Bryce Fullwood claimed BJR's first podium of 2025 in Race 11
Fullwood's podium came after massive fuel saving effort in dying laps
BJR announced 2026 Toyota deal in build up to Race 11
Bryce Fullwood has revealed just how close the #14 Brad Jones Racing Camaro was to running out of fuel in Race 11 of the Repco Supercars Championship in Tasmania.
Having started fifth on the grid for the opening race of the Snowy River Caravans Tasmania Super 440, Fullwood capitalised on an undercut and slow stops for Will Brown and Thomas Randle to move into second after the pit stop cycle.
However, BJR soon told Fullwood to fuel save for the final laps of the 50 lap opener, and Randle made his way by, having the benefit of newer tyres and no fuel saving.
However, as Brown and Cam Waters battled for fourth, that allowed Fullwood to manage his fuel to the finish, although the 2019 Super2 champion coughed exiting the final corner.
Fullwood, who also claimed third on Sunday in Tasmania last year, was surprised to find himself on the podium, as BJR capitalised on their strong pace shown this weekend.
"Well I didn't think I was going to get back to pit lane, I'm glad I don't have to drive it 50 metres to the garage," admitted Fullwood in PIRTEK Victory Lane.
"I had to fuel save for probably 15 or 20 laps there, and I was thinking, 'Why am I fuel saving? This isn't a fuel race.'
"They were asking me to hit some pretty impressive numbers on my dash to fuel save, and I had to lift everywhere. I'm amazed.
"I knew we did two tyres, and I thought, 'Ok maybe the other cars have done four tyres,' and then they kind of weren't catching much and I thought, 'We might be half alright here.' I did not expect that."
Having starred amidst a wild finale in Tasmania last year, Fullwood and BJR applied a simple mantra of 'if it ain't broken, don't fix it,' with Fullwood also admitting that no changes had been made year-on-year.
"Honestly, we just bolted the car in from last year, it is very much the same. The track is so tight here, it's just me making sure I do a really good job, and the car is capable," he said.
"All the qualifying's we did today, we didn't have a tow, and the car was fast. It's now just keeping on it, we've got a different tyre next, but this category is so competitive that if we don't keep moving forward we'll be left behind."
Whilst Fullwood was surprised to make the finish, he was less surprised that the team were rewarded for the efforts, having done plenty of work in the off-season to rediscover the pace they displayed in 2023.
"[It means] heaps. I feel like the team did a lot of hard work over the Christmas period, and I feel like the speed has been quite good this year, but we've had so much stuff go wrong that you can't control, just bad luck," he said.
"I felt coming out of Taupō that the car was fast, but we had nothing to show for it. I was really excited to come here this weekend and have a fast car, I didn't expect to get a trophy but I'm stoked with that."
Fullwood's return to the podium comes on a momentous day for Brad Jones' squad, who announced they would be shifting to Toyota in 2026 before the start of Race 11.
"I didn't really think about that, fortunately the announcement was happening right as I was getting into the race car, so I didn't really think about it too much," Fullwood said.
"Obviously it's really exciting, a really exciting time in Supercars as a category, and exciting opportunity for us at BJR. Toyota is a really cool brand, so I'm stoked. I'm really interested to see where it all goes, and hopefully I can be a part of it."
Race 12 of the 2025 Repco Supercars Championship begins at 3:55pm AEST.