The final race of the 2024 Repco Supercars Championship saw a significant number of incidents between drivers, and my concern is that this is a window into what we'll see during the final races in 2025.
Firstly, the total list of incidents during the race.
Contact between Nick Percat and Matt Payne at Turn 11 on Lap 3, resulting in a last-place finish for Payne.
Brodie Kostecki punted Will Brown at Turn 7 on Lap 9.
Anton De Pasquale turned Ryan Wood at Turn 9 on Lap 9, which also led to contact between Will Davison and Cameron Waters.
Mark Winterbottom punted Tim Slade at Turn 4 on Lap 10.
Aaron Love repeatedly ran into Kai Allen on Lap 42, damaging the back of Allen's car and leaving him second-last.
Cameron Waters bumped Cooper Murray into the tyres at Turn 9 on Lap 10.
Broc Feeney hit Chaz Mostert coming out of the pits on Lap 53, and Feeney would punt Mostert ten laps later at Turn 6.
Cameron Hill turned Matt Payne at Turn 9 on Lap 56.
Cameron Waters ran into Anton De Pasquale at Turn 9 on Lap 65, and later that lap, Dale Wood would hit Anton De Pasquale, possibly as retaliation for the contact on Lap 9 at Turn 14 on Lap 65.
That is a lot of incidents. This could be partly because it is the final race of the 2024 Supercars season, so drivers have decided to play up a bit. However, having seen what's become of NASCAR over the last few years, I think what we saw in that race is a warning sign of the type of short-sighted racing we see in NASCAR coming here to the detriment of racing, the fans, and the drivers. Especially since we have Safety concerns with Richie Stanaway and Jaxon Evans getting injured in crashes this past weekend.
Broc Feeney punting Chaz Mostert at Turn 6 on Lap 63 is an example of what has a good chance of happening during the final races of the Finals series. Judging by the number of incidents we have from the final race with likely 2025 contenders, including Anton De Pasquale, Cameron Waters, Broc Feeney, Brodie Kostecki, and arguably Chaz Mostert with how defensive he was racing, desperate moves in all-or-nothing situations will be significantly more likely.
I have other concerns about this format. These concerns aren't as bad as in NASCAR, but there is a risk of becoming issues in the Finals series. Mainly, dominance is being punished, and wins have become transactional instead of something to celebrate. It's why Shane Van Gisbergen's win at Chicago was so good, including everything else Shane achieved, but also because there were no Playoff Implications of the win.
Additionally, this is symptomatic of a sickness that has infected not just NASCAR and Supercars but motorsport. The need for constant excitement and action in racing, the rejection of long runs without interruptions by the Safety Car as "boring", or the need for every finish to be a tense, climatic moment. This constant need for tension and excitement has led to manufactured finishes in NASCAR, and I don't want this to come to the Supercars, which this format can easily lead to. Also, if every finish is a tense, climatic sprint to the flag, it's no longer a tense, climatic sprint to the flag. I have seen this sentiment on the Inbreads in Supercar Threads Discord server that I frequent. I find this disappointing, as they're implying that manufactured finishes are better than natural finishes, which I think is an incorrect way of viewing motorsport, as it generates artificial excitement and has led to results that don't reflect the race. As one user wrote on Brock Beard's "Enough is Enough" YouTube video, If "Game 7" moments happen too frequently, they are no longer "Game 7" moments.
Who here enjoyed the entire second stint of the Sandown 500 watching Todd Hazelwood steadily work through the field from near last into the top 10? That was only possible because of a longer green flag run, and he would've been unable to do that if we had Safety Cars every 10 laps. Same with Broc Feeney steadily reeling Brodie Kostecki in during the final stint of the 130-odd lap green flag run before Payne crashed late in the Bathurst 1000. Or Will Brown was second last at the end of Lap nine, thanks to Brodie Kostecki. Will Brown raced to first during the final race of the Adelaide 500 due to a mix of his own pace, long green flag runs, other drivers' mistakes and penalties. If there had been Safety Cars every 10 laps, as some people want because it causes excitement, Brown would've been unable to progress through the field as he did. With the teams so close this year, something like that is more remarkable than ever.
And something I've noticed some people on the motorsport server I'm on have complained about. Instead of the National Association of Sports Car Auto Racing, NASCAR has become the National Association of Sports Car Auto Restarts. And people seem to prefer this, which is frustrating, as the excitement only lasts a lap or two and can too easily manufacture the results. This final series presents a similar risk, turning Supercar Racing into Supercar Restarts. I know restarts generate excitement, but Safety Cars breed Safety cars, as we know, leading to more Safety Cars. Teams and drivers have complained about this artificial excitement before. It's why the reverse grid races during the 2006 season were ditched before the Endurance events.
Luckily, there are enough differences between the two formats that the bullshit we saw with Austin Dillon wrecking Denny Hamlin and Joey Logano to get into the Chase is unlikely to happen. I wouldn't totally rule it out. Yes, it has happened with full-season Championships like 2017, but that would be far more common under this winner-takes-all format.
Finally, another issue with NASCAR that the Finals Series could cause is a lack of storylines outside of the Championship picture, which could obscure great runs from drivers who aren't usually at the front of the field. Like the resurgence of Erebus Motorsports in the second half of the season. Or how Richie Stanaway had a much better second half of the season, minus Adelaide, than the first half. Or how James Golding got as high as 5th place in the Championship at one point on sheer consistency. Even podiums may not be appreciated like they used to, especially if the drivers on the Podium aren't usually in those positions. Someone like James Golding or Andre Heimgartner doing that well is notable because they don't happen often. My concern is that these storylines could be ignored or minimised to exclusively focus on the Championship drivers only, ignoring those who have great runs because they're not competing for a Championship.
I love to see more racing. The lack of races has been my main criticism of Supercars in 2024, besides the handling of the Kostecki and Erebus stuff at the year's start. But I'm concerned that adopting a NASCAR Chase-style format will cause more problems than it tries to solve. Personally, if it ain't broke, don't fix it.
What are your thoughts? I'd like to know. Keep the discussion respectful, please.
