Stanaway joins Supercars silly season as Grove exit looms

The Kiwi returned to Supercars in a full-time capacity this season with the Penrite-backed Ford squad on what was thought to be a one-plus-one deal.

The option for the second year sits on the Grove Racing side and Speedcafe understands it won’t be picked up, which means Stanaway is formally on the market.

That paves the way for Anton De Pasquale to join Grove Racing from Dick Johnson Racing, further fuelling speculation that Brodie Kostecki is heading to DJR for next season.

Stanaway’s impending exit follows a tough run of form in comparison to fellow Kiwi Matt Payne.

Stanaway did enjoy a very solid start to the season with a fourth in the opening race in Bathurst, however since then it’s Payne that’s had the edge on more occasions than not.

That has become particularly apparent in recent rounds with Payne banking four top four finishes in the last four races – including a victory in Townsville.

In the same stretch the well-credentialed Stanaway hasn’t finished higher than 14th.

At the same time he is the reigning Bathurst 1000 winner and could now factor in what is becoming a turbulent silly season.

Erebus Motorsport, DJR, PremiAir Racing and Team 18 all have drivers off-contract at the end of this season with at least three highly-expected to field updated line-ups next year.

Mark Winterbottom re-signing with Team 18 is the safest bet, with Kostecki set to exit Erebus, Tim Slade linked to a co-driver role at PremiAir, and De Pasquale now increasingly likely to head to Groves.