[MattR]

It's so on!!!!

http://www.speedtv.com/articles/nascar/nextel/34532/

Australian V8 Supercar Series veteran Marcos Ambrose, who raced in the Craftsman Truck Series this year, will compete in up to 10 NASCAR Nextel Cup events in 2007 under the Team Australia and Aussie Vineyards banner.

“Team Australia” program creator and Australian businessman Craig Gore has finalized a deal with Wood Brothers-JTG Racing which will see Team Australia/Aussie Vineyards branding on the back quarter panel of Ambrose's No. 59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford Fusion for all 35 rounds of next year's NASCAR Busch Series. Part of the agreement will also see a full Team Australia/Aussie Vineyards entry in a minimum of two, and up to 10, NASCAR Nextel Cup events.

Ambrose will campaign the full Team Australia/Aussie Vineyards entry in Nextel Cup road course events at Infineon Raceway at Sonoma, California on June 24 and at Watkins Glen on August 12. An extension of the two-race Nextel Cup program will be evaluated by Gore and Wood Brothers-JTG Racing and will be influenced by results and further involvement from Australian companies looking to increase their U.S. and global branding. Marketing plans have already been put in place which will see Aussie Vineyards wine packaged with bags of Kingsford Charcoal in outlets across the US.

“It is great that Craig (Gore) and his Team Australia/Aussie Vineyards program will not only be continuing with me as secondary sponsors on the No. 59 Kingsford Charcoal Ford next season, but that we will be flying the Team Australia colors in a minimum of two Nextel Cup events,” said Ambrose. “Our learning curve continues to be a steep one in the US and I am certainly looking forward to working with the team at Wood Brothers-JTG Racing and Craig Gore as we take the next step forward in my NASCAR career.

“There is no doubt that NASCAR has become the pinnacle of world motorsport and I am enjoying the journey.”

Ambrose joined the NASCAR ranks this season after a successful V8 Supercar career in Australia, where he won two championships for Ford. He had not driven an oval race before his Truck debut at Martinsville in April, but he finished the season with two third-place finishes (Kansas and Nashville) and a pole (Kentucky) in his Team Australia/Aussie Vineyards entry