Team owner Charlie Schwerkolt is a highly successful businessman through his Waverley Forklifts empire, one of Australia’s largest independent forklift and transport companies, and has a long-held passion for motorsport. Team 18 was founded as Schwerkolt’s lifelong vision to build a championship-winning race team, underpinned by a strong culture for both the organisation and its partners.

Schwerkolt’s pursuit of success followed his involvement as a major shareholder at Dick Johnson Racing, which culminated in James Courtney’s 2010 Supercars Championship after a dramatic season finale at Homebush against powerhouse outfit Triple Eight.

Team 18 first entered the Supercars Championship as a customer operation in 2013, aligned initially with Ford Performance Racing and later Walkinshaw Racing. The team established itself as a standalone operation in 2016, setting up at the former Tasman Motorsport facility in Dandenong.

Lee Holdsworth continued with the team under the Preston Hire Racing banner, piloting an ex-Triple Eight Holden Commodore. That inaugural season was disrupted by a major accident at Darwin, which sidelined Holdsworth and resulted in the loss of the team’s original chassis.

In 2017, Team 18 relocated to its current Mount Waverley headquarters, adjacent to Schwerkolt’s national base for Waverley Forklifts.

Holdsworth and the team parted ways at the end of 2018, paving the way for a major rebuild in 2019. Team 18 recruited Phil Keed to lead its engineering program and secured Mark Winterbottom to drive the IRWIN Racing Holden Commodore, while strengthening its technical alignment with the factory Holden operation.

Schwerkolt expanded the operation to two cars in 2020, acquiring a second ex-Triple Eight Holden and signing Scott Pye to drive the DEWALT Racing entry. That season delivered a major milestone, with Pye scoring Team 18’s first Supercars podium at the Darwin Triple Crown, followed by two more podiums at the Darwin SuperSprint a week later.

The 2020 campaign concluded strongly, with Pye and Winterbottom finishing sixth and eighth respectively at the Bathurst 1000, and ninth and 10th in the championship standings in a year disrupted by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Team 18 continued to build in 2021, recording five top-five finishes as Winterbottom and Pye finished 10th and 15th in the championship.

The 2022 season delivered mixed results but showcased flashes of competitiveness. Winterbottom finished 10th in the championship with top-five finishes at Hidden Valley and Sandown, while Pye recorded nine top-ten results despite two major incidents at Perth and Darwin.

A significant new chapter began in 2023, as Team 18 built its first cars in-house under the new Gen3 regulations. Winterbottom and Pye continued as the driver pairing for a fourth consecutive season, with DEWALT backing the #18 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1 and Hino supporting the #20 entry. The season marked a historic breakthrough, with Winterbottom securing Team 18’s first-ever Supercars race win at Hidden Valley.

The arrival of David Reynolds in 2024 further strengthened the team, joining alongside TRADIE a major backer of the #20 Chevrolet. Despite flashes of front-running pace, including a fourth-place finish at the Australian Grand Prix, Reynolds’ season was defined by two major qualifying crashes at Bathurst and Adelaide. Winterbottom added podium finishes at the Grand Prix and Darwin before stepping away from full-time driving at the end of the year.

The 2025 season proved to be Team 18’s strongest year on record. Anton De Pasquale joined the squad and delivered the team’s highest-ever championship result, finishing eighth overall and progressing through to the inaugural Supercars Finals Series, before being eliminated at the Gold Coast.

De Pasquale’s season was highlighted by three podium finishes at Darwin, Townsville and Sandown. On the endurance front, David Reynolds paired with returning co-driver Lee Holdsworth to finish second at the Bathurst 1000, in one of the most dramatic and unpredictable finishes of the Great Race in recent memory.

Stability underpins Team 18’s push forward in 2026, with De Pasquale and Reynolds leading the charge once again. Behind the scenes, the team has taken on one of the most significant roles in its history.

The 2026 season will be Team 18’s first full year as Chevrolet Racing’s homologation partner, placing the squad at the centre of Chevrolet’s Supercars program. The role carries responsibility for the development, performance and ongoing refinement of the Chevrolet Camaro platform across all Chevrolet teams, marking a major step in Team 18’s evolution as both a competitive force and technical leader within the championship.