The Round of 12 opened with another spoiler as Ross Chastain took the checkered flag at Kansas. The field then raced into Talladega where yet another non-playoff driver stole all the glory with Ricky Stenhouse Jr. winning the race. This means no one got to automatically advance into the Round of 8 via a win this round, but that doesn’t mean no one is locked in.

Locked in or feeling good

William Byron actually earned enough points over the last two races to clinch a spot mathematically, so he has nothing to worry about at Charlotte. While not technically locked in, Christopher Bell at +57 and Kyle Larson at +52 are in a really strong spot to move forward. You will be seeing these drivers in the Round of 8 which is interesting, as all three made the Championship 4 last year.

Just keep it clean

After his cautious approach backfired at Atlanta, Denny Hamlin did it again at Talladega, but this time, it paid off in a huge way. When over half the field crashed on the backstretch, he was nowhere near the chaos and gained a mountain of points as a result. He now enters Charlotte +30 to the cut-line and just needs to avoid any catastrophic setbacks this weekend. Alex Bowman at +26 and Ryan Blaney at +25 are in similar positions. Collect some stage points, finish the race, and everything should be okay. However, history tells us that it never ends up being that easy.

On the hot seat

Regular season champion Tyler Reddick is just +14 points above the elimination zone and NASCAR’s Most Popular Driver is in the same boat. Chase Elliott is sitting on the bubble at +13. And remember, it doesn’t matter how many points you have if any of those four drivers below you go and win the race. As the bubble driver, you will be out.

Fortunately for Elliott, he’s not only won at the Roval but he’s the only active driver to have won it more than once. Reddick is also a very capable road racers with the second-highest average finish at the Charlotte Roval, as well as race wins at COTA, the Indy RC and Road America. At the end of the day, they may be racing each other on Sunday. Should a Briscoe or Cindric find their way into the lead and the drivers above these two don’t get into trouble, you have to avoid being the driver on the chopping block. Because of this, Elliott and Reddick will be keeping an eye on each other, just as much (if not more) than those behind them.

The two-time NASCAR Cup Series champion has a strange pattern he would like to continue year — he has made the Championship 4 in alternating years since the current format’s introduction (’14, ’16, ’18, ’20, ’22) while missing out the rest of the time. Unfortunately, unlike those he is chasing, he hasn’t had much success on road courses. He does have a pole and two top-five finishes at the Roval, but he will need to have his best showing yet to avoid elimination. Expect Logano to go for as many stage points as possible as he tries to bridge that gap to those ahead.

Joey Logano, Team Penske, Shell Pennzoil Ford Mustang

Photo by: Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images

The Trackhouse driver took a bad situation and made it worse at Talladega, crashing himself while trying to aggressively blend into the pack after an early pass-through penalty left him a lap down. This is a difficult points deficit to make up, especially with the caliber of drivers directly in front of him, but it’s not all bad for Suarez. He is an excellent road racer and while success has eluded him at the Roval, Trackhouse has shown an uptick in speed recently and his teammate led half the race at Watkins Glen. He’s also in a difficult spot where he has to decide if going for points is the right play or if he should gamble it all and go straight for the win. Unfortunately, Suarez and the other two remaining underdog stories in the playoffs bring up the rear of the points grid, so it would be quite the upset if he could drag himself out of the elimination zone.

Daniel Suarez, Trackhouse Racing, Freeway Insurance Chevrolet Camaro

Photo by: Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images

Another Team Penske driver in peril, and how different things could have been for the driver of the No. 2 Ford. He was leading late at Talladega and could have absolutely won that race, but a bad push sent him spinning in the middle of the pack instead. While he could still point his way in mathematically, his only real shot is to go straight for the win. He’s never won a road course race at the Cup level, which is a surprise. He has a background in road racing and five of his 13 Xfinity wins came on tracks that go both left and right. He will have to dig deep and find a way to finally do that at the Cup level asap, or his playoffs will be over.

