Allen responds to championship question amid shock title charge

Kai Allen is just one weekend away from securing a dream opportunity to fight for his maiden Repco Supercars Championship on home turf in Adelaide.

The 20-year-old has emerged as a genuine frontrunner in the space of his sole full-time season, entering the Semi Final at the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 as the sixth seed, just behind reigning champion Will Brown.

Should Allen qualify as one of the final four at the bp Adelaide Grand Final in a fortnight's time, he would be guaranteed to claim the best rookie finish in the history of the Supercars Championship, the previous marker being Broc Feeney's sixth in 2022.

Irrespective of what happens in the final five races of the season at Sandown and Adelaide, it's been one of the most impressive rookie campaigns ever seen, with Allen currently sitting on five podiums for the season.

However, despite all of the hype and attention entering the Semi Final, the 2023 Super2 champion continues tio show a composed character that defies his years.

When Supercars.com asked if he could go all the way and claim an improbable championship win, Allen responded: "We'll see how we go. It would be absolutely unbelievable if we did, and I don't really expect it.

"But at the same time, we'll keep doing our thing. There's some seriously fast and seriously experienced guys in the seven, but at the same time we've got nothing to lose, they've got a lot to lose, so I'm just there to have fun and see how we go."

The biggest curveball could potentially come in the form of weather, with forecasts indicating a potential shower or two on Saturday, and an increase in shower activity on Sunday, with a chance of storms.

Should the heavens open, Allen teased that the racing could become just as wild and unpredictable as the epic Repco Bathurst 1000 held last month: "For sure, I think it's going to be just as exciting.

"There's a lot more at stake this weekend as well with the seven drivers, whereas at Bathurst there were only a few who were in it to win it.

"Now it's going to be really exciting. We can't forget about the other competitors as well that aren't in the seven, so they're going to be fast, cause some chaos.

"I'm sure when it rains it will change the whole scenario, so we're ready for it, we're excited. We're just keen to get out on track and do what we do best."

Both Allen and Bathurst-winning teammate Matt Payne shape as strong contenders this weekend, with Penrite Racing arguably the pick of the Fords over the last two runnings of the Sandown 500.

Indeed, Payne finished as the top Ford in each of the 500km enduros over the past two seasons. With Penrite Oil both the title partner of Grove Racing (inking an extension prior to Payne and Garth Tander's epic Bathurst win) and sponsoring this weekend's event, Allen is keen to put on a strong showing.

"It's obviously very exciting, Penrite's based not too far away from the track, and it's great to have the Dymond family and the whole Penrite crew here this weekend cheering us on.

"They've been quick at the enduro-style rounds here, so it's no different to 500k's, it's just one driver, so I'm sure the boys will tune her up.

"We've done a lot of work, they've learned a lot since last year as well, the boys have been good, and we've been in a good window, so we'll just keep chipping away.

"We need to find a bit more speed to catch some of the guys ahead this weekend, but I'm sure the Penrite Mustang will be super fast this weekend and hopefully we can execute well and have some good results."

On-track action at Sandown begins today with two 35-minute practice sessions at 1:30pm AEDT and 3:55pm AEDT.