After 16 years of driving Falcons, Mark Winterbottom has a contract in front of him to extend his stay with Ford into the Mustang era.
But the rumour doing laps of pit lane at Mount Panorama was that he could instead find himself in a Holden next year.
Charle Schwerkolt's Team 18 outfit is without a driver in 2019, and the suggestion is that Winterbottom is in the team's sights.
The bombshell move would be all the more explosive given the timing, with the Falcon moving into retirement at season's end.
Is Frosty seriously considering a defection?
"I don't buy into all the rumours, all the drama that goes on," he told AAP.
"It causes a tension that's not needed.
"We've come here to try and win the race in Falcon.
"Do it proud and send it off the way it should be."
Winterbottom suffered a tough day on the mountain on Friday, watching Dean Canto crash in practice before struggling to 19th place - missing the top ten shootout.
It's understood Winterbottom has been offered a deal to stay at Tickford, keeping him put with Tim Edwards' three other drivers - Chaz Mostert, Richie Stanaway and Cam Waters.
It does, however, involve a serious pay drop.
Winterbottom's last deal came after he claimed the 2015 championship, off the back of a Bathurst triumph in 2013.
His results, and those of Tickford, since then may not justify such a significant outlay.
In any case, Winterbottom said he was relaxed about the situation and would have an answer after the 1000-kilometre classic.
"Next week we'll deal with everything, we'll go through what we've got to go through," he said.
"Always something pops up, whether it's you or someone else. There's always a story. It's what our sport is about.
"But this race is the focus.
"I won't be distracted."
Tickford Racing team took the same approach as Winterbottom on Friday, issuing a statement celebrating the "tremendous and immensely successful partnership with Frosty over the last 13 seasons" and putting aside discussions for the meet.
"Following this weekend's event we will be meeting with Mark to finalise those discussions," the statement read.
"Our shared focus remains on winning this weekend's Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000, a feat we achieved together in 2013."
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