Broc Feeney, Matt Payne closing on Craig Lowndes marker
Feeney, Payne already multi-time winners before turning 23
Lowndes won 16 races before 23rd birthday in 1996
Rising stars Matt Payne and Broc Feeney are already multi-time winners in Supercars, yet are still among the youngest drivers on the grid.
Only two drivers, Kai Allen and Ryan Wood, are younger than 22-year-olds Payne and Feeney, who have both achieved plenty in Supercars despite their young age.
Penrite Racing driver Payne won two races at last weekend's ITM Taupō Super 440, becoming the youngest winner of the Jason Richards Memorial Trophy. Last month, Feeney won the opening race at the Grand Prix event in Melbourne.
Payne will turn 23 on October 3, just over a week before the Repco Bathurst 1000. Six days after Bathurst race day, on October 18, Feeney will turn 23.
Among the youngest to do it, Feeney and Payne are racing up the winners' list, all before their 23rd birthday. So, where does that put them in history?
Of 87 race winners, just 11 have won races before turning 23. Craig Lowndes tops the list, winning a staggering 16 races in his rookie championship campaign in 1996, all before his 22nd birthday.
Feeney will start 17 more races before he turns 23, and already has 13 wins to his name. There's every possibility Feeney could clear Lowndes, while Payne could also move up the order.
Scott McLaughlin will keep his youngest ever race winner record for now, with Kai Allen needing to win at the first three rounds to rewrite the history books. McLaughlin won at 19 in Pukekohe in 2013, and won seven more races before turning 23 midway through the 2016 season.
Kelly brothers Rick and Todd also nailed some impressive results before turning 23. Rick was a two-time Bathurst winner before his 22nd birthday, and is still the youngest ever Great Race winner.
Todd, meanwhile, won in Canberra as a 20-year-old, with that record taken away by McLaughlin. Then, Chaz Mostert won at Ipswich (2013) and Perth (2014) before turning 23 early in 2015.
In 2011, Shane van Gisbergen claimed the first two of his 80 wins with Stone Brothers Racing. Van Gisbergen turned 23 in May 2012.
Most ATCC/Supercars race wins before 23rd birthday
Correct to 2025 ITM Taupō Super 440
Driver | Wins before 23 |
---|---|
Craig Lowndes | 16 |
Broc Feeney | 13 |
Scott McLaughlin | 8 |
Rick Kelly | 5 |
Todd Kelly | 4 |
Matt Payne | 4 |
Shane van Gisbergen | 2 |
Glenn Seton | 2 |
Chaz Mostert | 2 |
Garth Tander | 1 |
Charlie O'Brien | 1 |