Kai Allen was eliminated from 2026 Finals on the Gold Coast
Allen dropped from fifth to eighth in points across weekend
Matt Payne, Penrite Racing still lead both championships
Kai Allen has delivered an awkward ultimatum as Penrite Racing fight to secure both drivers and teams' championships in the Repco Supercars Finals Series.
Allen was the shock elimination from the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500, an alternator failure on Saturday putting him well behind the eight ball, and a P22 qualifying effort on Sunday the final nail.
It was a disappointing and sudden end to what had been a promising campaign, winning two races through the opening half of the season as Penrite Racing emerged as the benchmark team in Supercars.
However, a form slump couldn't have come at a worse time, with Allen being struck down by reliability woes at Bathurst (brake duct) and the Gold Coast, seeing him tumble out from fifth seed, ensuring no repeats of his 2025 Grand Final heroics.
When asked if he had any more miracles left for the season, Allen wryly replied: "I must've used them all up last year.
"It's a bit of a shame, it's very hard when we had a tough day yesterday. Just lost a lot of points since Bathurst.
"Gotta work out as a team how do we improve, and our main focus as a team now is to make sure Matt [Payne] wins the championship and we'll grab the teams' championship.
"I'll reset pretty quickly, and then just go on to next year."
Attention for Allen and Penrite Racing now turns to ensuring championship leader Payne can secure his first championship, Payne having literally crashed out of Finals at Sandown last year.
Allen even went so far to declare that he is willing to become something of a guinea pig for the #19 Ford in order to boost Payne's chances: "Yeah for sure, that's our main focus now.
"It's a shame that I've been knocked out this early, because it's normally you try and get what Matt did with me at Adelaide last year, but for me now it's full focus.
"If we have to try stuff on my car, or whatever we have to do to make sure that the #19 is fast, I'm willing to do whatever it takes.
"It's a shame that I can't be there, but I'm sure if Matt's up there he'll get the job done."
However, Payne's drivers' title bid isn't the only battle Penrite Racing are fighting, with Triple Eight rapidly eating into their teams' championship ascendancy.
Red Bull Ampol Racing have now closed to within 102 points of the once-dominant Penrite team, with just two rounds remaining in the 2026 title.
Allen has warned that too much sacrifice on his side of the garage could cost Penrite dearly, potentially even for pit position in Adelaide.
When asked if keeping the number one position in pit lane was of utmost importance, Allen responded: "100%, it's been a bit of a shame, we were going quite well there.
"I think there's been a few instances where we've probably put a few points down the drain.
"It's still not over, it's a long year ahead, a lot can happen. We can't sacrifice me too much as I mentioned, we've gotta make sure that I'm up there in the points to collect all the points, because those two boys are still in the Finals, they'll be fast.
"We still need to the best we can to try and hang on to that teams' championship."
