Ex-boss dismisses Ambrose V8 return

Marcos Ambrose's former boss doesn't believe the two-time V8 Supercar champion will return to Australia despite a decision to leave his NASCAR team at the end of the year.

The Tasmanian announced on Wednesday he will quit JTG Daugherty Racing, the team that gave Ambrose his start in American motorsport, at the end of this year's NASCAR Sprint Cup series.

He has suggested a return to Australia could be on the cards if he can't find a new team to race with in 2011, but Ambrose's former boss Ross Stone from Stone Brothers Racing reckons that scenario is unlikely.

"There's always a possibility but the reality is I don't reckon there's any chance," Stone, who hired Ambrose as a driver for his entire V8 Supercars career from 2001-05, told AAP.

Ambrose won the 2003 and 2004 titles for Stone Brothers Racing before heading over to try his luck in America's NASCAR series.

And Stone feels the 33-year-old will be loath to walk away from the US having yet to secure a Sprint Cup race win.

"I think he's established himself, he's got a little bit of unfinished business and I think he's ready to kick on there and finish off what he started really," Stone said.

"I'm sure he's got it all sussed out, what he's going to do."

Ambrose however refused to divulge any future plans in his statement on Wednesday, saying nothing has been decided.

"After five years, I personally felt it was time for a change," Ambrose said.

"I have no firm plans of what will come next for me and my career."

Rumours have already started to circulate in America, with Ambrose quickly linked with a drive at NASCAR legend Richard Petty's Ford team.

And while Ambrose has links with Ford from his time at Stone Brothers Racing, he strenuously denied the rumour.

"There is no sponsor swaps, there is no drive or ride confirmed for me for next year at this point. None of that is true," Ambrose told ESPN's NASCAR Now program.

"What is true today is that at the end of the 2010 season I am a free agent but we are really focused on right now finishing off 2010 with JTG the right way and trying to win some races."

Ambrose currently sits 27th in the driver points tally for the Sprint Cup series after 20 starts with the next race to be held at the Pocono Raceway in Pennsylvania on August 1.

- AAP