The kangaroo close call that nearly ended Allen's Finals hopes
Kangaroo close call nearly ended Kai Allen's Finals hopes, Bathurst run
Penrite Racing rookie qualified for Finals despite multitude of incidents
Allen narrowly missed kangaroo on Conrod Straight in closing laps
Kai Allen's first Repco Bathurst 1000 as a full-timer was certainly one of the more eventful days anyone has ever had at Mount Panorama, and he was a whisker away from the most dramatic headline of all.
Allen and co-driver Dale Wood scrambled to eighth in a remarkable race won by the sister Matt Payne/Garth Tander Ford Mustang.
Wood started way back in 22nd as both Penrite Fords missed the mark in qualifying. As rain fell, Allen was punted off the road by Brodie Kostecki, Will Brown, and Jack Le Brocq, all of whom received penalties.
The young gun had to fight his way inside the bubble, with Andre Heimgartner holding down the last Finals spot until the very last lap, helping Allen progress.
The 2023 Dunlop Super2 Series champion was hampered in a straight line for the remainder of the day, with his rear bodywork effectively creating a parachute on both Mountain and Conrod Straight.
However, it was on the latter where the #26 Mustang nearly met it's demise at speeds well in excess of 200 km/h. Flying down Conrod with five laps remaining, Allen narrowly avoided a kangaroo, which safely continued on its merry way.
"Gee, what a race," a shocked Allen said on the broadcast post-race.
"It was obviously pretty full on, a dry start, it looked unreal the weather this morning. If you'd have said it would have rained towards the end of the day, you would've said absolutely no.
"We just got through the start there, chipped away, and then the weather come in and we just had to stay on track.
"I had a bit of a target on my back today, the car is absolutely destroyed, but we just didn't give up, kept fighting.
"The only thing that I didn't hit was a little kangaroo that blew straight past the front of my car at 250 down Conrod, and I just missed it. I owe him a beer, otherwise it would've been race over."
As teammate Payne surged to one of the most remarkable Bathurst wins alongside Tander, Allen continued to punch on as he did everything to maintain his top 10 berth.
Ultimately it boiled down the dying laps, with Allen entering a late race duel with fellow rookie and former Super2 sparring partner Aaron Cameron.
The pair swapped positions twice in the final laps of the race, with Allen ultimately prevailing to finish eighth. When Heimgartner was beaten to sixth on the final lap by Broc Feeney, it ensured Allen's rookie campaign would end with a chance at a surprise Repco Supercars Championship win.
"Unbelievable, if you said to me I'd be in the 10 at the start of the year, I'd tell you you're dreaming," the 20-year-old continued.
"We just kept chipping away, got all the basics right, and to get into the 10 is unreal.
"We just press on with the rest of the year now, we've got nothing to lose, so it's full steam ahead and we'll see what we can do in The Finals.
"A lot of people crashed in front of me, and I just kept chipping away, I had to pass I think it was one of the cars on the last lap. Two laps to go I passed him, and then I lost a spot because I made a mistake, and then I passed him back.
"Moral of the story is we didn't stop fighting, and we got the result that we needed."
