When supersub Murray found out about whirlwind debut

Cooper Murray is the talk of the town at the VAILO Adelaide 500, with the rising star called up by Erebus Motorsport to substitute for Jack Le Brocq.

The 23-year-old will take the reins of the #9 Erebus Chevrolet Camaro at this weekend's season finale, with Le Brocq travelling home to be with wife Mackenze as they await the birth of their first child.

Murray was already set to be trackside in Adelaide with Erebus, which signed the Melbourne-born driver to replace Brodie Kostecki for 2025.

Speaking on the broadcast on Friday morning, Erebus CEO Barry Ryan said the team motivated Le Brocq to prioritise the birth of his child, with Murray informed late on Thursday night.

"He was learning a bit about babies and pregnancy and he was like, 'How do we rush this along?', so when I gave him the call at about quarter to 10 last night, he was pretty excited," Ryan said.

"He's ready to go, I think he's been prepping this weekend no matter what... he's got the opportunity, so he's getting a seat fit up and he's ready to go, he's prepped as good as any driver can be, and we know he's got the talent, so we're not going to tell him to hold back.

"We're going to tell him to go out, have a go, and represent us well."

Speaking following the announcement, Murray wished the Le Brocqs well, and was excited to sink his teeth into his "unexpected" opportunity.

"I'm really excited, but first and foremost I want to wish Jack and Mackenzie a safe arrival of their little baby on the way, that's very exciting for them," Murray said.

"I'm going look after Car 9 for him this weekend and have some fun.

"Just get out there and get comfortable, I did three rides in this car at the ride day, so I'll just get comfortable with it and ergonomics, and there's a little bit of a different brake package with the master cylinders.

"It's all the little one percenters that I've got to get used to, and just use today and tomorrow's practice and execute on Sunday.

"I'll learn as much as I can for next year so we come out strong in Sydney, but it's going to be gruelling. 37 degrees tomorrow, 250km, all these other guys are match fit from 11 rounds prior to this, but that's what we train for."

Ryan insisted that Le Brocq had the team's full support, and that family came first.

"Two weeks ago Betty [Klimenko, team owner] predicted it, and she was saying to me this morning, 'I told you,'" Ryan added.

"We're a family team, and we want to support all of the guys in our team. If he was one of our mechanics he wouldn't be here, so Jack is no different.

"It's his first child, it's an experience you're never going to have again, but he can drive a race car all next year and hopefully for years to come.

"We pushed him to go home and he didn't want to, he didn't want to let us down but he hasn't let us down, and good luck to him and Kenz, and hopefully a little baby is born and maybe Erebus is a good middle name for a boy or a girl."

Murray has Gen3 experience under his belt courtesy of wildcard starts with Triple Eight Race Engineering, as a solo driver in Darwin and enduro runs at Sandown and Bathurst. On all three occasions, Murray put his stamp on the field, scoring a Shootout berth in Darwin and a top five at Sandown.

Ryan knows his driver can do the job, with Murray sampling an Erebus car at a recent ride day at Queensland Raceway.

"It's going to be a big session for him, but he'll get a bit of a race run and get his eye back in, he's been here a couple of times in Porsche and Super2, so he knows the track," Ryan said.

"Now it's just about learning the car and what the car might and might not do in qualifying, and that's what he's got to get his head around fast.

"He's now a professional race car driver, so that's what they're paid to do."

Supercars will return on Friday with Practice 2 at 1:05pm local time/1:35pm AEDT, followed by Boost Mobile Qualifying at 5:30pm/6:00pm AEDT.