In his rookie season, Allen has been a standout for Grove Racing. In just his 21st career start, the 20-year-old took his first Supercars podium.
Darwin represented something of a turning point for Allen, who has stood on the podium four more times since that breakthrough result.
“Looking back at round four or five, I think I was 19th in the championship, so we’ve had a big march to get to fourth at the moment,” said Allen.
“Yeah, beyond my expectations. We set a goal at the start of the year to get to the top 10. That felt pretty unrealistic after a few rounds of getting bashed around and pushed around.
“It felt like we’re not really meant to be there, but then once we got to Darwin we had a really big swing in momentum and we’ve just carried that now.
“Obviously there are some up and down races, but at the end of the day, we’ve done what we could with this new format and we’ve maximised it well.
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“We got through after Bathurst with three points to 11th, and we just snuck into 10th. Then we set a goal at Gold Coast to try and transfer through into the seventh for [Sandown]. Got to sixth and then got through to fourth.
“Obviously stayed out of trouble [at Sandown], paid dividends, and that’s how you have to play in this game. We’ll get a speedy car for Adelaide, so we’ll see what we can do.
“If it was the old format, I’d probably only get to eighth in the championship, which is still really good, but it makes it a lot more exciting.”
Allen’s inclusion as one of the four championship contenders came at his teammate Matt Payne’s expense.
The Mount Gambier-born and raised driver is thankful to have Payne as something of an assistant in his pursuit of the championship.
Like Chaz Mostert, Allen cast some concerns over Triple Eight and how it will manage points leader Broc Feeney and his teammate Will Brown.
Unsurprisingly, Allen said he likes the new Finals Series format.
“Before, you’d be racing with no intent and you’d just be going out there for race wins, not really championships. It adds a whole different pressure now on the game,” said Allen.
“There are a lot of guys that’ll be disappointed with how they went so it’s gonna make the racing exciting at Adelaide.
“You’ve seen with Woody (Ryan Wood) how he helped Chaz. I’ve got my speedy fast teammate Matt Payne who’s going to be backing me up in Adelaide.
“I think the two Red Bull guys will be hard to figure out, who is the priority in there. At the same time, we’ve gotta do what’s best for us and just focus on ourselves and we’ll see what happens.”
There is no doubt Allen is the dark horse entering Adelaide.
Few picked the #26 Ford Mustang driver to beat his teammate, let alone make the final four with more experienced heads like Cameron Waters and Brodie Kostecki.
Yet, in his first season, Allen has as good a chance as Feeney, Mostert, and Brown to be champion.
Allen has championship showdown experience. He knows the pain of losing, having thrown away the Super3 Series title to Brad Vaughan after crashing at Turn 8.
That, he said, was a lesson.
“First one is not hit turn eight, because that broke my heart in 2022 – so that’s a big one,” said Allen.
“I think there’s a lot of pressure around that track. It’s intense, it’s fast, and a lot of stuff can go wrong, so for us now is making sure that we have a fast car and we roll out quick.
“Penrite Mustangs suit that track, I think it suits my driving style, but at the same time, I’ve learned a lot of how to lose them, how to win them, and there is a lot from applying pressure in the right way, extracting the most out of the races you can.
“There are three races there, which is really cool. There’s more opportunity for success, but also for stuff to go wrong. So as a team, we need to make sure we’re executing in every aspect, the car’s prepped right, the car’s fast enough, the boys execute their pit stops, and we should walk out with a really, really good result. I’m excited to bring it on and see what happens.”
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