2024 Supercars champion Will Brown wins Adelaide 500 after teammate hit with two time penalties

In a dramatic conclusion to the 2024 Supercars campaign, Broc Feeney took the chequered flag, but two time penalties handed the race win to teammate and Supercars champion Will Brown.

New Supercars champion Will Brown has iced his maiden championship with victory in the season finale at the Adelaide 500 after staging an epic fightback as a pair of penalties denied teammate Broc Feeney back-to-back wins.

In a dramatic conclusion to the 2024 Supercars campaign, Saturday’s race winner Feeney took the chequered flag again but had two separate 15-second time penalties hanging over his head, handing the race win to Brown after a stunning recovery from the rear of the field.

The Triple Eight star charged his way back from 22nd after he was turned around by former teammate Brodie Kostecki early in the race.

Feeney was initially slapped with a 15-second penalty for an unsafe release when he made contact with Chaz Mostert in pit lane during their second stop.

Race control then hit Feeney with another 15-second penalty after he spun Mostert on lap 62 as the pair battled at the front.

The penalties opened the door for Brown, who mowed down Mostert on lap 66 to put himself in the effective lead for his fifth win of the year.

Supercar champion Will Brown.

Feeney, who led home a Triple Eight one-two as Brown sealed his maiden championship on Saturday, dropped back to seventh after his two time penalties were applied.

Mostert hung on to finish second, securing third in the championship behind Brown and Feeney, while Tickford Racing’s Thomas Randle finished third to move up into fifth place in the championship standings.

While his title-winning celebrations were subdued on Saturday, Brown let loose with a series of epic burnouts around the championship trophy on pit straight.

“I feel like a bit more of a champion after that drive, that was awesome,” Brown said.

“I can’t believe I got turned around, I probably turned in on Brodie there. I thought that was the day done, I’ll go out and have some fun.

Broc Feeney claims pole at the Adelaide 500 season finale. Picture: Daniel Kalisz/Getty Images

“I never thought I could win it from there. To win that, bad luck to Broc, I don’t know what happened there. It’s an awesome way to finish the year, that was a stellar race.

“It’s been a hard year, it’s been stressful and it’s been extremely competitive. There were a lot of guys that were deserving as well, but to win it is amazing.

“I’m sure it will sink in tonight when we’re having some fun.”

Asked what the celebrations would be like, Brown quipped:

“I do not think the party will end, we’ll see where it goes but it will be good fun,” Brown said.

Pole sitter Feeney managed to hold off Mostert at the start, but Mostert managed to edge past Feeney at turn four as the pair waged an intense opening lap battle.

Matt Payne prompted an early safety car on just the third lap after he ended up stuck in the tyre barrier at turn 11 after he was forced wide by Nick Percat.

Payne was forced back to the pits for hasty repairs, losing the bonnet from his car after he was pulled out of the barriers by the recovery crew.

There was chaos when the race restarted on lap eight with a number of incidents to keep race control busy.

Kostecki was hit with a 15-second time penalty for turning Brown, while three other drivers - Cam Waters, Mark Winterbottom and Anton De Pasquale - were all hit with the same penalty for driving infringements.

FEENEY GETS POLE!

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— Supercars (@supercars) November 17, 2024

The Kostecki incident sent Brown tumbling to the back of the field, but he had charged his way back into the top 10 before his first pit stop.

Feeney was the first of the lead pair to stop, but Mostert re-joined in front after a short-fill when he pitted five laps later on lap 30.

The pair both pitted for their second stop on lap 49, but the cars made contact as Feeney was released into Mostert’s path.

Feeney allowed Mostert past as they exited the lane, but stewards launched an immediate investigation and slapped the Red Bull ace with a 15-second penalty for an unsafe release.

There was more drama to play out between the pair, with Brown capitalising to complete a stunning fightback and ice his championship-winning campaign.

For two veteran drivers farewelling the field as full-time drivers, Mark Winterbottom finished 20th, while Tim Slade was 14th.

Meanwhile, Motorsport Australia on Sunday admitted to an error in the starting grid for Saturday’s race after a miscalculation following Friday’s shortened qualifying.

The error did not impact cars at the front of the grid, but did impact some in the second half of the field.

