General Motors is weaponizing its NASCAR roster to answer Ford’s Adelaide challenge. A few weeks ago, GM was rather sour about Ford blocking one of its prospective debutants. So this time, they have decided to field a driver from their NASCAR roster in Adelaide for a wild-card V8 Supercars race. At first glance, it might seem like an open challenge to Ford, which attempted something similar last year.

Last year, Ford arranged for Austin Cindric to participate in the final race of the V8 Supercars at Adelaide. Cindric drove for Tickford Racing and was professional, but unfamiliarity left him a backmarker for the four days of running during the race weekend. Chevrolet’s road course roster outmatches Ford’s: a fact GM is ready to exploit.

And they were rather excited about fielding one of their stars in the V8 Supercars season finale.

“Absolutely,” GM Motorsports Supercars racing program manager Simon McNamara told V8 Sleuth. “I can tell you we’re very interested in bringing one of our NASCAR boys out for a wildcard.

“There are cars within the fold, and there are enough people around and different staff that I could get to do something with it as a team, GM style of thing, instead of one particular team, which is what we would ideally like to do.”

The timing of this announcement is interesting, to say the least. Australian Supercars series star Matt Payne was scheduled to race at Sonoma in an RCR Chevrolet. However, his team, Ford Grove Racing, blocked the driver’s move to make his Cup Series debut.

“Matt is contracted to Grove Racing until the end of the 2027 season, and during that period, he is not permitted to participate in any driving opportunity that conflicts with his contractual obligations to Grove Racing.

“Grove Racing takes its commercial and technical relationship with Ford Racing seriously and at no time would look to jeopardise that for a one off NASCAR drive with a competing manufacturer.” The team said in a statement.

GM is in contact with Supercars, requesting additional testing to ensure a flawless debut and, as such, is requesting more testing time for their prospective debutant. GM had already brought in one of their young guns to the Super2 series last year, where Jesse Love drove their Image Racing Holden in the Super2 finale.

Although a lot has happened since then. Love moved to Wood Brothers Racing’s Ford following his dissatisfaction with Richard Childress Racing. It essentially blocks off the possibility of him making a return to GM machinery, especially after Ford’s recent frustrations against GM trying to poach their V8 Supercars drivers.

But there is one driver who might become their perfect choice for the proposed debut weekend, without a lot of practice.

Connor Zilisch might get the call-up for a wild card

Shane van Gisbergen is the best road course driver in the entirety of the NASCAR series. However, bringing him back to the Supercars series will only be counterproductive for GM. Besides, SVG is already done with his Supercars career and would likely not want to return for a wildcard appearance.

Their next best bet is undoubtedly Connor Zilisch. Even though Trackhouse Racing has yet to prove its worth in the Cup Series, Zilisch’s resume has amazing accolades.

Zilisch is the road course expert who beat SVG in the NASCAR O’Reilly Auto Parts race and maintained a better average than him. Additionally, he has raced and won the IMSA 24 Hours of Daytona and 12 Hours of Sebring in 2024, with another podium finish this year in GM machinery.

Also, Zilisch has spent considerable time racing in the Trans-Am series and the Mazda MX-5 Cup during his grassroots years. These experiences and achievements make him the perfect candidate for GM’s aspirations.