Kai Allen has had a meteoric rise to Supercars, making his full-time debut in 2025 at just 19 years old.
The Mount Gambier-born driver comes from a sporting family, with sister Nyah Allen a professional netballer for Super Netball team Melbourne Mavericks.
Allen wasted little time getting into V8s. After a season in the Toyota Gazoo Racing Australia 86 Series in 2021, he made his Super3 Series debut in 2022 with Eggleston Motorsport in a Holden VE Commodore. He narrowly missed out on winning that title in his debut year, which went the way of Brad Vaughan after Allen crashed in the final race of the season at Adelaide.
In 2023, Allen stepped up to the Super2 Series – again with Eggleston Motorsport, this time in a Holden ZB Commodore. Consistency paid dividends. In all but two of the 12 races, he finished in the top five and was twice a race winner. Allen won the title, beating Tickford’s Zak Best and Walkinshaw’s Ryan Wood.
During his Super2 Series-winning season, Allen also made his Bathurst 1000 debut with Dick Johnson Racing alongside Simona De Silvestro. It was a relatively low-key debut, finishing one lap down in 20th in a Shell-backed Ford Mustang.
Despite winning the Super2 Series, Allen returned for a second Super2 campaign with Eggleston Motorsport. He began the year with three straight wins, but a DNF at Bathurst hurt his challenge and finished third behind Zach Bates and Aaron Cameron.
Dick Johnson Racing elected not to promote Allen for the 2025 season, despite a second Enduro Cup campaign, and was instead picked up by Grove Racing. A concussion for Richie Stanaway opened the door for an early debut at the 2024 Adelaide 500, where Allen finished 22nd.
Grove Racing gave Allen a full-time drive in 2025 alongside Matthew Payne and in his first year scored his first podium at Darwin. Allen also qualified for the inaugural Supercars Finals.
