Ford squad RFK Racing dropped a significant hint that a deal was coming yesterday, before today officially confirming that Waters will drive its Stage 60 entry at the road course.

Stage 60 is the team’s part-time third entry which operates in a similar way to the Project 91 programme that handed Shane van Gisbergen his NASCAR debut last year.

This will be the second appearance for the Stage 60 entry this season and a third start in the NASCAR system for Waters off the back of his two Truck Series outings.

For Sonoma, Waters will line up alongside RFK regulars Brad Keselowski, who is also a part owner of the team, and Chris Buescher.

The Waters car will be backed by BuildSubmarines.com with a focus on the AUKUS national security pact between Australia, the US and the UK.

“This opportunity for me is a dream come true, and one that I do not take lightly given the global audience of NASCAR and the Cup Series,” said Waters.

“I’ve been fortunate to dip my toes into the NASCAR waters a bit this year and am excited to put my road-racing experience to the test this summer.

“It takes a village to make something like this come to fruition, so I especially want to thank the team at BuildSubmarines.com and AUKUS for giving me this opportunity to highlight the AUKUS security partnership, and for all the efforts at RFK to pull this off.”

Ford’s global motorsport boss Mark Rushbrook welcomed the collaboration between a Ford Supercars driver and a Ford NASCAR team.

“Cam has certainly logged his share of miles the last couple of months flying back and forth from Australia, but he’s done a great job familiarizing himself with NASCAR and working with David Ragan in our simulator,” said Rushbrook.

“It’s always exciting when we can have someone from another part of our global motorsports family compete in a different series and we feel this is a great opportunity for him to showcase his talent.

“We’re grateful to RFK for initiating this Stage 60 programme and we’re looking forward to Sonoma.”