THE Turtle Wax Trans Am Series will have a Supercars driver in its ranks this weekend after all, with Brodie Kostecki confirmed to join the field at Queensland Raceway.
Controversy broke out last month when Shane van Gisbergen was blocked from competing as tensions heightened between Supercars and the Australian Racing Group-run SpeedSeries.
That boiled over, with Barry Rogers – the largest shareholder in ARG, which is part of the RACE consortium that owns Supercars – particularly expressing frustration publicly.
Kostecki soon emerged as a contender to take van Gisbergen’s place in the Shaw Motorsport Chevrolet Camaro, and now Boost Mobile has come to the party to underpin the entry.
It will mark a Trans Am debut for Kostecki, who yesterday navigated a Tailem Bend downpour to take the fifth podium of his Repco Supercars Championship career.
“The Trans Am cars are pretty similar to what I drove in the States a few years ago,” said the 24-year-old, who raced in the NASCAR K&N Pro Series East as a teenager.
“They have the same tyre and the cars are built relatively the same. It might take me a little while to get back in the swing of it, but I’m really looking forward to it.
“It’s exciting to get the call up for Tim [Shaw] to drive his car. I will race anything with four wheels and a roof. That’s what I’m all about.
“I love hard racing, and this is a very competitive series up front. It’s great that I have the chance to dip my toes in a new class and have a go.
“I’m pretty competitive, I want to go and do the best I can. I want to come home with a trophy, but we’ll see how the weekend unfolds.”
Shaw Motorsport’s Tim Shaw thanked Kostecki’s Erebus Motorsport boss Barry Ryan for making the opportunity possible.
“In the wake of SVG being restricted, the opportunity came up for Brodie to drive my Trans Am car,” he said.
“During a conversation with Barry Ryan, it seemed like a good fit. Brodie did a couple of seasons in NASCAR-style cars.
“He is a very talented driver and has a good relationship with the team at Norwell Motorplex, where our car is based.
“Barry is a hardcore racer and keen to promote his drivers. He wants to see his drivers in race cars and see them get miles. Will Brown races in TCR, so this is not a strange thing for him to allow his drivers to sample other, different machinery.
“The more they race, the more the drivers and their teams build their fanbase. I love Brodie and Barry’s attitude, it’s great for motorsport.”
Former Supercars and NASCAR driver Owen Kelly leads the Trans Am standings heading into Round 5, six points clear of 2021 title winner Nathan Herne.
TCR Australia and GT World Challenge Australia are among other categories which will feature at the August 5-7 event.
