Brodie Kostecki
Brodie Paul "Bush" Kostecki is an Australian professional racing driver. He has been competing in the Repco Supercars Championship, driving the #17 Ford Mustang GT for Dick Johnson Racing, Kostecki won the 2023 Supercars Championship. He also previously competed in the NASCAR Cup Series and what is now the ARCA Menards Series East.
Racing career
NASCAR
In 2023, Kostecki returned to NASCAR to make his Cup Series debut in the race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. He drove for Richard Childress Racing, which fielded an additional car for him that weekend, the No. 33 Chevrolet. He would qualify in eleventh and would finish in 22nd position.On October 2, 2023, it was announced that Kostecki would run part-time in the Cup Series again in 2024 and it would be for Erebus Motorsport, his team in the Supercars Series, which would debut in NASCAR in a partnership with Richard Childress Racing. The announcement had a picture of a Cup Series car with the No. 99, Kostecki's Supercar number, but with Trackhouse Racing already having that number in the Cup Series, Erebus will need to pick a different number to use for their entry. Richard Childress stated that the plan is for Kostecki to run up to five Cup Series races in 2024, including an oval race. On May 1, 2024, Paul Morris, Kostecki's long–time mentor, confirmed that the planned Cup races had been axed.
Supercars
2019
Kostecki debuted in the Bathurst 1000">Bathurst 1000">Bathurst 1000, alongside cousin Jake Kostecki. The pair failed to finish after a crash on Lap 111. The pair competed at the following two rounds at the Gold Coast and Sandown with a best finish of eighth place coming at Sandown.2020
Kostecki was given an opportunity by Eggleston Motorsport, run by Rachael and Ben Eggleston. He claimed two poles, two wins, and three fastest laps in the COVID-shortened 2020 Dunlop Series.Kostecki was signed by Erebus for the 2020 Bathurst 1000 alongside Anton De Pasquale. They finished ninth in the 2020 edition of The Great Race.
2021
In 2021, Kostecki was signed alongside Will Brown to drive for Erebus following the departures of David Reynolds and Anton de Pasquale. He scored three podiums throughout the year at Sandown, Eastern Creek and Bathurst. He ended the year in ninth place, scoring 1788 points.2022
In 2022, Kostecki jumped to seventh in the points standings but scored one less podium than the year prior. These podium appearances coming at Eastern Creek and The Bend.2023
Kostecki entered the 2023 season without a single win from the previous year, with five podiums from 71 starts. In 2023, Kostecki and his team, Erebus Motorsport, secured both the drivers and teams titles.2024
In early February 2024, just weeks before the season opening Bathurst 500, it was reported that Kostecki had parted ways with the team after rumours swirled about how Kostecki was being treated by the team internally. Further, naming rights sponsor Coca-Cola, as well as Shaw and Partners, and SCTR withdrew their financial support of the team. Kostecki was replaced by Todd Hazelwood at the 2024 season opening round, as well as the Melbourne round. On April 7, 2024, it was announced that Kostecki would rejoin the team at the Taupō round.Personal life
Kostecki is of Ukrainian descent.Kostecki earned the nickname "Bush" after an incident at Norwell Motorplex where he and his cousin Kurt experienced brake failure in a VT Commodore whilst Kurt was driving and Brodie was in the passenger seat. Upon realising the brakes had failed, Brodie jumped out the passenger side door of the car at approximately 110kph, sliding his body across grass and up an embankment into a bush. Miraculously, he was not injured in the crash.