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NZ v India from 7.45pm tonightSupercars finalists hunt GC riches: Everything you need to know about Gold Coast 500
Duncan Perkinson • October 22nd, 2026 10:22 am
Chaz Mostert won both races in 2025 at the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500. The wins kickstarted his charge towards the championship | Photo Credit / EDGE Photographics
The Gold Coast 500 this weekend is the first of three rounds of the Supercars Finals series.
While all 25 drivers will be on the start line, only the top 10 drivers in the championship will compete for the season title.
At the conclusion of the Gold Coast round, the bottom three drivers will drop out of the finals and the top seven drivers will be in contention at the Sandown 500 in a fortnight’s time.
It’s also worth noting that if any of the ten drivers in the finals win a race this weekend, they will immediately progress to the next round.
At November’s Sandown 500, three more drivers will be eliminated.
The final three races of the season, in Adelaide in December, will see just the top four drivers competing for the title.
The current table is seeded, giving an advantage to a driver’s position heading into the finals. There have also been bonus points awarded for the Sprint Car winner (Broc Feeney) and for the Enduro Cup winner (Will Brown).
Will Brown, the 2024 Supercars champion, charged to the lead after the first pit stop | Photo: Mark Evans/AAP
Heading into the finals this weekend, the table is as follows:
1: Matt Payne (No. 19 Penrite Ford Mustang) = 3150 points
2: Broc Feeney (No. 88 Red Bull Ampol Ford Mustang) = 3145 points
3: Will Brown (No. 888 Red Bull Ampol Ford Mustang) = 3103 points
4: Brodie Kostecki (No. 17 Shell V-Power Ford Mustang) = 3096 points
5: Kai Allen (No. 26 Penrite Ford Mustang) = 3066 points
6: Cam Waters (No. 6 Monster Energy Ford Mustang) = 3057 points
7: Anton De Pasquale (No. 18 DeWalt Chevrolet Camaro) =3048 points
8: Chaz Mostert (No. 1 Mobil 1 Optus Toyota GR Supra) =3039 points
9: Ryan Wood (No. 2 Mobil 1 Truck Assist Toyota GR Supra) = 3030 points
10: Jack Le Brocq (No. 4 Sherrin Rentals Chevrolet Camaro) = 3021 points
2: Broc Feeney (No. 88 Red Bull Ampol Ford Mustang) = 3145 points
3: Will Brown (No. 888 Red Bull Ampol Ford Mustang) = 3103 points
4: Brodie Kostecki (No. 17 Shell V-Power Ford Mustang) = 3096 points
5: Kai Allen (No. 26 Penrite Ford Mustang) = 3066 points
6: Cam Waters (No. 6 Monster Energy Ford Mustang) = 3057 points
7: Anton De Pasquale (No. 18 DeWalt Chevrolet Camaro) =3048 points
8: Chaz Mostert (No. 1 Mobil 1 Optus Toyota GR Supra) =3039 points
9: Ryan Wood (No. 2 Mobil 1 Truck Assist Toyota GR Supra) = 3030 points
10: Jack Le Brocq (No. 4 Sherrin Rentals Chevrolet Camaro) = 3021 points
The format is devised to ensure the three final rounds primarily, but not exclusively, determine who will become champion.
When sports have a league table and no finals, there have been situations over the years where drivers lead by such a large amount, that the final few races of the season become nothing but a coronation for the champion.
In fact, in Formula 1 this weekend in Texas, that may be the case as Kimi Antonelli could claim the F1 Drivers championship with a further five rounds to go.
In the 2020 COVID-affected Supercars season, New Zealand’s Scott McLaughlin won the championship with a round to go, while in 2021 and 2022 compatriot Shane van Gisbergen had won the title, before the final round had even started.
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Sports fans can rightly debate the pros and cons of whether each system is fair, but there is little doubt that the final rounds of the season are more exciting with a finals format.
Conversely, it can be argued that it is designed to manufacture drama and is it right that the champion is determined by being the best driver in the finals system, rather than across the whole season?
Based on how last year’s finals played out, Feeney may agree with this argument, because he had a substantial lead going into the finals, but results went against him in the last two rounds and Mostert eventually claimed the championship.
The argument for a finals format is that it puts greater importance on the final rounds, and more drivers are still in with a chance to claim the championship. Based on last year’s finals, I think it’s safe to write that Mostert is a supporter.
The current weather forecast for this weekend is for showers on the Gold Coast, so combined with the car-eating concrete barriers of the street circuit, the racing this weekend could be even more dramatic than normal and is undoubtedly more difficult to predict.
However, as a glutton for punishment, here are a couple of predictions of how this weekend’s racing could play out.
Drivers in 5th (Kai Allen) 6th (Cam Waters) and 7th (Anton de Pasquale) will be looking over their shoulders as the drivers outside the Top 7 may drive more aggressively, knowing they need to move forwards.
Broc Feeney showed his campaign is back on track in Perth | Photo: Supercars
Mostert (8th) and Wood (9th) are typically aggressive drivers anyway and Jack Le Brocq’s team bosses at Matt Stone racing have vowed they will: “throw everything we have at getting JLB through to the next Finals round.”
The concrete surrounds on the Gold Coast street circuit result in heavy crashes most years so could we see the top four drivers drive more conservatively, knowing that a solid (rather than spectacular) finish will more than likely stamp their ticket through to Sandown.
In the previous two years on the Gold Coast, Feeney has finished on the podium in all four races, without winning. Mostert won both races on the Gold Coast in 2025, setting him on a charge towards eventually winning the overall title.
The driver with the most momentum heading into this weekend’s round is Triple Eight Ford driver, Will Brown. In the five races since the round at Queensland Speedway, he has finished on the podium 4 times.
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Compare this with the first 25 races of the season, where he finished on the podium just twice and his average finishing position was 9th.
Because three drivers will drop out of the title race, Sunday’s race could be the most exciting of the two races.
Drivers outside the Top Seven will be desperate to make the Top Seven, and drivers could become more aggressive and start looking for gaps where gaps don’t exist. Plus, a race win will automatically see a driver progress to the next round.
Betcha are offering odds on the winner of Race 1, and considering Will Brown's momentum and form over the past couple of months, odds of $11.00 seem good value. Click here to see the full market for Race 1 on Saturday.
If the weather forecasts are correct and the weather is as unpredictable as expected, the only prediction one can make with any certainty is that there will be plenty of excitement and the best place to watch and listen to the action is from the stands, or via the Sport Nation app.
Tune into Sport Nation for live commentary of the Gold Coast 500 - October 25 from 4pm on SN Extra - download the app today on Google Play and the App Store.
All betcha odds are current at the time of publishing - R18, please gamble responsibly.
