The quiet intensity behind emotional Jason Richards Trophy fairytales
Andrew Edwards knows better than most what the Jason Richards Trophy means. He engineered two victories.
First awarded in 2013, the Jason Richards Trophy was named after the late Kiwi, who raced full-time in Supercars and was a three-time Bathurst 1000 runner-up.
Richards passed away in late 2011 after a battle with cancer, but left a lasting legacy on a sport he loved dearly, and a sport that loved him back.
Emotions run high when Supercars return to New Zealand each year, and in 2026, drivers and teams have two rounds to make a statement.
Supercars drivers will fight for the trophy across the Taupō and Christchurch rounds, which form the inaugural ITM NZ Double Header.
For Triple Eight Race Engineer Edwards, there’s much more at stake, as he explained to Supercars.com.
The back story
Jason Richards was born on April 10 in 1976, and died on December 15 in 2011. In his 35 years, the popular left a lasting impression on those he met, and those he raced with. The quietly-spoken unassuming Edwards was one of those fortunate people.
Before joining Triple Eight in 2022, Edwards was part of the Brad Jones Racing family for nearly 20 years. In that time, Edwards and Richards formed a strong bond, and the former was tasked with winning the first JR Trophy alongside Jason Bright in 2013.
“It was a big deal for our team. JR was one of us and we went through his difficulties together,” Edwards said.
“The announcement of that trophy meant a lot to our team, and I knew having a chance to go and win it would be an amazing way to honour him in a way."
When Supercars arrived in New Zealand in 2013, Bright was transformed. There was no greater mission than honouring a mate, and it was one Edwards also took seriously.
“Intensity is my default, but the intensity that I felt from Brighty that weekend was almost like nothing I'd experienced from him before."
"He was just locked in..."
Bright's emotional victory in 2013 is the stuff of Supercars folklore. He passed Jamie Whincup, of all people, to win the race. On the other side was Edwards, who delivered a monster of a car for Bright.
However, the driver still needed to do the driving — and that's what Bright did.
“I remember clearly, Brighty’s pole lap. He just braked deeper than at any other point in the weekend by some large distance and it somehow stuck,” Edwards said.
“It did feel like there were some incredible things happening, and we felt we were rising to the occasion. With the new car, we were quite fast out of the box, but it was still tough competition. He passed Jamie for the win.
“There was a lot of pressure. We were going for this trophy that means so much to us emotionally. People talk about Bathurst and championships. This has the same feeling for me personally, but you're not thinking about it in the moment.
“You’re just focusing on what can we do, shutting out the noise and trying to execute. I remember sitting on the grid and with Jason and I was not letting anyone approach the car. Brighty was just sitting in there. He was just locked in.
“When racing's like that, when he’s like that, you feel there's so much at stake."
Matt White said it best in commentary as Bright crossed the line: "Sometimes, it is about so much more than winning."
At least White could speak: Edwards was choked up, and the emotions kept flowing as Bright was joined on the podium by Richards' family.
"I don't think I spoke over the radio. I think we were all dealing with it in our own ways at that point,” Edwards said.
"To win the first one with him and the team was something that you can't script. It was a great day, but a very emotional day for everyone in the team.
“It 's hard to say anything else. To see Brighty on the podium with Charlotte [Richards' wife] and JR's family was something that I’ll never forget.
“It’s up there with the best sporting memories and general memories I've had in my whole life.”
The weight of expectation
Heading to Pukekohe in 2022, the stage was set for another fairytale. The famous little Auckland circuit was set for its last hurrah in Supercars, and Shane van Gisbergen was a heavy favourite.
Therein lied the pressure: van Gisbergen and engineer Edwards had to win it. They had to win it for themselves, and legions of Kiwi fans hoping for another SVG masterclass.
On the back of 16 wins in 26 starts, van Gisbergen looked unbeatable heading to Pukekohe. Then, the narrative turned on its head: van Gisbergen struggled in qualifying, and was only fifth on Saturday. Immediately, Edwards thought the fairytale was too far from reach.
That was, until, some van Gisbergen magic on Sunday.
“The 2022 story is totally different to the 2013 story,” Edwards said.
