Rising stars, NASCAR talent on General Motors' radar
New-look GM on expanding international motorsport strategy
Anton De Pasquale the only Camaro left in 2026 Finals
Key to General Motors' desire to be the "strongest" manufacturer in Supercars, is continuing to forge a pathway for talent to and from the United States and beyond.
Key to GM’s expanding international motorsport strategy is opening doors overseas for local drivers, while also opening doors for international drivers in the global GM family looking to race in Australia.
While Triple Eight's move to Ford was seen by many as a gut punch to GM, the General has made significant moves in the last 18 months to remain a formidable — and adaptable — force in the Australian racing scene.
Most recently, GM orchestrated a driver swap in Supercars that helped Jarrod Hughes, long a part of the GM family, rise to the main game, with Cooper Murray moving from Erebus Motorsport to PremiAir Racing.
“We want to be the strongest OEM,” GM Motorsports Supercars Racing Program Manager Simon McNamara told Supercars.com.
“We’re looking to get youth on the pathway, whether that’s taking a young driver over to the US, or bringing one over here. And that’s not just drivers, but engineers too, giving them opportunities and getting them experience.
“It’s about what we want to do in building a global motorsport program, beyond doing some global activities with GM drivers.”
Supercars and its teams have been keeping an eye on the NASCAR scene. Notably, Walkinshaw TWG Racing CEO Bruce Stewart went on a fact-finding mission earlier this year, linking up with Toyota Racing Development (TRD), which is Toyota’s in-house tuning and motorsport division.
Broc Feeney has also been linked to a series of Cup Series starts in 2027 with Ford team, RFK Racing, which ran Cam Waters in a 2024 Sonoma cameo.
McNamara shed light on GM's ongoing plan to get local stars into NASCAR machinery, while also chasing international talent to put them in Supercars.
The strong ties with General Motors’ technical operations in North Carolina have opened several doors, with Team 18 star Anton De Pasquale being evaluated earlier this year. Plans to get current Penrite Racing Ford driver Matt Payne, meanwhile, fell through.
Ford put Team Penske NASCAR Star Austin Cindric in a Tickford Mustang at last year's bp Adelaide Grand Final. McNamara explained that GM doing the same wouldn't be a response to that; rather, he wants the pathway to be genuinely demonstrated.
The late Kyle Busch, Kyle Larson and Chase Elliott have all been linked to Supercars drives, while plans for rising Cup Series star Connor Zilisch fell short for this year. Zilisch is regarded as one of GM's brightest young talents. and will join Hendrick Motorsports in 2028. Last year, Zilisch revealed he was keen to get into a Supercar.
McNamara insisted that getting a Cup star into a Supercar is a major commercial and logistical undertaking, but maintained that the desire is there on both sides of the Pacific.
“I can’t speak for the other OEMs, and it’s difficult to make it come together, commercially and with the car and team," McNamara said.
“We’ve had a lot of interest from NASCAR, people over there are talking about this series. There’s interest from a young driver in the Cup Series, we were working towards something for this year.
“There’s a strong working relationship, we want to give young blokes a go, we want to find the next Shane van Gisbergen."
