More than three decades after entering Australian touring car racing, Chris Smerdon begins a new chapter in 2026 with Matt Stone Racing and the #39 Chevrolet Camaro in the TA2 Muscle Car Series.
Chris joined the touring car ranks in 1992 after purchasing a Perkins Engineering-built VL Commodore. He later moved into a new Perkins-built VP Commodore, which was progressively updated through VR and VS specification as he became a familiar privateer presence throughout the 1990s.
Across that period Chris accumulated 43 Australian Touring Car Championship and V8 Supercars round starts between 1992 and 2000. His record also includes five Bathurst 1000 appearances, beginning in 1994 alongside Cameron McConville.
View the Supercars profile →After stepping away from the main championship to focus on business commitments, Chris returned through V8 Brutes and the third tier of Supercars competition.
Chris’s career spans several generations of Australian V8 touring cars and some of the category’s most recognisable machinery.
The ex-Bill O’Brien Everlast Commodore that began Chris’s touring-car journey.
A new Perkins-built VP that was updated as regulations and body specifications evolved.
The Falcon era included Chris’s 2008 V8 Touring Car Series championship.
Stone Brothers Racing-built machinery prepared by Matt Stone Racing.
Entered the Australian touring-car scene with a Perkins Engineering-built VL Commodore.
Made the first of five Bathurst 1000 starts, sharing with Cameron McConville.
Won the first V8 Touring Car Series championship in a Ford AU Falcon.
Became the first driver to contest 50 rounds in V8 Touring Car and Super3 history.
Joined Matt Stone Racing’s TA2 program in the #39 Chevrolet Camaro.
Chris made his TA2 series debut with Matt Stone Racing at the 2026 season opener at The Bend. The category combines high-powered V8 performance with tightly controlled specifications designed to produce close racing and place greater emphasis on driver ability and vehicle setup.
Chris’s association with the Stone family extends beyond his current TA2 campaign. In Super3 he raced Stone Brothers Racing-built Ford Falcons, including an FG Falcon prepared by Matt Stone Racing that had previously competed in the main Supercars championship.
The 2026 TA2 program continues that relationship, with Matt Stone Racing preparing the #39 Chevrolet Camaro and supporting Chris’s transition into the category.
Chris’s IRWIN-liveried FG Falcon was originally built and raced by Stone Brothers Racing. The chassis was driven in the main championship by Alex Davison during 2010 and 2011 and by Lee Holdsworth in 2012 before later entering Super3 competition.
Keep up with Chris, Matt Stone Racing and the #39 Chevrolet Camaro throughout the TA2 Muscle Car Series season.
