GM recently invited representatives from all four of its 2026 Supercars teams to the US to meet with management and engineering staff at its technical centre in Charlotte, North Carolina.
However, with teams having to pay their own way to the US, homologation squad Team 18 is the only outfit to commit to the trip.
Team principal Adrian Burgess, technical director Geoff Slater, performance engineer Som Sharma and race engineers Richard Hollway and Andrew Donnelly are all taking part.
They’ll not only visit the GM Tech Centre, but also take in the upcoming NASCAR event at Richmond and the IMSA round at Virginia International the following weekend.
“We’re going all in because for us as a homologation team, we want to start building some relationships inside GM,” Burgess told Speedcafe.
“We’re going to take the time to go and visit the NASCAR race then we’ll also go and have a look at the Cadillac and the Corvette at the IMSA round. So, a long trip, but worthwhile.”
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As for what Team 18 will get out of the sojourn, Burgess said it’s more about relationships and understanding capabilities than any immediate performance benefit.
“They’ve got an amazing facility with over 400 engineers, and it’ll just be interesting to go and pick their brains, as well as talk about what we do here,” he said.
“You know, in NASCAR, they obviously need some help on road courses and things, as Shane [van Gisbergen]’s showing them, so we imagine it being a two-way street.
“But it’ll be good just to start some relationships. You won’t come away with a bag full of silver bullets, but you’ve got to start the process and get to meet their guys.”
The USA trip is yet another sign of GM’s commitment to Supercars following news of Triple Eight’s decision to defect to the Blue Oval for 2026.
However, the fact only Team 18 is set to be represented casts some questions over the ‘Chevy Alliance’ concept that is meant to band all Bow-Tie squads together next season.
Matt Stone Racing, PremiAir Racing and Erebus Motorsport will continue to field Camaros next year, while Triple Eight and Brad Jones Racing depart to Ford and Toyota respectively.
“We are the factory team, so we have an obligation to do it, but it’d be stupid for us not to build those relationships,” said Burgess of the lack of representation from other teams.
“It’s a shame the other GM teams don’t see the value in coming but as for each team’s reason, I don’t know why they’re not going, that’s a question for them.
“For us, it’s an experience for our engineers to go and see it and see what the bigger family of GM has at its disposal. I think it’s a no-brainer to go and do it.
“Like I said, we won’t come home with silver bullets to plug into the car and win the next race by 10 seconds, because it doesn’t happen like that.”
Team 18 announced on Wednesday that it will field a wildcard in three events next season, with the Supercheap Auto-backed program featuring Craig Lowndes shifting across from Triple Eight.
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