Crikey, that was a close one…

PublishedOctober 15, 2025 3:25 PM EDT•UpdatedOctober 15, 2025 2:45 PM EDT

FacebookTwitterEmailCopy Link

Motorsports always have a level of danger, and that level of danger-tude goes up when a local wildlife decides to get involved. An Australian Supercars driver learned this firsthand when a kangaroo gave him a scare during the Bathurst 1000 last weekend.

The Bathurst 1000 is one of, if not the, signature races on the Repco Supercars Championship calendar and sees a field of Ford Mustangs and Chevrolet Camaros (USA! USA! USA!) whipping around the legendary Mount Panorama Circuit.

READ: TONY STEWART CALLS NHRA FACEOFF WITH WIFE LEAH PRUETT A ‘LOSE‑LOSE SITUATION’

This circuit is just under four miles long and is a challenging combination of long straights, a climb up the namesake Mount Panorama, with some twisty technical sections as drivers traverse the top of the mountain and then climb back down.

However, things got dicey for rookie Kai Allen. As if it wasn’t already bad enough that he had to contend with rainy conditions, a kangaroo decided that the best time to cross the circuit was just as the Australian’s Mustang was barreling toward it.

Crikey. Crikey, indeed.

Now, I think we can all do the math on this one, but had that kangaroo hesitated for a fraction of a second, it would have been catastrophic for all parties. That poor ‘roo would have wound up as a puddle on the side of the track, the consistency of Vegemite. 

Meanwhile, something that size could have caused serious damage to Allen’s car or led to a massive crash.

Despite that close call, Allen and his co-driver, Dale Wood, had a pretty impressive day. After starting 22nd, they overcame an incident that left some bodywork hanging off the back of the car — effectively creating a parachute and hurting them on some of the circuit’s long straights — to finish in 8th.

“The only thing that I didn’t hit was a little kangaroo that blew straight past the front of my car at 250 (kph, or 160 mph) down Conrod, and I just missed it,” Allen said, per the Supercars website. “I owe him a beer, otherwise it would’ve been race over.”

Yeah. It would have been race over for Allen.

It would’ve been “Game of Life” over for that kangaroo who, fortunatley, lived to hop and kick people while balancing on its tail another day.
Â