One-hit wonders: The best wildcard results in Supercars

Wildcards return to the Repco Supercars Championship grid at this weekend's Bosch Power Tools Perth Super 440, with Lochie Dalton set to appear in a third Tickford Mustang.

After making his Supercars debut last year at Sydney Motorsport Park, Dalton will begin an expanded wildcard campaign for Tickford in WA, with Rylan Gray stepping into the #5 for Darwin before the pair combine come enduro season.

It will be the second time a wildcard will feature on the grid in 2025, after Cameron Crick made his first solo start at the season opener in Sydney, whilst reigning Super2 champion Zach Bates is also expected to make a solo debut ahead of the enduros in the Triple Eight wildcard.

Whilst wildcards are primarily used to give young drivers experience in the Repco Supercars Championship, there have been several occasions where the additional entries have stunned and featured right at the pointy end.

Supercars.com takes a look at the seven times that a wildcard has finished inside the top 10 in a Repco Supercars Championship race.

5) Andy Priaulx/Mattias Ekström, 18th to 10th (Bathurst 2013)

Triple Eight entered the only wildcard effort for the Bathurst debut of the Gen2 regulations in 2013, and they weren't doing it by halves.

Three-time World Touring Car champion, and three-time Bathurst starter Andy Priaulx was joined by two-time DTM champion Mattias Ekström, and the duo impressed come Sunday.

Ludo Lacroix oversaw the effort of the #10 Commodore, and trimmed the car out to maximise straight line speed, with Ekström in particular winning praise for his efforts through the day, at one point leading the race before finishing 10th.

4) Thomas Randle, 17th to 9th (Darwin 2021)

Thomas Randle is now firmly established as one half of a strong combination with Cam Waters at Tickford Racing, and it was his 2021 wildcard efforts that announced him on the scene.

After debuting at The Bend in 2019, Randle returned to Tickford with several impressive runs in 2021, with a top 10 finish at Darwin one of those performances.

Avoiding a five-car pile-up on the opening lap at Turn 1, Randle leapt from 17th to ninth amidst the carnage, keeping his nose clean on a day several couldn't.

=3) Thomas Randle, 14th to 8th (The Bend 2021)

Darwin was déjà vu for Randle, who a few weeks earlier pulled off a similar Houdini move when a pile-up sent the field into a frenzy.

Cam Waters, Chaz Mostert and Tim Slade were all wiped out in a crazy moment, with Randle picking his way through two separate Lap 1 moments at both the entry and exit of Turn 6 hairpin.

Randle would finish in eighth, however it wouldn't be the last time a wildcard Tickford Mustang found itself at the pointy end of the field in Tailem Bend.

=3) Craig Lowndes/Declan Fraser, 16th to 8th (Bathurst 2022)

Having debuted their wildcard program with 2021 Super2 champion and a returning Russell Ingall in 2021, Supercars Hall of Fame member Craig Lowndes shifted across to the program the following year alongside Declan Fraser.

Lowndes qualified 16th in a wet qualifying session, but in an opening stanza of the race punctuated by several incidents with saturated verges, both Lowndes and Fraser kept their noses clean.

The #888 Commodore would finish an impressive eighth on a day where several fancied runners didn't see the chequered flag, whilst Fraser would clinch that year's Super2 crown in Adelaide.

2) Kurt Kostecki, 15th to 6th (Darwin 2021)

Tickford weren't the only team running a Darwin wildcard in 2021, with WAU running a third Commodore for West Aussie Kurt Kostecki.

Much like Randle, the WAU Commodore picked it's way through the opening lap chaos, with Kurt following home his brother Jake Kostecki's Matt Stone Racing entry just outside the top five.

That finish remains the elder Kostecki brother's best career finish in Supercars, and despite Jake and cousin Brodie Kostecki both becoming full-time Supercars drivers, Kurt would never break through into a full-time main game seat.

=1) Zak Best, 1st to 5th (The Bend 2022)

The benchmark when it comes to solo wildcard performances, Zak Best stunned the world in his Tickford Mustang at The Bend in 2022.

Featuring a blacked out livery with no sponsors, the Benalla product produced an incredible lap in qualifying for the opening race of the weekend to claim his first career pole position.

The then-20-year-old proved his one lap pace was no fluke as he led the first 10 laps ahead of reigning Supercars champion and 2022's dominant driver Shane van Gisbergen.

However, van Gisbergen would make his way by just before Best dived in for his pit stop, with the #78 Mustang crossing the finish line in a fine fifth.

=1) Craig Lowndes/Cooper Murray, 18th to 5th (Sandown 2024)

Best's marker was matched at last year's Penrite Oil Sandown 500, when rookie Cooper Murray teamed up with Craig Lowndes to storm through the field.

Qualifying a lowly 18th in tricky mixed conditions, the Triple Eight wildcard Camaro went on a tear, and found itself in fifth off the seventh and final Safety Car restart, with Murray amongst some of the superstars of the sport.

