Suburban Melbourne will come alive with the sound of Supercars as teams and drivers vie for one of the biggest prizes the series has to offer.

The regular 24-car field will be bolstered by wildcard entries from Triple Eight, with its Supercheap Auto-backed car, and Matt Chahda Motorsport.

There looks to be five firm favourites heading to Sandown led by a couple of in-form Fords.

Cam Waters is coming off a win last time out in Tasmania, is a former Sandown 500 winner and is paired with the ultra experienced James Moffat.

Chaz Mostert is another Ford driver in good touch and heads to the enduros with his title hopes very much in tact. He will be teamed up with Lee Holdsworth, the same co-driver that helped him conquer the Bathurst 1000 in 2021.

Another Ford pairing among there favourites is Matt Payne and Garth Tander in the Grove Racing Mustang.

On the Chevrolet side, it’s the two Triple Eight cars that head into the event as favourites.

Broc Feeney and Jamie Whincup are the reigning Sandown 500 winners, while new pairing Will Brown and Scott Pye is a strong combo – although Brown does have his title lead to consider.

When is the Supercars Sandown 500?

Track action for the Sandown 500 kicks off on Friday with a half-hour practice session open to all drivers starting at 10:45am AEST.

There is another 30-minute practice session at 12:45pm AEST on Friday, restricted to co-drivers, before a third session at 3:40pm AEST.

On Saturday there are two more practice sessions, one at 9:55am AEST and one at 12:05pm AEST before qualifying at 2:15pm AEST.

That will set grid positions 11-26 before the first five rows are settled by the Top 10 Shootout at 5:25pm AEST.

On Sunday there is a 20-minute warm-up at 9:55am AEST before the 500-kilometre race, which starts at 2:05pm AEST.

How can I watch the Supercars Sandown 500?

• Channel: Fox Sports 506

Live coverage of the Sandown 500 will be exclusive to Fox Sports across the weekend.

On Friday the live coverage starts at 10:30am AEST.

On Saturday Fox Sports will carry live coverage from 8:15am AEST and on Sunday it starts at 9:15am AEST.

Can I stream the Supercars Sandown 500?

The Sandown 500 will be broadcast live on subscription streaming services Foxtel Go and Kayo.

Viewers outside of Australia and New Zealand can watch via Supercars’ own SuperView service.

Will there be live updates from the Supercars Sandown 500?

Speedcafe will provide real-time, live updates from every session of the Sandown 500 thanks to Mobil 1.