversy and that puts him fourth in this week’s SuperMotocross Power Rankings after Seattle.
Jason Anderson had a solid performance in Seattle, but with a fifth-place finish in his heat and fourth in the Main he just keeps losing a little ground to the leaders. The biggest impact to his standing in the NBC Power Rankings is a 10th-place finish in Indianapolis that will take a while to age out of the 45-day formula. He’s tied for fourth in the championship points with Ken Roczen, who sits sixth in the rankings below. It’s important to be the rider “best in class” with Webb, Tomac and Sexton stealing the show.
The 250 West riders were back in action in Seattle and that gave Jett Lawrence the opportunity to break out of a tie with his brother Hunter Lawrence on the all-time wins list. It also provided Jett the opportunity to take back the top spot in the NBC SuperMotocross Power Rankings after Seattle.
Jett Lawrence regained the top spot overall in the NBC SuperMotocross Power Rankings with a near-perfect race in Seattle. – Feld Motor Sports
Jett has stood on the podium in every race this year with the exception of the second Triple Crown race at Anaheim 2 and that level of perfection gives him bragging rights. Rest assured that while the two brothers have a bond that is unapparelled in motorsports, there is no one they would rather beat. Neither has been particularly successful in Triple Crown rounds this year, however, and Jett could lose his advantage in two weeks in Glendale, Arizona under that format.
A rivalry is developing between Lawrence and Cameron McAdoo. Tired of losing to the affable Australian, McAdoo pushed the envelope last week in Seattle. He crowded Lawrence in the whoops during their heat race and sent both to the ground. That frustration could bubble over with four rounds remaining. One thing is certain, when these two riders are in proximity on the track, the cameras will be aimed in their direction.
A little means a lot this season. Finishing second to Lawrence in four of five rounds, RJ Hampshire would be losing ground to the leader no matter what, but an 11th-place finish in the overall at Anaheim 2 places him eighth on the chart below behind two of the 250 West riders and five 250 East competitors.
In the mains, Levi Kitchen has been all over the board with a win, one more top-five, two results on the high side of the single digits and a crash-induced 21st at San Diego. He’s really shown his speed in the heats, however, with a perfect record of top-fives and a win.
Mitchell Oldenburg makes the top five list among West riders with a perfect record of top-10 finishes. He’s heading in the wrong direction, however, falling from ninth overall to 11th after finishing outside the top five in both his heat and the Main last week.
250 Rankings
This
Week
Rider
Power
Avg.
Last
Week
Diff,
1.
Jett Lawrence – W
90.75
2
1
2.
Hunter Lawrence – E
90.43
1
-1
3.
Nate Thrasher – E
84.00
3
0
4.
Cameron McAdoo – W
80.50
4
0
5.
Haiden Deegan – E
78.21
5
0
6.
Jeremy Martin – E
78.00
6
0
7.
Jordon Smith – E
76.77
7
0
8.
RJ Hampshire – W
76.75
10
2
9.
Levi Kitchen – W
76.67
8
-1
10.
Max Anstie – E
74.43
11
1
11.
Mitchell Oldenburg – W
73.67
9
-2
12.
Max Vohland – W
72.55
13
1
13.
Tom Vialle – E
72.07
12
-1
14.
Pierce Brown – W
68.64
19
5
15.
Enzo Lopes – W
67.83
17
2
16.
Chris Blose – E
67.43
15
-1
17.
Chance Hymas – E
67.10
16
-1
18.
Michael Mosiman – E
65.80
18
0
19.
Stilez Robertson – W
64.45
14
-5
20.
Phil Nicoletti – W
59.25
20
0
* The NBC Power Rankings assign 100 points to a Main event winner and 90 points for each Heat and Triple Crown win, (Triple Crown wins are included with heat wins below the rider’s name). The points decrement by a percentage equal to the number of riders in the field until the last place rider in each event receives five points. The Power Ranking is the average of these percentage points over the past 45 days for the 450 class and last 90 days for 250s (because of the split nature of their season).
