NASCAR road race dates open for Ambrose

Marcos Ambrose will be free to race in both NASCAR Sprint Cup road races next season, should the V8 Supercars returnee muster the desire and opportunity to do so.

The 38-year-old downplayed the chances of driving at Sonoma and Watkins Glen in 2015 during Tuesday’s DJR Team Penske teleconference, but appears ideally placed to make future cameo appearances in NASCAR.

Next year sees Sonoma scheduled for the week following Hidden Valley in June, with Watkins Glen similarly spaced after August’s Queensland Raceway V8 Supercars event.

Sonoma remains unfinished business for Ambrose having failed to take a victory at the California venue in seven starts.

Conversely, the Tasmanian forged a reputation as a master of The Glen, winning two Sprint Cup and four Nationwide races at New York State facility.

Team Penske currently runs two full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup cars for Brad Keselowski and Joey Logano, but has this year added a third entry for Juan Pablo Montoya in races at Michigan and Indianapolis.

The 2014 season marked Montoya’s first year with Penske in IndyCar, which followed a seven-year full-time NASCAR career at Ganassi.

Roger Penske says that running Ambrose at any future NASCAR events would have to be looked at on a case-by-case basis.

“Obviously having someone in the organisation with the road course experience, I think it’s about sponsorship and having the equipment,” said Penske.

“We’ve run a two-car team in NASCAR for the last couple of years and have been successful.

“I think if there were reasons we wanted to run Marcos, whether it’s an oval or a road course race, we’d have to look at the schedule and make sure we have the proper funding to do it.

“I think that as far as he’s concerned, he’s made the decision to come with us in Australia and I think any other opportunities he’d have to really look at one at a time.”

Ambrose meanwhile brushed over any suggestion of a NASCAR return, preferring for now to keep the spotlight on his V8 Supercars efforts.

“I haven’t thought about doing a one-off drive in NASCAR and to be honest I’m really excited to announce this and looking forward to putting my full commitment to DJR Team Penske and V8 Supercars,” he said.

Ambrose is likely to get back behind the wheel of a V8 Supercar before Christmas and says he may also test other cars over the summer in order to readjust to handling right-hand-drive machinery on Australian circuits.