It will be a home return of sorts for 20-year-old Kai Allen.
A Mount Gambier local, the Adelaide grand final in the 2025 Supercars championship will be an opportunity for Allen to perform in front of friends and family with massive stakes on the line.
That would seem like a daunting opportunity for a driver so young until you consider that he's been in this position three times before. He has entered the final weekend of every season since 2022 with a shot at a championship trophy.
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He missed out on the 2022 Super3 title in heart-breaking fashion, before overrunning Zak Best to win the 2023 Super2 title.
Last year, he was unable to secure back-to-back Super2 titles and was beaten by Zach Bates and Aaron Cameron.
The one thing he learnt from these battles?
"It's not over until the chequered flag flies," he said exclusively to Wide World of Sports.
"Don't get ahead of yourself. Don't make silly decisions. Just play it smart and race forward, don't think about the championship.
"All those learnings from the last three, four years has really added up to a very confident Kai coming into this weekend."
While Broc Feeney, Chaz Mostert and Will Brown are established heavyweights, Allen has just 35 Supercars races to his name.
The 20-year-old has the chance to create Supercars history with a title victory, which would make him the first driver since Craig Lowndes in 1996 to win the championship in a debut season.
At Bathurst, Allen drove through treacherous conditions, being punted off the road multiple times and famously narrowly avoiding a rogue kangaroo. But the young Penrite Racing driver was able to vault into the final top ten by just three points, thanks to a last-lap overtake from Feeney on Andre Heimgartner.
For Allen, the hometown pressure in Adelaide is an added bonus he welcomes.
"[I think] little seven-year-old Kai would be absolutely in shock that I'm going into the last race at one of my favourite tracks with a chance at the Championship," he added.
"Just going to soak it all in, enjoy it. It's my main thing this weekend [to] not put too much pressure on myself because we've done enough already this year to get to where we are.
"There's no point not enjoying the last round of my rookie season and [not] try and come out on a high. To be honest, it'll be what it'll be.
"The racing gods will decide and I'm just going to do the best job I can like I've been doing all year."
War of words
Both Triple Eight drivers, alongside Chaz Mostert are in contention for the title with Allen. It's a real Ford v Chevrolet fight.
When asked about his competitors coming into the final race of the season, Brown didn't mince his words, all but completely ruling Allen out.
"I think it's a relief that some of the guys that are obviously extremely fast [aren't in the grand final], I think it's a relief that Ryan Wood's not in there, Cam's [Waters] not in there, Brodie Kostecki isn't in there," Brown said to Supercars.
"They're all guys that would be very fast at Adelaide, and still will be very fast at Adelaide. I'm sure Anton [De Pasquale] will be very fast as well, but they're all guys who race hard, and could definitely come out as a car that wins that weekend.
"I think our biggest threat right now is Chaz. He was obviously extremely fast there last year, he's always fast at Adelaide.
"There's guys that you definitely want to get through, and Kai could shock us, but I'd say we're happy that Kai got through."
But his Triple Eight teammate Feeney disagreed, saying anyone could take the championship with the new format.
"It's very easy to look at certain people and go I wish they were in, or I wish they weren't in," explained Feeney.
"But, man, Kai's in there for a reason. He can thank me actually, because I got him through into the finals on the last lap at Bathurst, so he can thank me for that.
"We've got to be realistic about that. Cam and Matt have won at Adelaide the last couple of years, they're both extremely fast there, and I've got no doubt Kai is going to be running up the front.
"We've got our hands full with the three others that are in there. I'm not writing Kai off by any means.
"I think everyone who was in the finals has a chance of winning a race in Adelaide.
"No one expected him to get through Gold Coast, no one expected him to get through here.
"The bloke could go and bloody win the championship."
The fairy tale narrative
If anyone was looking to create a book on the Supercars finals, they would write a narrative with a fight between a two-time Bathurst champion, a reigning title winner, the sport's rising star and a rookie.
And that's what they got.
Benchmark driver Feeney with a record 16 pole positions in 2025, two-time Bathurst winner Mostert who has been in fine form recently, reigning champion Brown and the rookie, Allen.
The young gun has well and truly benefitted from the dramas of the inaugural Finals format.
Now, he'll don one of the four orange numbers to show his championship contention in the field running around Adelaide.
"I think I probably got too caught up in what was going on, the championship fight last year in Super2 and trying to do the back-to-back," lamented Allen to Wide World of Sports.
"That probably hurt my driving because I wasn't flowing and letting it happen.
"This year was a bit the same at the start of the year. I was trying to learn fast and having some results that weren't looking really good.
"Coming [into] almost half way through the year nowhere in the championship and just being another rookie was really tough to just get my head around.
"But then at the same time like it all happened pretty quick.
"We had two podiums at Darwin and the momentum had a massive shift throughout the rest of the year. To walk away after this weekend, no matter what happens, I'm going to be very proud of our year.
"We got to the final four."
Going into the final race weekend, Feeney has 5050 points to his name, followed by Mostert at 5030, Brown at 5015, and Allen at 5000.
It will be whoever comes out on Sunday with the largest points haul that takes the 2025 crown.
The aim for Allen in Adelaide?
"Using my aggression when I need," he said.
"First and foremost is [to] get the car as fast as we can, and then you can go from there. If you've got a fast car, you can be aggressive, put the pressure on and if we do all those things right, then I'll be on it.
"Because the only way I can win this championship is for me to win every race, pretty much. So, it's going to be hard, but at the same time, I've got absolutely nothing to lose.
"So, go there, get the elbows out, have some fun. I really look forward to just racing around here.
"It's one of my favourite tracks.
"I'm keen to get on there and lay it on the line, [get the] mirrors off on the walls, have some fun, get up and rub some panels, and then if we do all that right, we should be walking away with some good results."
Adelaide will host three races on Friday, Saturday and Sunday – meaning that each driver has ample time to make up points.
Friday's race begins at 4.50pm AEDT, with both Saturday and Sunday's races beginning at 3.45pm AEDT.
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