Bathurst 1000 2024: Selling snags to king of the Mount Panorama: Todd Hazelwood’s unique rise

Todd Hazelwood was selling sausages outside of an Adelaide hardware store to fund his dream, today all the hard work paid off as he was crowned a Bathurst 1000 winner.

From selling snags to becoming King of the Mountain, Todd Hazelwood’s Bathurst 1000 adventure has been one wild ride.

On Sunday, Hazelwood achieved every Australian driver’s ultimate fantasy when he teamed up with Brodie Kostecki to win the Great Race at Mount Panorama.

As the co-driver, Hazelwood had to nervously watch the finish from the pits while his teammate held off the late charge from Broc Feeney to secure the victory before breaking into celebration.

“Unbelievable, I think I’m hallucinating,” he said.

“I’m just absolutely speechless. Bush (Kostecki), he’s an absolute legend. We’ve been mates since day one. To do this together with him, absolute rocketship of a car.

“It’s been a tough year, but man, when you win Bathurst it makes up for everything.”

It was Todd Hazelwood’s first win in Supercars. Picture: Getty Images

Motor racing is no one’s idea of a cheap sport but Hazelwood is proof that anyone can make it with enough talent and perseverance, even when they are not born with a silver spoon in their mouth.

When Hazelwood was first starting out in his career, as a kid in South Australia, his parents took on extra jobs to fund his dream, including running a sausage sizzle at an Adelaide hardware store.

It worked. But he’s never forgotten his humble working-class roots.

“I’ve probably had a bit more of a unique journey to the top step of the mountain from other people but everyone’s got their own stories,” he said.

Kostecki & Hazelwood are your 2024 Bathurst 1000 winners 🏁

📺WATCH #Bathurst1000 on ch. 506 or stream via @kayosports: https://t.co/nbgBeQKvIf
🏁 RACE CENTRE: https://t.co/uJlbZC5H4T⁰⁰#RepcoSCpic.twitter.com/mJrUWNSx8r

— Fox Motorsport (@Fox_Motorsport) October 13, 2024

“It’s certainly well documented that my family, particularly my mum and my dad and my sister, we worked our backsides off in the junior categories.

“We cooked countless sausages, we’ve had a lot of members over the years that have pitched in as well as fans and sponsors. There’s an endless amount of people that I need to thank.

“Having my family here today is really special. If there was ever a way I could repay them, they mortgaged their house to get my kick start in Supercars, to win the Great Race is probably a nice return.”

Todd Hazelwood was great on Sunday. Picture: Getty Images

Hazelwood eventually succeeded in making it to Supercars in 2017 and was a primary driver at Bathurst through until last year when he lost his seat.

His best place finish at Bathurst had been eighth, in 2021, but his change of circumstances convinced him he was better off joining forces with Kostecki and targeting the biggest races in the sport.

“I’ve never doubted myself but there’s probably a few doubters out there but that’s OK, we always get that,” Hazelwood said.

“The big thing for me, walking away from being full time last year, the big motivation for me was to surround myself with good people that I knew I could win races with.

“I’d rather have a chance of winning two races a year as opposed to having 12 rounds of frustration and I certainly feel like I’ve been able to validate that decision myself.”

Originally published as Bathurst 1000 2024: Selling snags to king of the Mount Panorama: Todd Hazelwood’s unique rise