By alley - Sep 13, 2014, 11:41 AM ET

UPDATED: Ambrose set to leave Petty NASCAR team

Richard Petty Motorsports has now confirmed that Australian Marcos Ambrose will be leaving the team at the end of this season and return to his native country. The announcement followed a report by the Associaated Press saying that Ambrose had informed the RPM team of his decision to quit NASCAR.

Ambrose has been linked for some months with a return to the V8 Supercar Series in company with Penske Racing.

Penske team boss Tim Cindric acknowledged back in March

the team's interest in starting a program in the Australia-based series and in Ambrose, a two-time Supercars series champion. He then fanned mounting speculation that Ambrose could form a part of the team's V8 Supercar plans with a series of messages Saturday on Twitter.

"Lots of inquires about @Team_Penske @v8supercars plans after RPM announced @MarcosAmbrose is not back to the 9 car," he tweeted. "Plan to have a teleconference on Monday at 9pm EST to give a @v8supercars update for the media. No further comments. Focused on the Chase now."

"Marcos will always be a part of our extended racing family," Richard Petty said in a statement confirming Ambrose's imminent departure. "He came over to the United States with his family and dedicated his time here to giving it the best he had each week. I couldn't ask anything more from Marcos and his commitment on and off of the track to our race team and our partners."

Ambrose has raced the No. 9 DeWalt/Stanley Ford for RPM since 2011, and has scored two Sprint Cup wins and 44 top-10 finishes. He also has five victories in the NASCAR Nationwide Series. RPM said that it is yet to make a decision on a replacement for Ambrose.