Austin Cindric, Team Penske, Discount Tire Ford Mustang

Photo by: Gavin Baker / NKP / Motorsport Images

Probably the most unique story of the playoffs surrounds this driver. Stewart-Haas Racing is just a few weeks away from shutting down, but Briscoe won the regular season finale and gave them one last shot at NASCAR glory. With the entire four-car organization rallying behind him, he bested champions Martin Truex Jr. and Brad Keselowski to advance into this round. Sadly, things have not gone nearly as well here and luck was not on his side at Talladega. Like Cindric, he has to go for the race win at the Roval. It’s his only real hope of keeping this dream alive for SHR. Like Cindric, he is a driver who showed promise on road courses in lower divisions, but he’s yet to find Victory Lane at such tracks in the Cup Series. But when we talk about a driver and group who have literally nothing to lose, there’s no one who fits that better than this No. 14 team.

Chase Briscoe, Stewart-Haas Racing, Rush Truck Centers / Cummins Ford Mustang

Photo by: Nigel Kinrade / NKP / Motorsport Images

Playoff standings entering Round of 12 elimination race

A full-size clay model of the GEN3 GR Supra Supercar has provided fans with a preview of the four V8-powered cars that will take on the Chevrolet Camaros and Ford Mustangs.

The model is a derivative but not a copy of the two-seater coupe and has been built by the Melbourne-based Toyota Design Australia team.

Walkinshaw Andretti United, the homologation for the Toyota Supercars project that was announced last month, will race two of the cars in 2026, joined by another two Supras run by a yet-to-be-announced team.

“Taking part in the heat of Supercars, as well as other racing and rallying series around the world, provides technical learnings that can be transferred to the development of our entire range of vehicles – not just our sports cars,” said Toyota Australia’s Vice President Sales, Marketing and Franchise Operations Sean Hanley.

“We are looking forward to building on the passion among enthusiasts for our GR range and to generating interest and excitement among motorsport fans, including those who are new to our brand.

“We are also keen to involve our own people, enabling them to improve their skills and acquire new abilities in the high-pressure teamwork environment that is motorsport.

“The experience gained by our local designers, modellers and engineers with their stunning GR Supra Supercar is a perfect example of what motorsport can help us achieve.”

WAU, which switched allegiance from General Motors to Ford ahead of the 2023 season – having run for much of its life as the Holden Racing Team, will continue to run its Mustang Supercars program with Chaz Mostert and Ryan Wood while developing the new Toyota during 2025.

A model of the GEN3 Toyota Supra

Photo by: Supercars

Toyota’s initial commitment to Supercars runs for five years to 2030 and development is already underway on an all-aluminium, quad-cam V8 based on the 2UR-GSE, rather than the in-line six-cylinder motor that comes fitted to the road-going Supra models.

With the Japanese manufacturer joining the grid, Supercars will expand beyond two manufacturers for the first time since 2019, when Nissan left the championship. This followed Volvo’s exit in 2017 and that of the customer Erebus Mercedes entry at the end of 2015.

Hayden Paddon clinched the 2024 European Rally Championship title after finishing third at the Rally Silesia season finale.

One-time World Rally Championship event winners Paddon and co-driver John Kennard led the Polish asphalt rally heading into the final day with a 6.8s margin over Skoda duo Andrea Mabellini and co-driver Virginia Lenzi. 

Armed with a 27-point lead over nearest title rival and fifth-placed Mathieu Franceschi, Paddon could afford to relax to some degree to secure the title. 

Paddon and Kennard’s BRC-run Hyundai i20- led the rally until stage 11 where Mabellini overhauled the New Zealanders to grab the lead. Paddon survived a late scare when he briefly went off the road in the penultimate stage, before coming home to finish the rally in third (+19.9s).

Mabellini claimed an emotional first ERC victory while M-Sport-Ford’s Jon Armstrong also fought back emotions after securing his first ERC podium in second, 18.4s adrift. 

“It feels great. The [last]11 kilometres were the longest of my life. I want to thank everybody as it has been an incredible journey. We started in Rally5 then went to Rally4 and then Rally2 last year, so I’m really happy,” said Mabellini.  

