{"id":358127,"date":"2026-04-01T06:39:11","date_gmt":"2026-04-01T06:39:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/358127\/"},"modified":"2026-04-01T06:39:11","modified_gmt":"2026-04-01T06:39:11","slug":"triple-eight-supercars-team-co-owner-earl-evans-drives-mustang","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/358127\/","title":{"rendered":"Triple Eight Supercars team co-owner Earl Evans drives Mustang"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" fetchpriority=\"high\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/T8-QR.jpg\" alt=\"Triple Eight co-owner cuts \u2018bloody special\u2019 Mustang laps\"\/><br \/>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\tTwo breeds of Mustang shared the track. Image: Supplied <\/p>\n<p>Shaw and Partners CEO Evans bought into Triple Eight in 2024 and has this year expanded his motorsport interests into a Mustang Cup entry for driver and friend Jack Perkins.<\/p>\n<p>After a troubled debut for the HMO-prepared car at Phillip Island last weekend, it was dispatched to Queensland for a Shaw and Partners corporate experience program.<\/p>\n<p>Members of the Shaw and Partners executive team from Asia, Australia and New Zealand spent time at Triple Eight HQ on Monday before yesterday\u2019s track time.<\/p>\n<p>Triple Eight\u2019s spare Gen3 Ford shared the track with the Mustang Cup car, while a fleet of seven Mustang Dark Horse road cars and a simulator were also in use at the facility.<\/p>\n<p><img fetchpriority=\"high\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1026209\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Mustang-Cup-car.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>The two Mustangs side-by-side in the QR garages. Image: Supplied<\/p>\n<p>All six of Triple Eight\u2019s drivers \u2013 Broc Feeney, Will Brown, Nick Percat, Scott Pye, Jackson Walls and Perkins \u2013 were among those on hand, but Gen3 ride duties were left to Whincup.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJamie must have cut 100 laps, it was a two and a half hour stint that he drove, which was awesome,\u201d Evans told Speedcafe.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI went out and did two sessions in my Mustang and we got a lot of the Triple Eight mechanics [and Shaw and Partners executives] to go for a drive in it too.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a lot of fun and something pretty bloody special to be honest with you.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1026212\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Earl-Evans.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>Earl Evans behind the wheel. Image: Supplied<\/p>\n<p>Evans is an enthusiastic motorsport fan and has previously had track day experience in a variety of cars including a Formula Ford, but said he has \u201czero\u201d interest in going racing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThat\u2019s out of my league, but for me, it was just great to have a drive,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI went out there the first time to sort of just settle into the car and then the second time, I gave it a little bit more of squirt and got a good feel for it.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Evans invested into Mustang Cup due in part to his friendship with Perkins, who will co-drive the Triple Eight-run Objective Racing entry in the Supercars Enduro Cup.<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1026210\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Evans-Perkins.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>Jack Perkins and Earl Evans. Image: Supplied<\/p>\n<p>It also coincided with Triple Eight\u2019s big switch to the Blue Oval this season.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cObviously the weekend was disappointing, but that\u2019s racing,\u201d said Evans of a Phillip Island Mustang Cup opener in which Perkins was blighted by mechanical trouble.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cJack has done an amazing job with the presentation of the car and the truck and whatnot. I\u2019m really thrilled with the whole thing.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey\u2019re on a winner with the series, they just need to tune a few things up a bit.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBut I think it\u2019ll follow what the series is around the rest of the world. It\u2019ll probably get up to that 24, 25 cars.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"size-full wp-image-1026208\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Shaw-Partners.jpg\" alt=\"Earl Evans\" width=\"1920\" height=\"1280\"  \/><\/p>\n<p>Evans with his Mustang Cup car and truck. Image: Supplied<\/p>\n<p>While Evans enjoyed sampling the Mustang, he got an even bigger kick out of giving Triple Eight staff the chance to get behind the wheel.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThey don\u2019t get the opportunity to jump in the car very often and they just got out absolutely frothing, which is really special,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe T8 guys are a very, very special bunch of people and it\u2019s just a very special organisation.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI know I might sound biased, but they are incredible. They\u2019re just a great bunch of guys and so professional at what they do.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Triple Eight is back at the circuit this morning for a Red Bull corporate program, while engine testing is set to take place with the Gen3 car in the afternoon.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Two breeds of Mustang shared the track. Image: Supplied Shaw and Partners CEO Evans bought into Triple Eight&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":358128,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[189078,29684,111,139,69,9335,213,21403],"class_list":{"0":"post-358127","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-earl-evans","9":"tag-mustang-cup-australia","10":"tag-new-zealand","11":"tag-newzealand","12":"tag-nz","13":"tag-slot2","14":"tag-sports","15":"tag-triple-eight"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=358127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/358127\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/358128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=358127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=358127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=358127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}