MATT STONE RACING SECURES SECOND ENTRY

Matt Stone Racing secures second entry – Photo: InSyde Media

Supercars minnow Matt Stone Racing has acquired a second entry to confirm its expansion next season.

By MARK FOGARTY

AUTO ACTION has learned that MSR will take over one of the Racing Entitlement Contracts (RECs) to be relinquished by Garry Rogers Motorsport, joining the licence it is assuming from Kelly Racing.

GRM is quitting Supercars at the end of the season, while KR is cutting back to two cars as it switches from Nissan Altimas to Ford Mustangs.

KR’s other surplus REC is going to Team 18, which like MSR is expanding to two cars, with the remaining GRM REC likely to be handed back to Supercars.

MSR is set to replace Todd Hazelwood with Brad Jones Racing refugee Tim Slade, backed by long-time supporter James Rosenberg, while Garry Jacobson – a casualty of KR’s contraction – is understood to have secured the second seat.

MSR will run a pair of Triple Eight-built ZB Commodores with a customer support deal.

Team 18 will also continue its Triple Eight alliance, with Walkinshaw Andretti United reject Scott Pye set to join Mark Winterbottom.

Confirmation that both MSR and Team 18 are expanding to two cars each fills all but one gap in the anticipated 2020 field, which is expected to remain at 24 cars.

Still to be confirmed is the new Sydney team’s planned second entry, which will take over one of the soon-to-be-three RECs held by Supercars.

Supercars holds the RECs handed back by Triple Eight and Tickford Racing at the end of last year, to be joined by the spare GRM licence if it isn’t traded in the meantime.

Prime Sydney team signing James Courtney’s Triple Eight customer Commodore will be underpinned by TEKNO Autosport’s REC.

The leading candidate for the seat is Richie Stanaway, backed by Boost Mobile.

While outspoken Boost boss Peter Adderton vowed to pull out of Supercars if a control upright wasn’t mandated next year, he is committed to continuing personal sponsorship of Courtney and also support of Stanaway.

Todd Hazelwood could be on the move next year – Photo: InSyde Media

Hazelwood is an outside contender for the second WAU seat alongside Tickford defector Chaz Mostert, but GRM casualty James Golding is the new front-runner.

Golding is also in the frame to replace Slade at BJR, which is expanding to four cars to run SCT-backed Jack Smith.

The extra BJR entry is taking over Jason Bright’s REC, which has to move on after being leased for the maximum two years by MSR.

Also in the running to replace Slade at BJR are Hazelwood and Super2 standout Bryce Fulwood, a funded outside possibility for WAU as well.

The trading in RECs has been aided by the fact that they have little or no value in the current environment.

AUTO ACTION has learned that after rejecting GRM’s request to delay its 2020 entry commitment for no more than two weeks, Supercars informed the stalwart team that it could re-tender for its RECs if it belatedly decided to continue next year.

Although RECs are now essentially worthless, the offer was disingenuous and an affront to Supercars’ third oldest team.

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