Marcos Ambrose ‘going fishing’ during Daytona 500

Marcos Ambrose puts NASCAR in his rear view mirror

Marcos Ambrose insists he won’t be watching on when NASCAR’s Sprint Cup Series fires back into life this weekend with its showpiece Daytona 500.

The Great American Race will break the Australian’s run of 184 consecutive starts in the Sprint Cup, stretching back to late 2008.

This year’s Daytona race comes just a week before Ambrose officially kicks off his new V8 Supercars venture with DJR Team Penske at the Clipsal 500 Adelaide.

Following a busy off-season relocating his family from the United States, Ambrose says he’ll be taking it easy when his former rivals are racing at Daytona on Monday morning (Australian time), but he won’t be in front of the TV.

“I’m going to go fishing and I’ll check the results at the end," the now Launceston, Tasmania-based Ambrose told Speedcafe.com of Daytona.

“It’s not that I don’t want to watch it, it’s just that I’ve got other things to look forward to and I’m really looking forward to my V8 Supercar season.

“I don’t have any regrets or ill feeling wishing that I was there competing in it. I’ve done quite a few Daytona 500s, they are always a great event.

“(But) I’ve got a really big week, next week. I’ve got a couple of days R&R so I just want to de-stress and not think too much about what is coming up.

“I wish my old team (Richard Petty Motorsport) the best and I wish my new team-mates (at Penske) the best, but I’ll probably just watch the highlights reel on YouTube." speedcafe