Well here we stan...uh, sit in my case (hard to type when standing up)...less than four weeks until the season opener. While some things have changed (the name for starters), the majority of the Nationwide Series has stayed the same.

Pretty much all of the information I'm putting on here comes from Marcos Ambrose's webpage by the way.

One nice change is that this year will be the first (in three) that Ambrose won't have that yellow stripe on the back on his car except when he runs his Cup schedule signifying him as a rookie. His first day of testing at Daytona went pretty well as he ended up 17th in the afternoon session having picked up nearly two seconds from the morning where he was 36th.

Marcos also has a new Crew Chief this season; Walter Giles. While that name may not ring a bell with people, Giles was part of Martin Truex Jr's Cup team and joined the Wood Brothers at the end of 2007. Another couple of names to be recruited by Wood Brothers are Ken Douglas and Paul Forgie. Both were part of the SBR (Stone Brothers Racing) team that Marcos drove for in the V8 Supercars so I'm guessing he'll be happy to see a couple of familiar faces.

Will having Paul and Ken bring back Marcos' stunning V8 Supercar form?

The other main change comes from within as Wood Brothers have undergone a restructure and, while Ambrose will attempt to qualify for 12 races in the Sprint Series, an additional four races have been earmarked as part of the JTG Racing (where he'll use the #47 and be, effectively, the second Wood Brothers entry).

As I mentioned earlier, this will be Marcos' third season in the States and he has already impressed me hugely with his attitude and seems to have won over a few fans with his personality. Hopefully 2008 can bring him the one thing that he came rather close to achieving last August in Montreal; a win.