The five most recent Supercars supersubs

Cooper Murray's frantic Friday call-up for the VAILO Adelaide 500 is a rare but not unprecedented phenomenon in the Repco Supercars Championship.

With Jack Le Brocq's wife Mackenzie expecting the arrival of the couple's first child this weekend, Erebus had a ready-made replacement in 2025 recruit Murray, who has linked with the team since his Triple Eight wildcard duties concluded at Bathurst.

Ahead of Murray's whirlwind debut, Supercars.com runs through the last five supersubs who were thrown into the deep end at the last minute.

Paul Dumbrell for Nick Percat, 2015

Nick Percat's 2015 season with Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport ended due to a blood infection caused by right-foot burns from an overheating exhaust header on the Gold Coast. Percat contested the subsequent Pukekohe event but was then hospitalised in Melbourne, where the extent of the illness became apparent. He contested the two Friday practice sessions at Phillip Island, and had been cleared to race, but opted against doing so. Karl Reindler was originally on standby, but team owner Lucas Dumbrell took the opportunity to put brother Paul in the car for the weekend. The elder Dumbrell finished all three races 21st before Jack Perkins took over for the Homebush finale.

Michael Caruso for Richie Stanaway, 2019

A heavy practice crash for the Kiwi at the rural Victorian venue caused a neck injury which could be traced back to horrifying airborne crash at Spa in 2012. Enduro recruit Chris Pither took over midway through the Winton event after Stanaway drove the Saturday race, and was also in the saddle for the following round in Darwin. Garry Rogers then called upon former driver Michael Caruso for a two round cameo in Townsville and Ipswich, before Caruso paired with Cam Waters at the enduros. In four starts Caruso recorded finishes on 22nd, ninth, 17th, and 20th.

Dylan O'Keeffe for Richie Stanaway, 2019

Stanaway's torrid 2019 season with Garry Rogers Motorsport featured another mid-event driver swap, though this time in much different circumstances. Having missed a Sunday morning signing session at the Gold Coast 600, the Kiwi was stood down from his driving duties by Rogers, who promoted GRM Super2 prospect Dylan O'Keeffe to a shock main game debut. O'Keeffe performed admirably on the unforgiving street circuit to finish 18th, having had just 20 minutes to prepare for qualifying. The benching, combined with the injury flare up saw Stanaway retire from motorsport at the end of the 2019 season before returning for the 2022 Bathurst 1000 alongside Greg Murphy in an Erebus wildcard.

Luke Youlden for David Reynolds, 2021

Amidst a weird period for the Repco Supercars Championship during the second wave of the COVID-19 pandemic, the strict New South Wales health restrictions saw David Reynolds' exemption overturned after the first of four Sydney events. His Bathurst winning co-driver Luke Youlden, signed to reunite with Reynolds at Kelly Grove Racing at the 2021 Bathurst 1000, was given an unlikely solo debut at 43 years old, and would start six races across two events. Youlden scored a best finish of 11th, but more often than not finished outside the top 20 before Reynolds returned for the fourth and final Sydney event.

Todd Hazelwood for Brodie Kostecki, 2024

In an odd coincidence, Murray's late call-up for the Adelaide 500 means Erebus will bookend their 2024 campaign with supersubs in either of their two Camaros. Enduro recruit Todd Hazelwood was rushed into a two-round cameo at the start of the season as Brodie Kostecki remained on the sidelines, and performed admirably against his 2022 Matt Stone Racing teammate Jack Le Brocq. Hazelwood was 11th in the standings at the end of his two round stint, before making way for the return of the reigning champion in New Zealand. A 500km Bathurst warmup propelled Hazelwood to a remarkable Repco Bathurst 1000 victory alongside Kostecki in October.