Armstrong added: “It is hard not to get emotional as it has been a hard year and I have been trying really hard and it is good to show now that we can finally do the pace.” 

Andrea Mabellini, Virginia Lenzi, Skoda Fabia RS Rally2

Photo by: atWorld

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Paddon’s third pace marked a successful defence of the ERC title he won last year, which seemed unlikely at times after a difficult campaign that yielded only one podium from the first six events. 

However, a dominant victory in Wales at Rali Ceredigion last month put him in the box seat to clinch the championship, although budget constraints meant the Kiwi was unsure if he would compete in the Poland finale, before eventually finding the funds. 

“It is a relief, it has been a season of two halves. We haven’t shown the outright speed we wanted to but through determination and grit the whole team just did it,” said Paddon.

“The biggest thing this year was to not give up you know halfway through we were all  bit disheartened as to where we were at so it is massive credit to the team and everyone involved.”

As for the future, Paddon, who has previously stated that this year may be his last in the European Rally Championship, added: “I will take it each day at a time and if this is our last European Championship rally I would like to say a big thanks to all the fans over here that have been supporting us and making us feel at home. 

“It feels like a big family and who knows what the next step is, but we have ticked this one off, so we will enjoy it.” 

Elsewhere, M-Sport-Ford WRC driver Adrien Fourmaux claimed victory at Rallylegend.

Fourmaux and co-driver Alexandre Coria piloted an M-Sport Ford Puma Rally1 through the San Marino rally festival’s 12 stages to claim a victory by 1m56.1s from Luca Pedersoli, driving a Hyundai i20 Coupe WRC. 

The podium was completed by 2008 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix winner Heikki Kovalainen. The Finn shared a Citroen C3 WRC with Esapekka Lappi’s recently retired WRC co-driver Janne Ferm.

Meanwhile, Reigning world rally champion Kalle Rovanpera signed off his first circuit racing campaign in the Porsche Carrera Cup Benelux by taking his third race win at the season finale at Zolder. The factory Toyota WRC driver had scored victories at Imola and the Red Bull Ring. 

2017 Bathurst winner, David Reynolds, was fifth during the opening laps of the 40-minute qualifying session at Mount Panorama when he lost control of the Team18 Chevrolet Camaro, crunching into the concrete wall at The Esses with 23 minutes remaining.

As a result, he lost his best qualifying lap and dropped out of contention for Saturday’s Top 10 Shootout. By the end of the session, he had dropped to 21st.

Reynolds immediately let his team know he was unhurt and later explained the cause of the crash to the Supercars broadcaster.

“I was pushing really hard, the car was getting better,” he said. “I probably shouldn’t have stayed up for that second lap because the car was starting to go away and everything gets a bit more skatey.

“I should have put the next set on and gone but I was probably pushing too hard for the conditions and got bitten bad.”

Confirming his condition, Reynolds added: “I’m fine, more than fine. I’m actually just really angry that it happened. But we’re pushing the limits and every now and again that happens.

Reynolds’s crash comes 24 hours after his co-driver Warren Luff – who works as a stunt driver – pirouetted the car at the same section of track while only scratching the car.

David Reynolds, Team 18 Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Photo by: Edge Photographics

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“Obviously, I’m not as skilled as Luffy – he saved it yesterday and I crashed,” Reynolds joked.

Watching from the garage while his team-mate completed the qualifying session, Luff aid of the incident: “He got a little bit offline and when he took the kerb up the top, it just got a bit of an awkward bounce and, unfortunately, he was just a bit of a passenger.

“Not ideal, but that’s Bathurst. The boys will get stuck in tonight and I’m sure we’ll turn the car around and will have a quick car on Sunday.”

Qualifying came to an end when Shell V-Power Racing driver Will Davison became the latest driver to be bitten by The Dipper – damaging all four corners of his Ford Mustang. 

Matt Payne took provisional pole position for the Bathurst 1000 after a qualifying session of fine margins at Mount Panorama.

