Jamie Whincup would relish a chance to battle Marcos Ambrose in next year's V8 Supercars championship - if the former champion decides to re-enter the fray.
A day after Ambrose declared he was calling time on his nine-year stint in NASCAR racing, the Sandown pit lane was abuzz with talk about his return to the sport.
Ambrose won two titles in 2003 and 2004, declaring on Sunday morning his intention to return to his home country.
"I just want to get my kids home to enjoy the Australian lifestyle so they can make a good choice when they grow up," Ambrose said.
"This is really a racing choice for me and I feel like the time is right for me to stop in the US.
The elephant in the room is the involvement of American racing giant Penske Racing, which could announce an entry into the Supercars field.
In Ambrose, they could have found their man.
Penske Racing boss Tim Cindric said as much in a couple of tweets.
"Lots of inquires about @Team_Penske @v8supercars plans after RPM announced @MarcosAmbrose is not back to the 9 car," one read.
"Plan to have a teleconference on Monday at 9pm EST (Tuesday 11am AEST) to give a @v8supercars update for the media."
Dick Johnson Racing could be a landing point for Penske and Ambrose, which Johnson himself struggled to hide.
"There has been a lot of speculation about things, we've been negotiating with Penske now for over 12 months," he said.
"You'll just have to wait and see what the wash-up is... it'd be great to see him back here."
The pairing of Penske and Ambrose would breathe new life into the championship.
And though the reigning three-time champ would be entitled to feel threatened, he instead said he'd be invigorated.
"I've got a lot of respect for the guy so it'd be exciting for me," he said.
Whincup said sarcastically his early efforts at keeping up with Ambrose were "a huge achievement".
"I was a bit of a rookie back when Marcos drove," he said.
"I remember following him back in 2003... for about three laps before he disappeared."
Garth Tander said the returning NASCAR driver would need to break out from the circuit driving of the American series.
"It's obviously great to have a driver the calibre of Marcos come back to the series if that's what's going to happen," Tander said.
"But I think the game's moved on a fair bit.
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