THE 2024 Repco Supercars Championship grid is rapidly taking shape, but there is one name that surprisingly has not featured prominently in the silly season rumour mill.
Zak Best.
After finishing runner-up the past two Super2 seasons to Triple Eight (first Broc Feeney and then Declan Fraser), Best was considered unlucky to miss out on a Tickford Racing promotion for this year.
Instead, he struck a deal with Anderson Motorsport to steer an ex-Dick Johnson Racing Mustang for another Super2 title tilt – and at the midway mark of the season, he’s very much on track to shed the bridesmaid tag.
MORE: Anderson backs Best for Supercars graduation
But will even that be enough to secure his dream main game berth?
It seems the 21-year-old from Benalla is in grave danger of again missing out, despite his best efforts behind the wheel.
At worst-case scenario, there could be just one Supercars Championship team that hasn’t settled on its 2024 line-up: Matt Stone Racing.
MSR has publicly declared itself in the market for a proven replacement for Erebus-bound Jack Le Brocq, as well as being eager to retain Cameron Hill.
The Blanchard Racing Team appears to be trending towards a possible James Courtney/Aaron Love line-up, although that is no certainty as yet.
And Brad Jones Racing has been quiet on the topic of silly season, but little is expected to change there.
All other seats seem sorted, with the likes of Grove Racing, Walkinshaw Andretti United and Team 18 set to make announcements in the coming weeks.
More often than not in the past eight years, the Super2 champion has successfully graduated the following season; Cam Waters, Todd Hazelwood, Bryce Fullwood, Feeney and Fraser all being cases in point.
Besides his Super2 plaudits, Best impressed on Bathurst 1000 debut in 2021, and became the youngest polesitter in main game history last year at The Bend. Feeney has since eclipsed that record, but Best’s feat was all the more impressive as a solo wildcard.
So with three Super2 rounds remaining this year, and co-drive outings alongside Courtney in the Sandown 500 and Bathurst 1000, is there still time for Best to pull a rabbit out of a hat?
Time will tell.
