Penrite Racing boss responds to Allen detractors

Penrite Racing owner Brenton Grove has responded to critics of his young charger Kai Allen, amid some doubting whether or not he is worthy of his place in the bp Adelaide Grand Final.

Allen, a rookie in this year's championship, has impressed mightily in his first season as a full-timer, being the only rookie to qualify for The Finals at the conclusion of the Repco Bathurst 1000.

Since then, the 20-year-old's trajectory has continued to shoot upwards, with both his average qualifying and average finish stats jumping forward markedly from the regular season to The Finals.

As others have crumbled under the pressure of the Finals Series, Allen has kept to his game plan, and raced his way out of the elimination zone at both the Gold Coast and Sandown.

Now, Allen finds himself in position to challenge for the most unlikely of championship wins, and potentially becoming the first rookie to win the championship since Craig Lowndes in 1996. That was some nine years before South Aussie Allen was even born.

However, some believe that Allen isn't as worthy of a Grand Final berth as some who have fallen by the wayside, such as Cam Waters, Brodie Kostecki, and even Penrite Racing teammate Matt Payne.

In the face of that criticism, Grove stood up for Allen yesterday: "I think people are probably making a call on Kai very early in his career."

"I think what he's done this year is pretty spectacular, and it's his first year of hopefully 20.

“Whether it's now or in the future, Kai's going to win, and he's going to win a championship. Whether it's this weekend or not remains to be seen.

"I think he's an impressive talent and he's doing exactly what he should be doing, and he's getting the credit that he should get for the performances he's putting in.”

Regardless of what happens over the three races, it's been an extraordinary campaign for Allen, who has notched up five podiums in his rookie campaign, helping Penrite Racing establish themselves as the second best team in pit lane.

Whilst his Grand Final qualification is a shock to some, it isn't the case for Grove: "We're really impressed with what Kai has done.

"For sure we thought his progression would probably be a little bit faster than what Matt's was when he started because the team is more developed, and we have gone through the process of bringing a rookie into the championship.

"I'd say Kai is probably where we thought he would be at this time of year, obviously he lost a lot of points earlier in the year, and thankfully the Finals Series has obviously shortened that.

"He's shown what he can do when he's on a level playing field in terms of experience, so I don't think it's a surprise,.

"It's cool as well from a team perspective that someone in their first year's been able to deliver at probably a better level than probably any rookie in 20 years."

Supercars return to the track on Friday morning for Practice 2 at 10:30am local/11:00am AEDT, followed by Boost Mobile Qualifying at 12:40pm local/1:10pm AEDT. Tickets for the event are on sale.