Brown closes on Supercars glory after qualifying chaos

Thirty points are all that stand between Will Brown and a maiden Supercars championship after one of the more bizarre qualifying sessions in recent memory.

The Triple Eight speedster secured provisional pole in a truncated qualifier at the Adelaide 500 on Friday and has a golden opportunity to wrap up the title with a race to spare.

Brown has comfortably been the season's most consistent driver, securing a podium in all 11 rounds so far.

With a 180-point lead over teammate Broc Feeney at the top of the standings, the 26-year-old can seal the championship with another top-three finish on Saturday.

Failing that, a 30-point advance on Feeney's placement will suffice.

Luck was on Brown's side during qualifying on Friday, when he found himself top after the session was cut short due to a bizarre trio of crashes.

Richie Stanaway, Cam Hill and David Reynolds implausibly smashed into the same section of track after less than a third of the session had been run, triggering a red flag and an abrupt termination to the day's action.

"I'm glad to get that qualifying session over and done with in, let's say, unfortunate circumstances," Brown said.

"But glad to be in the top 10 and hopefully I'll be up there for tomorrow. The safest place to be on the grid is pole position."

Brown's strategic decision to go hard from the start paid off, but other drivers who opted for a more gradual entry to qualifying were not so lucky.

Walkinshaw Andretti United's Chaz Mostert, who sits third on the standings but out of championship contention, was yet to set a consequential lap time before the stewards pulled the plug.

Team director Ryan Walkinshaw excoriated race officials for not resuming the session the next day.

"What a stupid decision from Motorsport Australia to declare that qualifying session instead of suspending it and finishing it off tomorrow," he wrote on X.

Motorsport Australia race director James Taylor said the session could not be resumed on Friday evening because repairs to the barrier from the crashes would not be finished before the circuit's 6.15pm cut-off time.

Declaring the race as they did was the same as if there was a sudden downpour halfway through and was the fairest result for the sport in general, Taylor added.

The top 10 shootout will get underway at 12.35pm (ACDT) on Saturday before race 23 of the Supercars season begins at 3.20pm.