Today, Marcos Ambrose tested his No. 47 Kroger Toyota Camry at the half-mile high-banked New Smyrna Speedway. In between test sessions, his crew chief Frank Kerr was interviewed by NASCAR Media Group and ESPN SportsCenter (Australia). During the interview process, Kerr divulged what his JTG Daugherty Racing team refers to his driver and why.

“Well, we call him ‘The Child’,” Kerr said. “He’s a teenager trapped in a 34-year-old body. He has so much energy, he bounces around like a kangaroo and he’s forgetful at times. He’s just like a kid and you have to harness him and get him pointed in the right direction. I tell you one thing though, he’s a great talent and I witnessed that each weekend last season.”

Ambrose knows Kerr pokes fun at him because he’s regularly misplacing things like his cellular phone or wallet, but at the end of the day he knows his crew chief understands him. 

“Yes, Frankie calls me ‘The Child’, because I’m a little forgetful, but he understands me and I know I can rely on him,” Ambrose said. “He does all the behind the scenes work and he guides me through all the pitfalls. I owe a lot to Frankie and he’s a good friend.”

All kidding aside, Ambrose is a fierce competitor. Last season, he proved to be increasingly versatile. In addition to his runner-up finish at Watkins Glen International and a third-place finish at Infineon Raceway, he finished fourth at Talladega Speedway and third at Bristol Motor Speedway.  All in all, he racked up four top-five, seven top-10 and 14 top-15 finishes en route to an 18th-place finish in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series championship standings.

Preparing for his second full-time season in the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series season, the Australian driver shared the track today with Max Papis, David Reutimann and Martin Truex Jr. It’s the first time Ambrose has been in a car in over two months. 

“I just want to dust off the cobwebs,” Ambrose said. “It’s good for me to get out there so I’m not rusty. I wanted to get in a car before we head to Daytona International Speedway because we will be going 200 mph the first day of practice. So, it’s good to climb into the Kroger Camry before we do that.  Also, we were able to apply some things that we’ve been wanting to try instead of just doing it by theory.”

According to Ambrose, his racing season kicks off today.

“My NASCAR season starts right now as I stand here in New Smyrna,” Ambrose said. “Our goals this year are to win a race and be in The Chase. They seem a bit lofty, but we think they are realistic. We’ve just got to have a strong start to the season and have good runs the first five races to set the tone for our year.”