Cadillac F1, New Camaro Cup Car and Next-Gen Tech: Jim Campbell Outlines GM’s Racing Vision
From inside General Motors’ high-performance powertrain facility in Pontiac, Michigan, Jim Campbell, Vice President, Performance and Motorsports Commercial Operations, General Motors, joined Race Industry Week to share an in-depth look at GM’s expanding global motorsports footprint – highlighted by Cadillac’s upcoming entry into Formula 1, a new NASCAR Cup Camaro for 2026, and the advanced tools and talent driving development across every series.
Standing in the middle of GM’s racing “toy store” – surrounded by dynos, engineers and the newly released 2026 Chevrolet Performance parts catalog – Campbell described how the facility anchors both GM’s factory race programs and its performance parts business.
“This is where we do all of our high-performance and racing powertrain development,” Campbell said. “Not only for race programs like Corvette Z06 GT3.R and Cadillac in IMSA and FIA WEC, but also for our crate engines, transmissions, controllers, cams – the entire performance catalog. It’s one of our key centers of expertise for all things powertrain.”
Cadillac F1: A New American “Home Team” on the Global Stage
The centerpiece of the discussion was Cadillac’s forthcoming Formula 1 program – officially accepted earlier this year as the 11th team on the grid.
“Entering F1 has been about a three-year journey,” Campbell explained. “We submitted our expression of interest, were evaluated by the FIA and Formula One Management, and we’re very fortunate they accepted our entry as the 11th team. It’s the first time in a long time they’ve added a new entry.”
The Cadillac F1 effort is a joint venture with TWG Motorsports (Dan Towriss and Mark Walter), supported by GM leadership including CEO Mary Barra and President Mark Reuss. While the entry is new, the engineering effort has been underway for some time.
“We actually started engineering the race car before we were officially accepted,” Campbell said. “We were concerned that if we waited until the green light, we wouldn’t be ready. March 2025 to the first race in March 2026 is not a long time.”
A key advantage, Campbell noted, is the timing of the 2026 F1 rules reset:
“In 2026, all the competitors must re-engineer their race cars to a new rule set. That’s actually a great time to enter a series – when everyone else has to change as well. We know it’s a huge challenge, but we’re used to deep competition in every series we run.”
GM has established technical hubs in Warren, Michigan, and Charlotte, North Carolina, where Dr. Eric Warren leads a growing group of engineers dedicated to the Cadillac F1 project.
“When the F1 team needs an assignment done – a part design, an analysis, driver-in-the-loop work – they call Eric and the team in Charlotte,” Campbell said. “We’ve been running simulations almost every F1 weekend so we can rehearse what a race weekend looks like from every angle: strategy, communications between Charlotte, Silverstone, Fishers, Indiana, and the track itself.”
Campbell confirmed that star drivers Sergio “Checo” Pérez and Valtteri Bottas will lead the effort on track:
“These guys know what a fast F1 car should feel like. Next year is all about learning and accelerating our development cycles. That’s a big reason why we chose two veteran drivers – they’ll help us get up to speed faster.”
From Ferrari Power to Full Cadillac Works Team
Beyond the chassis and race operations, GM has made a major long-term commitment on the powertrain side.
“We’ve committed to create a Cadillac power unit for Formula 1,” Campbell announced. “That means Cadillac will be a full works team – we’ll have the team, the car, and our own power unit.”
To deliver that, GM has created a dedicated Cadillac performance power unit company in Charlotte, led by Russell Blenis, a long-time GM racing engine leader who previously ran the Pontiac facility Campbell was calling from.
“About a month ago we put the final beam on the new building in Charlotte,” Campbell said. “It’s a couple hundred thousand square feet, about 200 steps from our existing Charlotte Technical Center. That proximity will be huge for collaboration.”
The Cadillac power unit is targeted for the latter part of the decade. Until then, the team will compete as a Ferrari customer.
“In the meantime, we’ll debut with a Ferrari engine and then transition to the Cadillac power unit in due time,” Campbell explained. “It’s going to be exciting – and different from some of our competitors.”
NASCAR: Championships in 2025 and a New Camaro ZL1 for 2026
Campbell also highlighted GM’s success and evolution on the NASCAR side.
For 2025, Chevrolet captured both the NASCAR Cup Series Manufacturers’ Championship and the Drivers’ Championship with Kyle Larson, as well as the Xfinity Manufacturers’ Championship and the Xfinity Series drivers’ title with Jesse Love and Richard Childress Racing.
Looking ahead to 2026, GM has unveiled an updated Camaro ZL1 Cup car.
