Mixed feelings for Wood after clinching rookie honours

Ending the 2024 Repco Supercars Championship as top rookie is a source of pride for rising star Ryan Wood, despite falling short of his trophy goal.

After leaving the first round of the season with a double DNF, Wood scored a front row start in Perth and top 10 finishes in Melbourne, Taupō, Perth, Townsville, Tasmania and Adelaide.

The New Zealander's first round proved costly, Wood finishing 302 points outside the top 10. However, he was still seven positions and 417 points ahead of next best rookie Jaxon Evans, and 465 points ahead of Aaron Love.

Wood, through, proved to many he can race with the big names, notably going head-to-head with eventual champion Will Brown in Perth, and scoring Shootout berths at Taupō, Sandown, Gold Coast and Adelaide.

"Well that’s 2024 all done, a pretty eventful one today, made my way up to fourth but then got turned around, would have been a fun race to watch for the fans," said Wood, who ran fourth in the Adelaide finale before being spun out of fourth in the opening laps.

"A what could have been, we had super fast cars all weekend with no luck on our side, the crew did an awesome job all weekend, a massive credit goes to them.

"At the end of the day, we can hold our heads high, pretty proud of my first rookie season, made a lot of Shootouts, made plenty of mistakes but learnt a lot, we didn’t get the trophy we wanted to this year but we were the top rookie in the standings."

WAU CEO Bruce Stewart had seen enough before Adelaide, saying: "He's come a long way this year. He's certainly developed and he's looking fitter than ever.

“The kid has got genuine speed and talent. Anything can happen with Woody. He's the same person you see when you're interviewed, it's what he is like amongst the crew.

"He's just a fantastic human. We have no doubt he has huge talent."

Wood will commence his sophomore season at the opening round in Sydney on February 21-23. Tickets for the event are on sale now.