“Motorsport Australia acknowledges there was an error with yesterday’s published grid sheet for Race 23 of the Supercars Championship,” MA said in a statement.

“The error was made following the miscalculation of the cut off times from the shortened qualifying session and impacted the starting positions of some cars between positions 13 and 22.”

Adelaide 500 carnage after another massive turn eight crash

Brad Jones Racing’s Jaxon Evans has become the latest victim of Adelaide’s infamous turn eight after another frightening smash in qualifying on Sunday morning.

After a trio of big smashes in qualifying on Friday when Richie Stanaway, Cam Hill and David Reynolds all tangled with the concrete at the same corner within the space of half a minute, Evans suffered the same fate at the end of Sunday’s session.

Evans clipped the inside kerb and then crashed heavily into the outside concrete wall, losing his front left wheel and the bonnet, before the front of his Camaro was completely smashed in when he ended up nose-first in the opposite wall.

The Kiwi, in his rookie year as a full-time Supercars driver, was able to walk away from the car after the smash.

Jaxon Evans had a massive crash in qualifying.

Evans said he was relieved to walk away from the crash where he felt like a ping-pong ball off the walls.

“I’m feeling a little bit shaken up after that, it’s never nice to be the one that ends up in the fence, especially here at turn eight,” Evans said.

“But thankfully I’m OK. (I’m a) little bit winded, but otherwise happy to walk away from that one.

“Obviously qualifying, so we are putting everything on the line. I didn’t feel like I didn’t turn in super early, maybe a little bit in the end and just caught the inside fence which put me into the outside fence and from there on you’re a passenger.

“So it just felt like I was ping-ponging off walls down the back straight.”

Jaxon Evans after his qualifying crash.

Brad Jones Racing later revealed Evans had been ruled out of the season-finale with concussion symptoms and the team would not run the car in the Sunday’s race.

“After Jaxon Evans’ Turn 8 crash in qualifying he was assessed for concussion symptoms,” BJR said in a statement.

“Supercars medical team have since then diagnosed him with a concussion and have implemented their protocols for this situation.

“This means that Jaxon will be unable to take any further part in this weekend and the SCT Motorsport Camaro will remain in the garage for the final race of the season.

“The work was on track to be completed but with Jaxon unable to drive, the team has made the decision not to run the car.”

The session was red-flagged with just 19 seconds left with Saturday winner Broc Feeney taking provisional pole for Sunday’s 250km season finale ahead of Cam Waters.

Ryan Wood, Chaz Mostert, championship winner Will Brown, Thomas Randle, Will Davison, Brodie Kostecki, Nick Percat and Anton De Pasquale also booked their tickets to the Top 10 Shootout.

Young gun gets special clearance to replace Stanaway

Richie Stanaway has been ruled out for the rest of the Adelaide 500 with concussion as young gun Kai Allen was given dispensation to replace him for Sunday’s race.

Grove Racing announced Stanaway had not been medically cleared to return to the track after further assessment on Sunday morning.

Stanaway was withdrawn from Saturday’s race after experiencing delayed concussion symptoms following his heavy impact in Friday qualifying, which was registered at 52G.

The Ford team had initially wanted Allen to replace Stanaway, but he was ineligible to race due to his Super2 commitments and Grove enduro co-driver Dale Wood stepped in instead.

But the 19-year-old has been given dispensation from Supercars and Motorsport Australia to step in for Stanaway after a rule change overnight permitting him to race Super2 and the main game.

“Following further medical consultation, Richie Stanaway has not been medically cleared to take part in today’s Supercars championship proceedings,” Grove Racing said in a statement.

“As such, Kai Allen will step into Car 26, following dispensation from Supercars and Motorsport Australia.

“Grove Racing would like to extend their thanks to all Super2 teams and the Repco Supercars Championship for helping to facilitate this.”

Allen, who will replace Stanaway at Grove Racing next year, is still fighting for the Super2 title with one race remaining in Adelaide on Sunday.

The teenager will qualify the Grove Mustang before his final Super2 race.

The medical decision on Stanaway means the Kiwi has had his last race for Grove before his move to PremiAir next year.

Originally published as 2024 Supercars champion Will Brown wins Adelaide 500 after teammate hit with two time penalties