“We’re staying with the Camaro ZL1, but we’ve resubmitted the body based on the Carbon Performance Package that we sell to Camaro ZL1 owners,” Campbell said. “That package improves aerodynamic performance on the street car. NASCAR allowed us to resubmit, just as the other manufacturers have done with their new models.”
The changes bring both opportunity and workload.
“Any time you change parts, new tooling is created and NASCAR produces those parts to our approved gold surface,” Campbell noted. “We’ll have a lot of work to do with teams to make sure fitment is right and everything stays within spec. We’ve done it before, and we’ll be working very closely with our teams through that learning process.”
Shared Toolsets: CFD, AI and Simulation Across Every Series
With GM active in NASCAR, IndyCar, NHRA, IMSA (Cadillac & Corvette), FIA WEC, Australian Supercars, Best in the Desert, SCORE off-road and more, Campbell emphasized that the biggest common thread isn’t hardware – it’s toolsets.
“You often hear ‘tech transfer’ described as hardware going from racetrack to road car,” he said. “That’s real, but just as important is the transfer of tools and methods.”
Across all programs, GM relies on:
- Advanced CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics)
- AI-enhanced optimization to accelerate design and iteration
- High-fidelity simulation and driver-in-the-loop simulators
- Strategy tools to support pit wall decision-making
“These tools are used across every race series and then refined for production,” Campbell said. “There’s so little testing and practice time now; you must have strong simulation. We have three large driver-in-the-loop simulators – about the size of a garage – at our Charlotte Tech Center, and most of our teams either have their own rigs or come into ours.”
One critical piece: tire modeling.
“Tire modeling can be one of the biggest weaknesses of a simulator,” Campbell acknowledged. “We’re fortunate to have Kenny Francis leading tire modeling for all of our programs. He’s built a team of top-tier engineers and PhDs to push that work. The goal is high correlation between sim and track. When teams trust the correlation, they invest more time, learn faster, and roll off the truck in better shape.”
Racing as a Business Engine – and a Talent Accelerator
Beyond trophies and technology, Campbell stressed that racing must serve GM’s broader business.
“Racing is part of the heritage of Chevrolet and Cadillac, but it has to help drive the business,” he said. “Selling cars, trucks, parts and accessories is a key goal. Racing lifts the way people feel about our brands, and it gives us a platform to showcase products like our crate engines and performance catalog.”
It’s also a powerful training ground for people.
“The green flag drops every 7 to 14 days, whether you’re ready or not,” Campbell said. “When young engineers or business people come into racing, they sharpen their decision-making, problem-solving and sense of urgency. When we rotate them back into production roles, they’re better for it – and we’re better as a company.”
After years splitting his time between racing and product marketing, Campbell is now fully focused on motorsports.
“As of December 1, I’m back 100% on racing,” he said. “Week to week, we’re preparing with the teams for upcoming events, planning seasons ahead, and making sure we’re leveraging every series – from IndyCar to NHRA to F1 – to strengthen Chevrolet and Cadillac.”
Global Talent, Global Fans
Campbell also touched on the diversity of GM’s driver lineup and the response to the Cadillac F1 announcement.
“Look at the personalities we get to work with,” he said. “On NASCAR you’ve got a watermelon farmer like Ross Chastain, a Kiwi like Shane van Gisbergen, plus all of our American stars. In NHRA we have John Force Racing. In sports cars, guys like Antonio García have quietly become legends. And now we add Perez and Bottas on the F1 side.”
The reaction to the F1 driver announcement has been intense.
“When we announced Checo and Bottas in New York, the response was unbelievable,” Campbell recalled. “Then we went to Mexico City for a press conference with Checo – we didn’t really promote it to the public, but about 5,000 fans showed up and 500 cameras were there. The passion is off the charts.”
Charlotte, he added, has become a key hub for attracting world-class talent.
“Charlotte is a fantastic place to recruit from around the world,” he said. “People love the idea of living there and working across our motorsports programs – on-road and off-road – with a strong link back to GM’s production side.”
A Fitting Capstone to the Season
Campbell closed by thanking EPARTRADE and Race Industry Week organizers for creating a new end-of-season tradition.
“This has become a great way to put an exclamation point on the year and look ahead,” he said. “You guys started this back in 2020 or 2021, and it’s now part of how we wrap up the season.”
With most of GM’s 2025 campaigns concluded, Campbell noted there was still one more trip on his schedule:
“This weekend I’m heading to Abu Dhabi for the final F1 race,” he said. “I’ve never been there, so I’ll go learn a bit more about that part of the season and bring that knowledge back as we prepare for Cadillac’s own debut.”
