» Supercars: Smith secures full-time BJR drive

Jack Smith will drive full-time for Brad Jones Racing in the 2020 Supercars Championship season.

The 20-year-old has spent the past two seasons racing for BJR in the feeder Super2 Championship, while making occasional solo wildcard outings for the team at selected events as well as serving as a co-driver to Todd Hazelwood at Matt Stone Racing in the Pirtek Enduro Cup rounds.

Smith has long been considered a shoe-in to graduate to the top-tier series, perhaps more by dint of considerable financial backing from the family-owned business SCT Logistics than any headline-grabbing results this year. In his eight wildcard races he placed no better than 20th, while his best finish to-date in this year’s Super2 season is a seventh place at Townsville.

SCT Logistics will likely be a naming rights backer for his Holden ZB Commodore next year, with the entry underpinned by a Racing Entitlements Contract purchased by BJR from former driver Jason Bright as it expands to a four-car operation in 2020.

“I am very excited about 2020, my first year as a full-time Supercars driver,” Smith said.

“Over the past four years I’ve experienced many highs and lows in various categories, but it’s all been a lead up to next year, when the real work begins.

“BJR has been my home for the past three years and I feel great about competing in my first full-time year with them. There are a lot of aspects of this sport that I’ve learnt, and I’m looking forward to continuing that learning next year.

“I’m very grateful for this opportunity and it’s going to be a big year for myself, family, team and sponsor group.”

Smith’s appointment locks in three of BJR’s four seats for 2020 – alongside Nick Percat and Macauley Jones – while the future of current driver Tim Slade remains an open question due to a largely indifferent 2019 campaign.

2020 Australian Supercars Championship – Predicted Entry List
Team	Drivers
DJR Team Penske	Fabian Coulthard	Scott McLaughlin
Triple Eight Race Engineering	Jamie Whincup	Shane van Gisbergen
Erebus Motorsport	David Reynolds	Anton de Pasquale
Tickford Racing	Cameron Waters	Lee Holdsworth*
Tickford Racing	Jack Le Brocq*
23Red Racing (Tickford Racing)	Will Davison
Brad Jones Racing	Nick Percat	TBA
Brad Jones Racing	Jack Smith
Tim Blanchard Racing (BJR)	Macauley Jones
Kelly Racing	Rick Kelly	Andre Heimgartner
Team 18	Mark Winterbottom	Scott Pye
Matt Stone Racing	Garry Jacobson*	TBA
TEKNO / One World	James Courtney	TBA
Walkinshaw Andretti United	Chaz Mostert*	TBA