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Sandown and Bathurst surprises

As far as I know we will be racing on the new Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, in May next year.

Expect people like Russell Ingall and Greg Murphy to suddenly show up in the results.

Expect teams to throw caution to the wind in a desperate bid to snatch a victory. But with the points so tight for the top four cars, there is nothing unexpected about the battle between Triple 8 and FPR.

We'll be fighting door handle to door handle all the way to the end of the “grand final” in Sydney in December. I don't think I've ever seen the points so close at this time of the season going into the enduro rounds.

It's now a two-team and four-horse race, whereas it's usually just two or maybe three drivers in with a chance of a championship. It's going to be an exciting stage of the series as the long-distance races always throw in a mix of results.

Teams that haven't figured too high in the season so far will push hard with nothing lose. Russell Ingall has been on the verge of a podium over the past few rounds and he always does well at Bathurst so there's no doubt the Enforcer will be charging through the pack.

He had a fantastic race at Eastern Creek in the last round and I'm sure that's given him a lot of confidence. Greg Murphy is also back after surgery and he's always a threat at Bathurst where he's held the qualifying lap record since 2003.

There are a lot of other guys who come alive at this time of year and have no reason to hang up their helmets just yet. But make no mistake; FPR and our team will keep pushing hard. I don't usually look at the record books, but I've been told I'm on the verge of a couple of milestones.

One that is personally important is that I've got 99 podiums, which is just one off my mentor and hero, the late Peter Brock. In his honour I hope I can equal that record at Sandown next weekend (SEPT 14-16) and then go one better at Bathurst. I am also on the verge of equalling the record of 90 category wins by my old Bathurst teammate Mark Skaife. 

If it happen, it happens. Every record is there to be broken but I don't go out at every race thinking of those stats. I love this sport and hope to go on racing as long as I can. Then I'll sit back and reflect on what records I've achieved. In the meantime, the championship is so competitive these days even finishing second or third is a huge achievement.

As far as I know we will be racing on the new Circuit of the Americas in Austin, Texas, in May next year and I'm not surprised to hear they are trying to include some American drivers. It would be great to have Nascar racers participate as they have an enormous following in the States and it would cultivate some interest in our sport.

I think they'd be a bit disappointed with the horsepower in our cars, but they'd be pretty excited about the aero and the turning capabilities. It would be great to get them out of their comfort zones and prove they can actually turn right.