The quirk to Adelaide 500's season finale era
Rookies have won the last two Adelaide 500s
Broc Feeney won in 2022, Matt Payne claimed 2023 win
WAU rookie Ryan Wood dominated 2023 Super2 round
If recent history is anything to go by, the three rookies on the Repco Supercars Championship grid have reason to target glory at the VAILO Adelaide 500.
Regarded as one of the toughest street circuit events in world motorsport, only 14 drivers can lay claim to being an Adelaide 500 champion.
Jamie Whincup is a record four-time winner, with Shane van Gisbergen claiming three wins. Fellow series champions Mark Skaife, Marcos Ambrose, Garth Tander, James Courtney and Scott McLaughlin are also two-time winners.
So, only the biggest and best names get it done in Adelaide, but since the event shifted to Grand Finale status in 2022, rookies have walked away with the prize.
In 2022, Broc Feeney ended his first season as a full-time driver in the series with victory on Sunday, holding out Chaz Mostert to win the first Supercars race in a Holden. Last year, then Penrite Racing rookie Matt Payne accomplished the same feat.
Both drivers, born in 2002, achieved the feat either side of their 21st birthdays. All told, the average age of the last two Adelaide 500 winners is 20 years and seven months.
There are three full-time rookies on the 2024 grid in Walkinshaw Andretti United's Ryan Wood, Brad Jones Racing's Jaxon Evans, and Blanchard Racing Team's Aaron Love.
Of the trio, Wood is already a winner in Adelaide, sweeping last year's Dunlop Series round with two poles and two wins.
Not one to shy away from a challenge, Wood finished sixth in the NTI Townsville 500 finale in July, and reached the Sunday Shootout at last month's Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500. While he was taken out at Turn 11 in both Gold Coast races, Wood proved he has the speed to commit at street circuits.
There will be at least two rookies on the 2025 grid, with Kai Allen joining Payne at Penrite Racing, and Cooper Murray replacing Brodie Kostecki at Erebus Motorsport.
Feeney and Will Brown will fight for the 2024 Repco Supercars Championship at the VAILO Adelaide 500 from November 14-17. Tickets for the event are on sale now.
