Supercars has today gone public with its pit order for the upcoming campaign, led by teams' champions Triple Eight Race Engineering at the pit exit end.
They will be followed by the two Dick Johnson Racing entries followed by the re-expanded four-car Tickford outfit.
Walkinshaw Andretti United is next ahead of Erebus Motorsport, Brad Jones Racing, Team 18, Grove Racing, Matt Stone Racing and PremiAir Racing.
At the very back of the pit order is the Blanchard Racing Team, which has not only been saddled with the pit entry end, but has copped a $200,000 cost hike for its troubles.
The issue for BRT is the outcome of the entry tender that took place mid-way through last year, which saw the field increase by one through Tickford's successful bid for a fourth car.
That pushed the BRT entry out of its pit arrangement with Tickford, Tim Slade having shared a garage with then-Tickford driver Jack Le Brocq last season.
BRT must now run a standalone pit operation, which means it has needed to build up a pit boom and take on two contractors for non-refuelling race weekends and three for refuelling events.
The odd number of entries has been a source of frustration for team boss Tim Blanchard since the outcome of the entry tender back in June.
"I was vocal about it at the time but [Supercars] didn't listen," Blanchard told Motorsport.com.
"I don't think it was a well thought out decision to have an odd number of cars on the grid, because it adds cost to our business.
"If you look at the last 10 years, with the exception of Grove Racing and maybe Erebus, although I'd argue they went back to one car in a way when they moved to Melbourne, name one team that's joined Supercars with a two-car model?
"DJR Team Penske, 23Red, LD Motorsport, Team 18 they all started with a one-car model.
"And all we've done is add an extra $200,000 to a new team's operating costs. It makes it incredibly hard for new teams to join the sport. We should be reducing the barriers for entry not increasing them.
"We're going to end up with 20 cars on the grid if you don't make it easier for teams to join.
"The current teams aren't going to be there forever.
According to Blanchard the main issue with the standalone pit boom is the additional staff, which comes at both a financial and performance cost.
"Supercars says it's $20,000 to $25,000 to fly someone around for the whole season and accomodate them, feed them, pay for airport parking and so on," said Blanchard.
"And then you've got to pay them a salary or a daily rate as well. So there's an added expense there. If we were sharing a boom we wouldn't need to take those two or three people.
"There's also the performance side of it. We now need two or three weekend contractors in our team, whereas every other team gets to train with their pitstop crew on a daily basis."
Supercars had the opportunity to award two spare entries during the tender to maintain an even number of cars, Matt Stone Racing having also put in an ultimately unsuccessful bid in for a third car.
That would have left the door open for the BRT car to be paired with the third MSR entry.
BRT was also thought to be in the frame for a bid to expand to two cars, however the early nature of the tender process, right when BRT was in its infancy, was a hurdle for Blanchard.
"Why did it have to be so early?," he said. "If we did it in September, October, we would have had a fair crack at it ourselves. But at the time we were only two or three months into our rookie season, we weren't in a position to make a decision on whether we were ready or able to step up to two cars."
2022 Supercars pit order
1. Triple Eight Race Engineering
2. Triple Eight Race Engineering
3. Dick Johnson Racing
4. Dick Johnson Racing
5. Tickford Racing
6. Tickford Racing
7. Tickford Racing
8. Tickford Racing
9. Walkinshaw Andretti United
10. Walkinshaw Andretti United
11. Erebus Motorsport
12. Erebus Motorsport
13. Brad Jones Racing
14. Brad Jones Racing
15. Brad Jones Racing
16. Brad Jones Racing (SCT Logistics)
17. Team 18
18. Team 18
19. Grove Racing
20. Grove Racing
21. Matt Stone Racing
22. Matt Stone Racing
23. PremiAir Racing
24. PremiAir Racing
25. Blanchard Racing Team
