A lot of you guys have been wondering what I got up to when I flew to the US straight after my V8 Supercar victory at Oran Park. The rumours have been flying around, "What was he doing over there?";

"Is Marcos going to leave the V8 Supercar series and go and drive NASCAR?"

Well I thought it was about time I set the record straight. The trip was as much a holiday - you know, time out from the V8 Supercar series - as it was a business trip. I travelled with an old Tassie buddy of mine, Adam, who was also keen to check out the NASCAR experience.

I had come straight off a great round victory from Oran Park: mission accomplished, so to speak. A short Channel 10 gig for Bathurst and I was off from Sydney International, across the great blue Pacific to LA International. Enter the first hiccup. A late flight meant I missed my Charlotte connection. Waiting at airports has become a part time hobby for me. Luckily Adam had made an earlier flight and was waiting at Charlotte for me with our home away from home on wheels (although he took out all the trees). As I had learned earlier, you can't enjoy the NASCAR experience without the RV (recreational vehicle). We call them motorhomes back here. Travelling through places you're not familiar with in a motorhome means no late check-ins - you just pull up when you've had enough, stay as long as you want and you'll always have a comfortable place to lay your head.

The early part of the trip was spent visiting some NASCAR teams (Rousch, Hendricks and Evernhams). Part of this exercise was to learn as much as I could about the setup there - maybe I could bring back some ideas to improve our own racing scene.

NASCAR races around 36 or 38 times a year. Logistically this would prove a challenge to most V8 Supercar teams, but NASCAR can do it due to the enormous infrastructure. Each team has many chassis in varying stages of construction. They have two complete sets of everything, with one transporter and cargo heading to every second race while the other transporter is returning from the previous week's event.

The southern hospitality was fantastic at Woods Brothers Racing. At the Bristol 500 I was able to hang around with them and really get a feel for what it was all about. The Woods Brothers run one car in the Winston Cup series, their driver was Ricky Rudd . While they didn't know too much about V8 Supercar, they had seen some V8 action on the Pay TV motorsport channel. I get the feeling they could appreciate the level of public support we have down here. Passion for motorsport is a universal thing. Believe me, they live their motorsport careers as hard as anyone.

Time to head to the track. A small traffic infringement (and the chance to meet a real life State trooper), then on to the NASCAR Campsite, literally a mobile city. Bristol's usual population runs at about 8000 - for the NASCAR weekend the population swells to 175,000. Just how everybody fits in is still a mystery to me.

This Bristol race has become somewhat of a NASCAR showpiece and why not. It's hard to describe. The oval track is so steep, the grandstand rises the equivalent of 29 storeys and holds 160,000 screaming fans. A half-mile of thundering 700hp cars.

The weekend starts on Wednesday night with the Truck race. Not the sort of Trucks we know. This is the US form of ute racing, modified pickup trucks with about 650hp under the bonnet.

Friday night we were back for the Busch Series race. This series has become the feeder series for Winston Cup. These guys go as hard as their bigger NASCAR brothers over 300 laps.

Then on to the big one, the Winston Cup race - 500laps around a half-mile banked circuit in front of 160,000 spectators. As they say, "only in America". It was a great race. The "villain" from the previous race prevailed and was booed by some in the crowd as he stood on the car at race end.

So what were my initial thoughts on NASCAR, and would I give up V8 Supercars to drive one ?

It's big! No doubting that. But I have Championships to win here first. - Marcos