Matt Stone Racing recently upgraded to a DAF XG660 to haul its race cars around the country.
There wouldn’t be too many drivers who would finish a work shift and jump in a truck and consider it a reward for the day’s work. Then again, Donny MacGregor isn’t your average truck driver, nor does he work an average workday. As the man responsible for the official car transporter for Matt Stone Racing (MSR), Donny travels the country carrying precious cargo which would nominally be the star of the show. In this case the new DAF XG660, employed to move the million-dollar Chevy Camaros, gives them a run for their money.
Donny is also the pit crew’s official tyre and wheels technician. When he’s not moving about raceways across the country as part of the Supercars Championship Donny works as a most critical function of the team on race days. He checks, cleans and measures the tyres ahead of when the drivers come in for pitstops. Prior to this, when the tyres have been allocated to the team for each race, they mount them, mark them and have them pressured for the weekend of racing.
“The day on the track the engineers will tell us what pressures to run because every tyre is different,” says Donny.
“They might do three laps, or one lap or five laps so they are all pressured accordingly. After the wheels are on the car and they come back in we record what pressures they are and we have a bleed target that we have to let the wind out a little bit while they keep using the tyre, so the tyre is not over pressurising as it is getting hotter running around.”
At the end of the day Donny scrapes and measures all the tyres that have been used for what is called true depth wear. By measuring tread wear engineers can gain insights on each car’s performance and handling.
“You can tell if the tyres out the back are doing too much wearing and wheel spinning and not getting enough traction for one example,” says Donny.
“The engineers will get a hold of the car in that case. Or if the tyres are wearing too much on one side and not all the way across that’s a camber issue and they can stand up or lay the tyre down more.”
The objective is to limit how hot the tyre gets. If there’s only part of the tyre liable for most of the work, then it will soon overheat and degrade. Suddenly, according to Donny, the driver feels like he’s running around on water.
“He’s got no grip and the tyres are falling off the car, as they say,” he notes. “The tyres are nearly the most important part of the cars they are so even these days.”
For the final round of last season in Adelaide, Matt Stone Racing was given eleven sets of
tyres. In short, 44 tyres per car. That includes eight pre-marked tyres from the tyre bank used for practice. Everything taken to the track including any spares, engines, gearboxes, uprights, suspension kits, panels not to mention front and rear chassis clips, are all carried on the truck’s pair of trailers.
The ‘A’ trailer of the B-double has been extensively refurbished and compartmentalised. There are lofts which have been customised with shelving to accommodate several tubs and footlockers. The engines are stored underneath. Minutely organised particulars, to borrow from William Blake, are one pathway to triumph,
“Most of the team know if they’re looking for a certain part or component whereabouts on the trailers to go to get it,” says Donny.
The tyre job is not only in depth but labour intensive. Every wheel must be washed and every wheel nut, washer and clip removed for cleaning and inspection. Donny finds driving the DAF XG a place to decompress once the meet is over and he’s back on the road.
“Sometimes pulling into a truck stop everyone looks at you because you’re towing a Supercars transporter around,” recalls Donny. “They will notice it’s a new DAF, ask a few questions. Some of the Kenworth drivers will want to take a look and they’re always impressed by how good it is inside.”
The DAF XG doesn’t lack for creature comforts with two big fridges located under the bed, generous storage and a retractable steering wheel that rescinds over the dash which makes, according to Donny, climbing in and out much easier. Several other appointments standout for Donny who can be in the tropics or Tasmania depending on where the next race is. Integrated heating and air circulation enables for personalised climate control directly in the seat.
“Given the travel I do around the country whether you want a heated seat or a cooler seat is a nice touch for the driver,” he says. “It’s got ABS, EBS, cruise control and lane guidance so it keeps you at a safe distance from the vehicle in front. You can drive it all day and hop out and feel like you’ve hardly been anywhere.”
Another shrewd design feature inside the XG cab is the liftable bed.
