How De Pasquale is proving Team 18, GM right

Anton De Pasquale is quietly piecing together a campaign that could given General Motors fans a glimpse at 2026.

With the Repco Sprint Cup part of the season complete, the Team 18 recruit is the highest non-Triple Eight Chevrolet driver in standings.

Of drivers currently in the top 10, De Pasquale is the only one set to steer a Chevrolet next season. Broc Feeney and Will Brown will drive Fords, and Chaz Mostert, Andre Heimgartner and Ryan Wood steering Toyotas.

Replacing a driver of the ilk and following of Mark Winterbottom was always set to put De Pasquale to the sword, although four years at Dick Johnson Racing seem to have hardened the Victorian. Notably, De Pasquale's uncharacteristic aggression in Townsville caught the attention of GM legend Mark Skaife.

While a win remains elusive, De Pasquale currently sits on a race average of 10.21 this season, which is better than the previous best by a Team 18 driver — Winterbottom’s 10.81 in 2020.

It could have been far better had De Pasquale not been undone by poor pit stops in New Zealand, being taken out by Cooper Murray in Tasmania, and suffering car troubles late in the Perth finale.

Sitting seventh, De Pasquale is also on track to beat Team 18's previous drivers' championship finish of ninth, by Winterbottom in 2022, and Scott Pye in 2020.

David Reynolds was ranked 13th last season, with Triple Eight, Walkinshaw Andretti United, Tickford Racing, Penrite Racing, PremiAir Racing, Matt Stone Racing, Brad Jones Racing and DJR all getting drivers ahead of the highest placed Team 18 driver.

At current, De Pasquale has lifted Team 18 above PremiAir, MSR and BJR, and is only 110 points behind the driver who replaced him at DJR, Brodie Kostecki.

Crucially, with Team 18 scoring GM homologation team honours in the place of Triple Eight, De Pasquale could emerge as Chevrolet’s shining star next season. For all the noise around GM hunting a star driver, De Pasquale could be shaping up to be their man.

It could all prove moot should De Pasquale and rookie co-driver Harri Jones fumble the Ryco Enduro Cup. However, the 29-year-old is so proving Charlie Schwerkolt right in scoring his signature, and in turn, GM in signing Team 18.

At the time of the announcement last year, DJR boss Dr Ryan Story was adamant De Pasquale had an opportunity to "show everyone what he’s got” at Team 18.

So, what does the driver himself think on his decision, eight rounds in?

“It's all made sense and it's been the right decision for everybody,” De Pasquale told Supercars.com.

“At the same time, I think we could be a little bit higher too, given we had a couple bad rounds. But of late, we've sort of cleaned a lot of that stuff up on track and in pit lane, and we’ve found consistency as well.

"I feel like we've got a pretty good handle on it and everyone's getting on really well. We’re all happy, but not fully satisfied yet. We want to be a lot better and we still have to be better into next year.

"Obviously we've got big responsibility with more GM responsibility as well moving forward. We've created a good base. It’s been a good sort of first part of our journey.

“To answer your question, yes, I think the decision's been a great one, and it's worked out really well.”

De Pasquale will chase his first endurance race win alongside Porsche star Jones at the AirTouch 500 at The Bend on September 12-14.