The youngest-ever Supercars records in Allen's sights

A number of key youngest-ever records in ATCC/Repco Supercars Championship history are under threat heading into 2025, courtesy of incoming rookie Kai Allen.

The 2025 Repco Supercars Championship will provide 19-year-old Allen with a number of shots at history, including records held by Scott McLaughlin, Broc Feeney, Craig Lowndes and Rick Kelly.

The 2023 Dunlop Super2 Series champion has joined fellow young gun Matt Payne at Penrite Racing this season, replacing PremiAir Racing-bound Richie Stanaway.

Allen, who turned 19 last June, is still five months away from his 20th birthday. The South Australian-born driver will contest six rounds in 2025 as a teenager, and will turn 20 between the Darwin and Townsville events.

He has already taken one record away from Supercars' leading youngest driver, Feeney, having become the youngest ever Super2 champion in 2023.

McLaughlin was aged 19 years, 10 months and three days when he won for Garry Rogers Motorsport at Pukekohe in March 2013. At the time, Allen was only seven years old.

Allen will need to win a race at either Sydney, Albert Park or Taupō to take the record from McLaughlin. There are 10 races across the first three rounds, meaning Allen has 10 chances to break new ground.

Should Allen win at any stage in the first six rounds, he will join McLaughlin as the only two drivers to win a Supercars race as a teenager.

Feeney was aged 20 years, one month and 16 days when he won in Adelaide in 2022, with McLaughlin initially taking the record away from Todd Kelly. Kelly was aged 20 years, eight months and two days when he won at the 2000 Canberra event.

Feeney still holds the youngest-ever pole-sitter record, set at the 2023 Grand Prix. Feeney was aged 20 years, five months and 14 days, an age Allen will hit in the days after the 2024 season finale in Adelaide.

Allen can also break Lowndes’ youngest-ever champion record if he wins the title in 2025 and/or 2026. Lowndes was aged just 21 years, 11 months and 11 days when he won the 1996 championship as a rookie, nine years before Allen was born.

He could even reset the Bathurst record; Allen will be aged 20 years, three months and 16 days when he makes his third Bathurst start in October. Should he claim victory, he would break Rick Kelly's youngest-ever Bathurst winner record of 20 years, eight months and 20 days, set in 2003.

Allen is a key part of a generational change on the grid, which has an average age of 28 heading into 2025. The teen impressed in a last minute cameo in Adelaide, substituting for the injured Stanaway.

Speaking after the cameo, Allen was ready to get stuck into 2025, saying: "It's been really good to work with guys like Shippy [Grant McPherson] and [David] Cauchi as well, they've been great. They've got a lot of experience.

"Me being so young coming into main game, it's very competitive at the moment, it's probably the highest level motorsport in the world, and there's some very good guys in there.

"It's going to be hard for me, I'm a little bit behind in experience, but I'm sure I've got the best guys around me to make sure I'm in the best spot I can be going into Sydney next year, so I can't wait."

Tickets for the season-opening round in Sydney, on February 21-23, are on sale now.

Youngest ever ATCC/Supercars records