Ambrose: 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 U.S. stock cars for Aussie tin-tops at the end of this season.

Ambrose, who won two V8 Supercars titles before moving to the U.S. to try NASCAR nine years ago, was confirmed Sunday night as the lead driver for the team being formed out of a partnership between Penske and long-standing V8 Supercar operation Dick Johnson Racing.

The move was motivated in part by his family, with Ambrose wanting to be closer to 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 he can in NASCAR.

"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 able to achieve what I came here to do, which was to win a championship, then I needed to look at my options. 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 V8 Supercars, 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 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. 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. 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 racecar."

Originally on Autosport.com