marcos-ambrose

Ambrose grew up in Launceston, Tasmania, the son of racing driver Ross Ambrose, who co-founded Formula Ford chassis manufacturer Van Diemen alongside Ralph Firman Sr. Marcos began karting at age ten, winning four Tasmanian state junior titles and the 1995 Australian karting championship in the Clubman Heavy class. He moved into Formula Ford in 1996, finishing second in the Australian championship in 1997.

In 1998 Ambrose relocated to Europe with Formula One aspirations, competing in British Formula Ford in 1998 and 1999 and winning the European Formula Ford Championship in 1999. He contested the French and British Formula Three championships in 2000 before financial constraints brought him back to Australia.

Ambrose signed with Stone Brothers Racing for 2001, driving a Ford Falcon. His debut was extraordinary: he qualified on pole at the Australian Grand Prix support race, becoming the first rookie since 1987 to take pole at Bathurst 1000. He won Rookie of the Year honours and finished eighth in the championship.

In 2002 he recorded his first race win at Phillip Island, ultimately finishing third in the championship. The 2003 season was dominant; Ambrose clinched the V8 Supercars drivers' title by 102 points and also won the Barry Sheene Medal. He successfully defended the championship in 2004, claiming three poles and five round wins including a record-breaking clean sweep at the final Eastern Creek round. His teammate Russell Ingall finished second, delivering Stone Brothers Racing a 1-2 result. Ambrose again won the Barry Sheene Medal that year.

The 2005 season turned on a controversial late-race collision with Greg Murphy at the Bathurst 1000 approaching The Cutting, which derailed his title challenge. He finished third in the championship behind Ingall and Craig Lowndes.

Ambrose announced in early 2005 that he would leave V8 Supercars for NASCAR. He made his Craftsman Truck Series debut on 1 April 2006 at Martinsville Speedway with Wood Brothers/JTG Racing, becoming a notable figure as the first prominent Australian in a NASCAR event since Dick Johnson in 1990.

He moved to the Nationwide Series in 2007, and made his Sprint Cup starts in 2008. At Watkins Glen, Ambrose emerged as arguably the dominant road course driver in NASCAR: he won the Nationwide race there in 2008, 2009, 2010, and 2014, and the Sprint Cup race there in 2011 and 2012, for a total of six victories at the circuit.

His Sprint Cup breakthrough came with Richard Petty Motorsports, which he joined from 2011. On 15 August 2011 he won the rain-delayed Sprint Cup race at Watkins Glen, passing Brad Keselowski and Kyle Busch in the closing laps for his first Cup Series victory. He repeated the feat in 2012, inheriting the lead on the final corner when Kyle Busch slid in oil, then holding off Brad Keselowski. During qualifying for the 2012 Quicken Loans 400 at Michigan, Ambrose posted the fastest qualifying speed in NASCAR in 25 years, winning pole at 203.241 mph, the third fastest pole speed in NASCAR history.

In 2013 Ambrose won the Watkins Glen pole with a lap of 128.241 mph, breaking the previous track record, but was tangled by Max Papis late in the race and finished 31st, ending his bid for three consecutive wins at the circuit. In 2014 a post-race confrontation with Casey Mears at Richmond, in which punches were thrown, resulted in Ambrose being fined $25,000.

He departed Richard Petty Motorsports after the 2014 season and returned to Australia, joining the newly formed DJR Team Penske in partnership with Roger Penske and Dick Johnson Racing for 2015. His V8 return was underwhelming; he stepped back from the full-time seat mid-season and did not return for 2016.

Ambrose was candid in interviews about his retirement, describing fatigue from his American campaign and a recognition that he was not the right driver for DJR Team Penske's transition phase. He later moved into a competition director role at Garry Rogers Motorsport.

In 2023 Ambrose made a brief racing return at the Bathurst 6 Hour as a co-driver alongside George Miedecke and Tim Brook in the No. 33 Ford Mustang, but retired after two hours when the car's 10-speed automatic transmission failed. That same year he was diagnosed with Stage IV colorectal cancer and underwent a liver transplant. At the 2025 Supercars End of Season awards, Ambrose was inducted into the Supercars Hall of Fame.

Ambrose is married to Sonja Ambrose and has two daughters, Adelaide and Tabitha. His father Ross Ambrose co-founded Van Diemen and is an Australian investor in Ford. Ambrose was awarded the Australian Sports Medal on 24 October 2000.