Murray had Matt Payne ahead of him, whilst Cam Waters, Chaz Mostert, and David Reynolds were all breathing down his neck, the Monster Mustang have escorted Murray off the track prior to the final Safety Car.

However, the 23-year-old held his own in the final five lap dash to the line, and secured a stunning top five finish in just his third career Supercars start.

Solo wildcard performances (2014-2025)

Marcos Ambrose: 20th, 21st, 16th (Homebush 2014)

James Golding: 16th, 25th (Winton 2017); 24th, 21st (Queensland Raceway 2017)

Jack Le Brocq: 19th, 22nd (Darwin 2017); 19th, DNF (Queensland Raceway 2017)

Shae Davies: 18th, 24th (Winton 2017); 25th, 22nd (Queensland Raceway 2017)

Macauley Jones: 20th, 23rd (Winton 2017); 24th, 24th (Darwin 2017); 27th, 24th (Darwin 2018); 25th, 19th (The Bend 2018)

Todd Hazelwood: 22nd, 18th (Queensland Raceway 2017)

Jack Smith: 23rd, 24th (Tasmania 2019); 24th, 21st (Winton 2019); 20th, 25th (Darwin 2019); 22nd, 26th (The Bend 2019)

Tim Blanchard: 21st, 18th (Perth 2019)

Thomas Randle: 17th, 17th (The Bend 2019); 17th, 8th, 15th (The Bend 2021); 9th, 25th, 11th (Darwin 2021); 22nd, 15th, 26th (Sydney 2021)

Kurt Kostecki: 25th, 23rd (Queensland Raceway 2018); 27th, DNF (The Bend 2018); 19th, 16th, 23rd (The Bend 2021); 6th, 23rd, 17th (Darwin 2021); 25th, 19th, 21st (Sydney 2021)

Jayden Ojeda: 17th, 22nd, 21st (Winton 2022); 17th, 23rd, DNF (Darwin 2022)

Jordan Boys: 25th, 25th, 24th (Winton 2022); 25th, 11th, 16th (The Bend 2022)

Zak Best: 21st, 21st, DNF (Darwin 2022); 5th, 19th, DNF (The Bend 2022)

Zane Goddard: 22nd, 21st, 24th (Darwin 2023)

Cooper Murray: 22nd, 25th (Darwin 2024)

Lochie Dalton: 22nd, 24th (Sydney 2024)

Cameron Crick: 25th, 18th, 24th (Sydney 2025)

Enduro wildcard performances (2009-2024)

David Sieders/Andrew Fisher: 20th (Phillip Island 2009); DNF (Bathurst 2009)

Brad Lowe/Damian Assaillit: 23rd (Phillip Island 2009); 22nd (Bathurst 2009)

Sam Walter/Taz Douglas: 24th (Phillip Island 2009); DNF (Bathurst 2009)

Ant Pederson/Damian Assaillit: 22nd (Phillip Island 2010); 26th (Bathurst 2010)

Geoff Emery/Marcus Zukanovic: 23rd (Phillip Island 2010); 24th (Bathurst 2010)

Grant Denyer/Cam Waters: DNF (Bathurst 2011)

Cam Waters/Jesse Dixon: 20th (Bathurst 2012)

Andy Priaulx/Mattias Ekström: 10th (Bathurst 2013)

Andre Heimgartner/Ant Pederson: 11th (Bathurst 2014)

Simona De Silvestro/Renee Gracie: 21st (Bathurst 2015); 14th (Bathurst 2016)

Aaren Russell/Drew Russell: 17th (Bathurst 2015)

Brodie Kostecki/Jake Kostecki DNF (Bathurst 2019); 18th, 16th (Gold Coast 2019); 16th (Sandown 2019)

James Hinchcliffe/Alexnader Rossi 18th (Bathurst 2019)

Tyler Everingham/Jayden Ojeda 19th (Bathurst 2020)

Broc Feeney/Russell Ingall DNF (Bathurst 2021)

Greg Murphy/Richie Stanaway 11th (Bathurst 2022)

Craig Lowndes/Declan Fraser 8th (Bathurst 2022)

Matt Chahda/Jaylyn Robotham 18th (Bathurst 2022)

Craig Lowndes/Zane Goddard 10th (Sandown 2023); 18th (Bathurst 2023)

Aaron Love/Jake Kostecki 24th (Sandown 2023); 19th (Bathurst 2023)

Simona De Silvestro/Kai Allen 20th (Bathurst 2023)

Craig Lowndes/Cooper Murray 5th (Sandown 2024); 14th (Bathurst 2024)

Matt Chahda/Brad Vaughan 19th (Sandown 2024); 25th (Bathurst 2024)

The 2025 Repco Supercars Championship continues at the Bosch Power Tools Perth Super 440 from June 6-8. Tickets for the event are on sale now.