Penske not ruling out V8 Supercar car switch

Roger Penske is not ruling out a manufacturer change for the DJR Team Penske V8 Supercars team in the future, although he remains committed to current partner Ford for 2015.

Penske announced earlier this week that it had purchased a majority stake in Dick Johnson Racing to facilitate its entry into the V8 Supercars championship, with former double series champion Marcos Ambrose to return from NASCAR to lead the team's driver lineup.

Johnson's connection with Ford dates back to 1977, and during his time as driver he led the manufacturer's battle against arch-rivals Holden and the late Peter Brock. He won five Australian Touring Car Championship driver titles with Ford, and continued the association when he moved into team ownership.

Penske, meanwhile, has existing ties with Ford through his NASCAR program, and while he sees no reason to change camps in Australia now, he says that he is keeping an open mind about the future.

"Let's say this: I'm a businessman, and if we feel that moving from one OEM to another would enhance our chances to win, I'd take a good look at it, quite honestly," he said. "But we have a long-term relationship with Ford. They've been terrific with us here in NASCAR.

"We've shown them the results, and I think that it would have to be a pretty good deal before we would leave Ford."

For many years V8 Supercars was the sole domain of Ford and Holden, however the series has opened its doors to additional manufacturers in recent years and now also includes representation from Nissan, Volvo and Mercedes.