Repco Supercars Championship drivers will soon get a taste of NASCAR-style playoffs as they compete for the championship.
According to an announcement made Tuesday, the 13-round Supercars season will take on a different look in 2025, one that will be slightly familiar to NASCAR fans.
The 13-round season featuring 34 races will be split into three parts. The first part will be the Sprint Cup, which will include Rounds 1-8 and 25 races. The second part will be the Enduro Cup, which will feature the Tailem Bend and Bathurst events.
These two rounds will make up the regular season and will finalize the 10-driver playoff field.
A NEW ERA IS COMING 🔥
A shake-up is coming to the @RepcoAustralia Supercars Championship from 2025! #RepcoSC #Supercars pic.twitter.com/z1ZydKyREr
— Supercars (@supercars) October 8, 2024
The final portion of the season will be The Finals, which will feature seven races split across three rounds. These drivers will then try to avoid elimination in the first two rounds, but only four will compete for the title in the final round.
Much like NASCAR, the rest of the competitors will continue racing through the end of the year.
Now, let's dig into the important details.
Qualifying for the playoffs:
The Supercars drivers have multiple ways to qualify for the playoffs. The first is to win one of the 27 races making up the Sprint Cup and Enduro Cup. A win locks up a spot in The Finals and secures 25 bonus points once The Finals begin.
The other way to reach Supercars' version of the playoffs is on points. According to the series, each round of the regular season is worth 300 points. The driver who posts the fastest lap during each round of the Sprint Cup round will receive 15 bonus points, provided they finish the race inside the top 15.
Playoff bonus points:
Once the Supercars drivers complete the Sprint Cup and Enduro Cup rounds, the points will reset. The drivers who made The Finals will start with 3,000 base points. They then receive the bonus points earned through race wins and the fastest laps.
The 10 drivers who reach the playoffs also receive bonus points based on how they finished the regular season. The driver in first locks up 150 bonus points. The driver who finished the regular season in second secures 120 bonus points.
Drivers who finish third through 10th get a decreasing bonus of 96, 78, 66, 57, 48, 39, 30, and 21 points.
The elimination format:
Once the points are reset, the drivers begin the Gold Coast round. This round kicks off the playoffs and features two races. If a playoff driver wins a race in the Gold Coast round, they automatically move on to the semifinal round at Sandown.
Once the Gold Coast round is complete, three drivers will be eliminated from championship contention. The remaining seven will move on to the Sandown round.
The points reset once again at the start of the Sandown round. The driver atop the standings post-Gold Coast locks up 150 points and has their points reset to 4,150. Drivers in second through seventh receive a decreasing bonus of 120, 96, 78, 66, 57, and 48 points.
The semifinal Sandown round consists of two races. If a championship-eligible driver wins either race, they automatically move on to the final Adelaide round. Only four of the remaining seven drivers will move on beyond the Sandown round to compete for the title.
The final round:
The points reset one more time after the semifinal round. The four drivers in contention for the championship will have their points reset to 5,000. The driver atop the standings gets 50 bonus points. Second place gets 30 bonus points, and third place gets 15 bonus points. The driver in fourth place will start the final Adelaide round without bonus points.
Unlike the NASCAR championship format, however, the Supercars series does not determine its champion in one race. The final round features three races spread throughout October and November. The driver with the most points after three races will win the championship.
"Hot Take. I like it, gotta be good and consistent at the end over 3 super tough tracks," three-time Supercars champ-turned-IndyCar star Scott McLaughlin posted on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter. "Everyone hates change but I feel like this will be a good one."