“It’s fancy like a hospital bed because it can be used like a couch or recliner. Initially I didn’t get it until one of the guys pointed out that sometimes when you pull up stumps for the night in a truck rest area only to find your head is downhill,” says Donny.
“In Canberra, for instance, and that means you have to swap your head around, so your head is not downhill. With this bed you can just tilt your head up and make it level.”
As part of the PACCAR partnership, MSR have been running a DAF prime mover for the past four years. Previous to the XG they had an XF. In 2024 the team were given the opportunity to evaluate a DAF XG demo prime mover. Initially it was for one round of the Supercars Championship – Bathurst – before being extended to four meets at the end of the season. Donny went back to the DAF XF for the start of the 2025 season when, to coincide with the Melbourne Grand Prix weekend, he was surprised with a new XG replete in MSR Bendix racing stripes. As part of the predelivery PACCAR equipped the prime mover with extra roof lights, larger super single tyres on the front and a big bullbar which was recently put to the test late evening outside Cobar when the wildlife is out in force. The truck hit a big ‘Roo at approximately 80 km/h.
“There was a bang and I kept looking at my headlamps to make sure I hadn’t blown a light out and checked to make sure I wasn’t losing any fluid,” recalls Donny. “I stopped an hour or so later for fuel and I had a look at the front expecting to see the large amount of damage but there wasn’t any. In fact, the number plate was pristine. It’s a great bullbar.”
The team last season, and by inference the MSR DAF XG transporter, travelled to points far and wide. Darwin. Perth. Townsville. Following the Gold Coast race, Donny took the truck to Perth some 4,200 kilometres by road. Then from Perth the DAF XG travelled to Darwin through Port Hedland. After Darwin it ran to Townsville.
“We circumnavigated the continent to do two race meetings,” says Donny. “That was good driving on roads we’ve never driven on before.”
Donny sometimes travels in tandem with friend Wayne Cowper, who is responsible for the Shell V-Power Racing team’s prime mover. They will make a firepit at night at rest stops and cook up a healthy dinner. They can use generators from the trailer to power cooktops, toasters and portable ovens. This way they are self-sufficient and no longer dependent on truck stops for food.
The inline six-cylinder PX-15 diesel engine on the DAF XG660 features a single overhead camshaft. It produces a hefty 485 kilowatts. But does Donny need all that power?
“Oh, come on, we’re racing car drivers,” he jokes. “If we travel with other racing car teams we like to pass them on the hills.”
Motorsport teams, naturally, are all competitive even outside of the track. The drivers of the car transporters are no different, partaking in friendly banter and rivalry when on their cross-country trips. With the older XF, which is rated to 530 horsepower, it would cruise along happily but sometimes get passed uphill. Wayne would go by and Donny would think, ‘damn I just got passed by some Mustangs’. When he was given the gold demo DAF XG660 his fortunes soon changed.
“I passed him on the Toowoomba Range and thought to myself 'this is the life',” says Donny. “I already say to our racing car drivers I’ve passed the cars already on the way down so your job is pretty easy now.” Donny adds, “You can’t go any faster than what we’re regulated at but it’s nice to have some extra torque to climb a hill.”
Outside of Toowoomba, the highway is in poor condition, limiting speed in some places. In these sections of rough road, the DAF XG660 comes to the fore.
“It’s a nice ride even in those conditions,” says Donny. “The prime mover and cab sit on a nice suspension. The air seat is great. The DAFs are not a bad truck, but this thing is out of this world.”
MSR Founder Matt Stone, who previously worked for the renowned Stone Brothers Racing team, started his own venture in 2010, supported by both his father Jimmy and uncle Ross Stone. Donny originally worked in the panel department. When he heard the transporter driver was leaving, he applied for the job. Being from New Zealand, Donny always wanted to see more of Australia.
“What better way to cart some race cars around and look out the window,” he says. “As soon as I started driving, I thought this is the reward for working a normal week and going away for a few days and taking in the scenery.”
Article reproduced courtesy of Prime Mover Magazine (February 2026).
Writer: William Craske