Marcos Ambrose and Robby Gordon held a joint press conference today at Robby Gordon Motorsports to formally announce their alliance for this weekend’s NASCAR Nextel Cup Series race at Watkins Glen International.
Ambrose will be aiming to make his NASCAR Nextel Cup debut in the #77 Camping World Ford Fusion for Robby Gordon Motorsports in the Centurion Boats at The Glen. The car will also carry signage from Ambrose's NASCAR Busch Series sponsor Kingsford Charcoal.
Ambrose will also maintain regular duties in the #59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion in the NASCAR Busch Series, where the Australian is currently eighth in the points standings.
Q:
Why did you take Robby’s phone call? A lot of guys involved in other incidents lately haven’t been doing that.
MA:
Well, I didn’t know his number before he called (laughter). In all seriousness, I’ve been down this road before and I’ve been mad at drivers. Afterwards I’ve regretted saying things I shouldn’t have said and regretted doing things I shouldn’t have done, so I guess I’m not a rookie in that sense. I’ve been challenging for championships and race wins before and bad things have happened, and I’d like to think I’ve got an element of learning from the past is what got me to this position today. I didn’t get on TV and blow up against Robby, even though I felt like I’d had a bit of miscarriage of justice on the race track, but I’m not gonna carry that across to Robby personally. I’m just gonna drive my car as fast as I can and just deal with it when I get out of the car. I would have taken Robby’s phone call. I was probably only half-an-hour from giving him a call myself just to try and clear the air because I don’t want baggage going into the following races. There’s no good in that for me or for my sponsors or the fans, really. So it’s great that he cleared the air and then three hours later he gave me a phone call back with a brainstorm idea and here we are.”
Q:
Was there any hesitation when he called with the offer?
MA:
Well, there were some issues to work out. Firstly, with the sponsor from the weekend – Kingsford, they had to be happy with it. Would my team allow it? We also have to consider the 21, which has to qualify in on time, so there was a balancing on what I was doing compared to potentially hurting the 21 and getting in the show. Those were things we had to work through, but I think we’ve got a great compromise. It’s a real thrill for me and a real opportunity for me to get into the Cup level with no points worries, no owner points worries, and the championship is not even in the equation here. It’s just about getting to the race track, having a good time and seeing if we can make the show.”
Q:
If you make the race and the 21 was like the first one out, would you have to step aside?
Let’s not go there until something like that happens. It’s not even worth thinking about really at this point. The 21 qualified great at Sonoma. It was in the top 10. If they repeat that performance on the road course this weekend, we’re not gonna have to worry about it.
Q:
A fan really came up with this idea?
RG:
Truly, a fan did come up with the idea and, like Marcos said, it was more of a peace offering. It was like, ‘Hey, do you want to run our car?’ We’ll figure out how to make it happen.’ It’s not just Marcos. His team had to accept my apology or make-good offer as well because we’re a small team here and we can’t obviously pit the thing, so his pit team, that really suffered from the consequences last weekend, is gonna get an opportunity to move up and pit the car in Cup as well. His crew chief is gonna get to call the race on Sunday. His crew is gonna pit the car. It’s a Robby Gordon Motorsports entry, but it’s really a joint venture between the two of us. I’m just trying to give him an opportunity to go out there and have some fun, and I’m confident. I’ve seen him race for a long time. I’ve followed his V8 Supercar career. Obviously I’m a fan and I’ve got a lot of respect for his driving ability.”
Q:
Did you think the offer was a joke at first?
![Marcos Ambrose - Kingsford Charcoal/Wood Bros Ford [pic credit: BAM media]](http://pix.crash.net/thumbs/292515.jpg)