“In '22, we weren't very good there and we were having a struggle, certainly early in the weekend. The race pace was okay, but qualifying, we just weren't good enough to win it.
"By Saturday night, I thought we didn't have a shot to win it. But Shane came out Sunday morning and put it on pole. We were both a bit shocked with that, but we then qualified eighth for the last race, so we came back to earth.
“Even though Shane won that race on Sunday, we still had to make up quite a lot to win the last race from eighth.”
"He's an animal..."
On points, van Gisbergen was in the box seat to win the trophy heading into the finale. However, starting eighth, van Gisbergen had it all to do, and when Saturday winner Will Davison streaked away early, it didn't look good.
That wasn't the van Gisbergen way. He picked off car after car, and after Davison dropped out with a botched pit stop, Cam Waters emerged as the final hurdle.
The battle was on. Van Gisbergen tried and failed once, Waters closing the door into the fast final corner. Van Gisbergen fumed over team radio, so it was down to Edwards to bring calm.
In a matter of minutes, van Gisbergen burgled Waters at the same corner, and raced to one of the most famous Supercars victories of all time.
“In typical Shane fashion, he was a beast. He found the pace, he ran long, and that that fight with Waters... man, that was epic,” Edwards said.
“We didn't need to win that race to win the JR Trophy, so leading into the race, that I was trying to communicate. But that’s not Shane. He’s an animal. He went for the win, so there wasn’t much I could do.
"I remember in the moment, when Cam and Shane clashed, I said something like, 'yep, we saw it, take a deep breath, let’s go again’. That corner is sketchy, it could’ve been really bad.
“But it's high stakes, you know? Shane and I wanted it so bad. We'd had such a hard weekend, we wanted that JR Trophy, but that win is important too.”
Van Gisbergen and Edwards both fought back tears on the cool down lap, so much so that Edwards had to catch himself in the garage before celebrating with his driver, who wowed the raucous crowd with brilliant burnouts.
“It was similar to the Brighty conversation — there weren’t many words,” Edwards said.
“We were both pretty emotional. I had to have a moment in the garage before I actually went out and saw Shane on the grid.
"I just knew how much that race meant to him. Last one at Pukekohe, a home race for him, he grew up watching races there. Then, there’s Shane's connection with Jason and my connection with Jason. There was a lot at stake.
“2022 is the one that sticks out more in my memory. I don't know if it's because it's more recent, or it meant more after time. But if you only have that one memory in life, that one sporting moment that happens, ‘22 had everything for me.”
Chasing more history
Already a winner at Taupō with Will Brown, Edwards would love nothing more than to win again.
Brown has had a tough time of late, but a drought-breaking pole in Melbourne produced such emotion from the 2024 Supercars champion, that you'd think he won Bathurst.
Winning the JR Trophy with three different drivers would put Edwards in rarefied air. Edwards won a championship with van Gisbergen and two Bathursts, but a breakthrough with Brown would arguably come against the toughest scrutiny.
"I don’t want to put pressure on either of us, to be honest. I just want to work through the process, and that’s what we’re doing,” Edwards said.
“If we are good enough, we can win. And I do think we're good enough to win. Now, the results in the last 12 months might not suggest that we're favourites, but we've shown before that our race cars are very good.
“It's just getting it right in qualifying, and I’m seeing more evidence that that's happening lately now.”
Remembering JR
All told, the memory of Richards is what keeps Edwards' fire burning each time he returns to New Zealand.
Edwards has done it all in Supercars. For all of his successes, the Jason Richards Trophy remains the pinnacle.
Armed with the memories of 2013, 2022 and Richards, Edwards wants nothing more than to savour that feeling one more time.
“Personally, the JR Trophy means more to me than Bathurst, more than the championship,” Edwards said.
“It has a more emotional connection to me than those other two. Now the other ones are important to me, don't get me wrong. It's just this one has a different connection.
“It's just a way to honour Jason's memory, and that means a lot to me. There hasn't been someone like Jason. He was so unique.
“It’s not about him being the greatest driver ever. It's really about him as a personality, and how he managed what he went through in the end. The way he did it was absolutely inspiring.
"I hope people can look at this trophy and take some inspiration from that, and remember him."
