Payne/Allen line-up Supercars' youngest in 18 years

Penrite Racing's bold move to field to young drivers in the 2025 Repco Supercars Championship will produce the youngest driver line-up in nearly 20 years.

New Zealander Matt Payne will head into his third season a two-time Supercars race winner aged just 22, while incoming driver Kai Allen is still a teenager at 19.

A combined driver age of 41 is the youngest in Supercars in 18 years, when Perkins Engineering threw 20-year-olds Jack Perkins and Shane Price in for the start of the 2007 season.

Coincidentally, Grove Racing was born out of the Perkins squad, which in 2009 became Kelly Racing, which was bought out by the Groves ahead of the 2022 season.

Payne debuted in the main game as a 20-year-old in the 2022 Repco Bathurst 1000, finishing sixth alongside 2021 winner Lee Holdsworth.

Allen, who won the 2023 Super2 title, made his main game debut as an 18-year-old in 2023 aboard a Dick Johnson Racing wildcard Mustang with Simona De Silvestro.

The two drivers have already set some 'youngest ever' benchmarks in recent years, with Allen becoming the youngest driver to win the Super2 title in 2023.

Back in March, Payne joined fellow 21-year-old Broc Feeney and 25-year-old Will Brown on the Melbourne podium, with the trio combining for a record-low average age of 22 years and 327 days.

The Payne/Allen combination will also beat the combined age of 42 for Zane Goddard and Jake Kostecki, who were both aged 21 when they began the 2021 season for Matt Stone Racing.

Allen recently completed an evaluation day at Winton Motor Raceway, just days after being thrown in the deep end for the final race in Adelaide after Richie Stanaway was ruled out with concussion.

Payne and Allen will commence their 2025 Repco Supercars Championship campaigns at the opening round in Sydney on February 21-23. Tickets are on sale now.