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Ambrose, Penske partner for V8 Supercars team

Tasmanian native heads home to a series he's won twice

RELATED: Ambrose to leave Richard Petty Motorsports

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A day after Richard Petty Motorsports announced that Marcos Ambrose would leave the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series organization at season's end, Team Penske hired Ambrose to run a No. 17 Ford in his return to Australia's V8 Supercars Championship, beginning in 2015.

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Ambrose, the 2003 and 2004 V8 Supercars champion from Launceston, Tasmania, will return to his homeland as part of a partnership between Team Penske and Dick Johnson Racing, the longest-established motor racing team in Australia. DJR Team Penske will run Ford Falcons.

"Team Penske is excited to partner with Dick Johnson Racing to compete in the V8 Supercars Championship starting next season," Roger Penske said. "We believe in building our businesses through racing and our success on the track. With our new business ventures in Australia, it makes sense to showcase our brands through the V8 Supercars Championship and the opportunity to work with DJR and Marcos Ambrose convinced us to go forward."

Over the past nine seasons competing in the NASCAR Sprint Cup, Nationwide and Camping World Truck Series, Ambrose has earned seven wins and eight poles, including two Sprint Cup victories at Watkins Glen. From 2001 to 2005, he won 15 rounds in the V8 series, or 23 percent of the races run, and finished on the podium in 30 races, or 46 percent of the events.

"This is a great opportunity to return home to a place that I love in a Series where I've experienced a lot of success," Ambrose said. "It will be an honor to race for two motorsport legends in Roger Penske and Dick Johnson."

Johnson, who earned five Australian Touring Car Championships and the Bathurst 1000 three times before his retirement in 1999, is anxious to team with Penske.

"We are certainly looking forward to this new challenge," Johnson said. "I have always admired what Roger Penske has accomplished in business and with his racing teams, and it will be a thrill to work with Team Penske and Marcos in 2015."


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