Payne and his Grove Racing Ford streaked around the 6.213km circuit in a time of 2m05.6452s to edge out fellow Mustang pilot Cameron Waters by a scant 0.0060s.

“It just seemed to hook up really nicely and it just seemed to turn really well at ‘The Grate’,” he explained after the lap.

“The previous practice we did not have such a good run on green tyres. I knew the car was better than that. I knew we were going to be in the top five, but P1 is pretty cool.”

Waters, who nearly had a crash at Forrest’s Elbow during the session, revealed he had also suffered a reliability scare in the early stages.

“It was a pretty intense session, I had an engine problem to start with and that cleared,” he said.

“Everyone is trying so hard, even in practice one, it was crazy how fast everyone was going. I am just lucky I am not one of the ones crashing.”

The session featured a pair of red flags, with the first coming with 23 minutes remaining on the clock as David Reynolds lost control of the rear of his Team18 Chevrolet Camaro at The Dipper, collecting the wall where team-mate Warren Luff had performed a miraculous escape earlier in the weekend.

Will Davison, Dick Johnson Racing Ford Mustang GT

Photo by: Edge Photographics

The second came due to a crash at the same corner after Shell V-Power Racing driver Will Davison destroyed all four corners of his Ford Mustang on his final push. 

This crash ruined Broc Feeney’s attempt to top the session, although he remained the highest-placed Chevrolet driver in third. Prior to the red flags being displayed, he had been 0.25s up on Payne’s benchmark.

The Triple Eight man was 0.0081s faster than 2023 polesitter Brodie Kostecki, who set the fourth fastest time and clattered the wall at Sulman Park, requiring a mid-session suspension change which cost eight minutes of track time.

Highlighting how close the session was, Kostecki’s time was 0.0194s away from Payne.

Championship leader Will Brown secured his shootout position in fifth, having spent the majority of the session out of the window, while Chaz Mostert was sixth. 

Andre Heimgartner, Jack Le Broc, Anton de Pasquale and Richie Stanaway rounded out those who will contest Saturday’s shootout.

As a result of causing the red flags, both Reynolds and Davison saw their best times struck from the record, leaving them 21st and 16th respectively.

The Supercars will be back on track at 10:05am Australian Eastern Daylight Saving Time [12:05am BST], with a one-hour practice session for co-drivers only. There will be another hour’s practice at 1:10pm [3:10am BST] and the top 10 shootout is due to begin at 5:05pm [7:05am BST].

Bathurst 1000 Qualifying Result

FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem has insisted the federation is currently unable to support a 25-race Formula 1 calendar.

The current Concorde Agreement allows for 25 races per season. But although there is a massive demand for a slot on the F1 calendar – with Argentina being the latest to express interest in hosting a Grand Prix – F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali last year stated that he would like to stick to 24 races for the time being.

“I think 24 is the right number”, he said on F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast. “I would say this is the number which we should target to be stable for a long time.”

According to Ben Sulayem ‘everything’ is on the limit at the moment for the FIA, with 24 events on this year’s schedule.

“You cross a barrier where you need two teams, we can’t have [more]”, Ben Sulayem told Motorsport.com when asked if adding one extra race would already pose a problem. Logistically, then I have to have two teams.

“Can the drivers take it? I just want to know. Let’s just be sensible and logical about it. Can the drivers take it physically and mentally? This is a question I will ask the drivers. And what about the teams?”

“As for the FIA, we cannot do it with this one team. We have to have a rotation of two teams, when it comes to the staff on the ground.”

Stefano Domenicali, CEO, Formula One Group, Mohammed Ben Sulayem, President, FIA

Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

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But stating that Formula One Management is “sensible”, Ben Sulayem acknowledged: “They never came back and said: ‘Oh, we need more.’ No way they did. What they are after is quality and that’s why we have this good relationship with them.”

“I mean, I will not stop [them] to go to 25, because it is their right, OK? [In the end] it’s up to them.

“But they are the ones who don’t want to add [more races at the moment]. Because they know that it becomes [a matter] of fatigue then. So they have their own reasons [for keeping the amount of races on 24].”