2026 FINALS RULE CHANGES EXPLAINED
bp Adelaide Grand Final
16 Mar 2026
The 2026 Supercars season is set to be the biggest in the sport’s history, with 37 races across 14 rounds spread across Australia and New Zealand.
The 37-race calendar marks the most that Australia’s premier racing category has seen in over a decade. Only the 2014 season featured more, with 38 races.
The only thing more highly anticipated than the abundance of racing returning to Supercars this year is the addition of a third engine manufacturer to the series, who will enter their own Gen 3 Supercar in 2026.
Toyota Gazoo Racing will enter their GR Supra competitor against the Ford Mustang and Chevrolet Camaro in 2026. Homologation duties for the Japanese manufacturer will be undertaken by defending driver’s champions Walkinshaw TWG Racing and their two entries. Brad Jones Racing will also run 3 GR Supra entries to round out Toyota’s challengers for the Supercars Championship.
However, these are not the only changes for the 2026 season. After a memorable inaugural Finals Series, two tweaks have been made ahead of its second running.
The first change is that drivers eliminated from the Finals will revert to the points they finish on after the Bathurst 1000, plus the points at subsequent rounds.
This change allows battles for championship positions from 5th on down to continue through the final race at the bp Adelaide Grand Final. If the 2026 points system was applied in 2025, Chaz Mostert would still win the championship. Broc Feeney would have come home 2nd, 15 points ahead of his Red Bull Ampol Racing teammate Will Brown, with Kai Allen remaining in 4th.
A few more notable changes down the standings under the 2026 points system are that Brodie Kostecki would jump from 9th to 7th, while Thomas Randle falls from 7th to 11th.
The next change is a change that will directly affect the racing at the bp Adelaide Grand Final. The bonus points awarded ahead of the 2026 bp Adelaide Grand Final will now be in line with the bonus points awarded at the other Finals series rounds at Gold Coast and Sandown.
In 2025, the bonus points awarded to the Finals drivers ahead of the bp Adelaide Grand Final were as follows. 50 bonus points for the championship leader, 30 for second, 15 for third, and 0 for fourth.
This bonus point system differed from the bonus points awarded ahead of the first two finals rounds.
The championship leader ahead of the Gold Coast and Sandown events arrived with 150 bonus points, second place received 120 bonus points, third place received 96 bonus points, and fourth place received 78 bonus points.
In 2026, the bonus point system will be consistent across all three Finals rounds, featuring the 150-120-96-78 approach.
The Supercars season remains in three separate sections, the Sprint Cup, the Enduro Cup, and the Finals Series. Winners of both the Sprint and Enduro Cups will receive a guaranteed spot in the Finals Series as well as 25 bonus points headed into the Finals Series.
The Finals Series will also remain the same in terms of driver eliminations. Starting at 10 drivers before taking on the Streets of Surfer’s Paradise, eliminating 3 before heading to Sandown, where the final four championship contenders are decided.
The most highly anticipated Supercars season in over a decade culminates at the bp Adelaide Grand Final on November 26 to 29, crowning a champion from 4 contenders, across 3 races.
