GM keen on 2026 Lowndes wildcard

General Motors would "very much like to see” Craig Lowndes in a Chevrolet wildcard in 2026.

GM recently confirmed Team 18 will take over from Triple Eight Race Engineering as the Chevrolet homologation team in Supercars.

In March, Lowndes announced he will not follow Triple Eight to Ford in 2026, and will remain in his role as a General Motors ambassador.

In 2026, Chevrolet will be represented by Team 18, Brad Jones Racing, PremiAir Racing, Erebus Motorsport and Matt Stone Racing.

There could yet be more change, with BJR and PremiAir weighing up their options amid Toyota’s search for a second team to join Walkinshaw Andretti United.

While there has been no confirmation on where Lowndes will race next, Team 18 could be in the driver’s seat.

Lowndes, a seven-time Bathurst winner, has led Triple Eight’s Supercheap Auto-backed wildcard since 2022.

Speaking upon the Team 18 news, GM's Chris Payne said it would be “logical” for Lowndes to land at one of the Chevrolet teams in 2026.

“We would very much like to see that happen,” said Payne when asked about the prospect of Lowndes in a Chevrolet wildcard.

“We’re not confirming that today. There’s more work to do in that space.

“We’ve re-contracted with Craig for the long term as an ambassador for our organisation, and it would be logical that he would partner with one of the Chevrolet teams.

“We’ve got to work our way through that, and we’ll have a subsequent announcement of that when the appropriate time is.”

Upon the announcement of his commitment to GM, Lowndes said in March: “To be honest, I have been in both camps over my career but really my alliance has been with GM.

“I started with GM when I first started in ’96 and for me it’s just really one of those manufacturers that I have really been able to grow with and really just embrace.”

Lowndes will share the Triple Eight wildcard with Super2 champion Zach Bates this year. He previously raced with Declan Fraser, Zane Goddard and Cooper Murray.