Aussie driver Marcos Ambrose

[buckaroo]

Not much chat here about Marcos and his pole sitting qualifying for the truck race and the fact that he led most laps. Good for him. My friend in Australia tells me that they have finally gotten a little more press down under about Marcos, but I sense it is only because of the two facts that I led off with. My friend Dirk tells me that there are now more of their drivers thinking about making the trek up north to try their hand at racing. For those of you who don't know much about the top racing series down there, they have two different manufacturers that race against each other, Ford and Holden (Chevrolet) and they race on road courses. Their season is much shorter with many less races and they are beginning to spread those races all over the area into other countries as well. Dirk tells me that the fan base is waning because of the lack of races and coverage and that is why some of the guys are thinking of trying NASCAR.

Marcos is a Ford driver and is a past champion down there and is said to be very aggressive. Having heard only bits and pieces of his coverage in the truck series, I've heard him talk about how he is just trying to get a good handle on the trucks and tracks before he really gives the guys some good competition. Because I don't have the Speed Channel, I haven't seen him race, but I've listened to MRN on occasion and they have said that it's only a matter of time before he wins. I suspect that when and if he does win, we just might see an influx of drivers coming up from down under.

 

[kat2220]

I respect him for what he's done, and expect a good future for him.

 

[Magnethead]

same here. He's done well, but then again, i guess him and boris are basically on the same route from road racing to full nascar schedules.

 

[buckaroo]

Mag, I think the big difference between Marcos and Boris is that Marcos has some big backing with Ford and the Wood Brothers. Boris, as good as he is, is getting up there in years, has to form his own team and get his own sponsors.

But you are right about one thing, those Aussie cars are very similar to those that Boris has driven for years in that they are fiberglass bodied cars.

Here's a Ford Falcon that Marcos drove... Notice the similarities to NASCAR's COF