Broc Feeney has stamped his authority on the Repco Sprint Cup with Saturday victory at the NTI Townsville 500, with Chaz Mostert pulling off a stirring drive from 17th to second.
Feeney’s march to victory No. 9 of 2025 came after the championship leader jumped early leader Matt Payne in pit lane, in what was the second of two bp pulse Safety Car periods in the race.
Try as he might, Mostert was unable to take enough time out of Feeney in an enthralling last stint. However, it was a job well done for both Walkinshaw Andretti United drivers, with Ryan Wood also motoring from 24th to eighth.
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Payne came home third ahead of reigning champion Will Brown, who finished fourth despite serving a time penalty over earlier contact with Will Davison.
While Feeney claimed the headlines, a lap 1 crash stole the early attention, with James Golding ruled out of contention on the spot after catching air in a wild pile-up at Turn 3.
The incident implicated Tickford Racing teammates Cam Waters and Thomas Randle, who finished 20th and 21st, with Jaxon Evans also forced out. There was heartbreak for James Courtney, meanwhile, who suffered an engine failure after starting fifth.
“Chaos unfolds,” Supercars broadcaster Mark Skaife said.
Kostecki converts pole to race win | 00:53
Heading into Sunday, Feeney leads Payne by 201 points, with Brown 210 down.
Pole sitter David Reynolds and Payne led the field away as the lights went out, with the latter into a clear lead through the Turn 1 sweeper. Behind them, several cars avoided damage in a Turn 2 concertina, with Jack Le Brocq holding off Feeney.
In a wild sequence of events through Turn 3, Waters was tipped into a spin by Evans, with Golding sent towards the barriers. The #31 PremiAir Chevrolet was tipped on its side and rode across the top of Randle’s Castrol Ford, which was forced into pit lane with a broken shock absorber. Supercars broadcaster Neil Crompton labelled it the “wall of death”.
Waters stopped twice with the field under the control of the bp pulse Safety Car, and remained 22nd and on the lead lap. Evans, meanwhile, was forced into the garage for running repairs.
“How’s the luck for Jaxon Evans? He’s been caught in this thing again,” Skaife said.
“The unlucky run, you cannot believe how he’s gone on the first lap of a couple of these races in recent times.”
The race restarted on lap 6, and Payne quickly tried to open a gap on Reynolds. Behind them, Feeney picked off Le Brocq for third, with Brodie Kostecki muscling past Courtney for fifth. Kostecki attacked Le Brocq into Turn 11, which helped Courtney through into fifth. Davison, Brown and Anton De Pasquale made it a battle pack of six cars, with Payne, Reynolds and Feeney given breathing space.
As Feeney picked off Reynolds, Davison defended from Brown into Turn 2, and copped a hit from behind. The #17 Shell V-Power Fords’ rear guard was pushed back onto the tyre, and Davison was called into pit lane. In the effort to come in, Davison was sent into a spin by Andre Heimgartner. Brown, meanwhile, was hit with a five-second penalty over the contact.
However, the race was quickly neutralised for a second time once Courtney pulled his smoking #7 Snowy River Caravans Ford over on the run to pit entry, with the Safety Car deployed for a second time.
All cars bar De Pasquale, Cooper Murray, Bryce Fullwood and Ryan Wood stopped, with Feeney jumping Payne for the effective lead. Payne was forced to baulk behind Brown, allowing Feeney past. Through the stops, the new 10 read Feeney, Payne, Reynolds, Kostecki, Le Brocq, Mostert, De Pasquale, Brown, Murray and Heimgartner.
Feeney led the field to green on lap 18, and Mostert muscled past Le Brocq through Turn 11 on the following lap. Kostecki and Mostert picked off the ailing Reynolds, with Feeney holding Payne at bay. Down the order, Heimgartner sent Hill into a spin at Turn 11, with the #8 R&J Batteries Camaro driver awarded a 15-second penalty.
Feeney, Payne, Kostecki and Mostert drove away from the field. Feeney slowly opened up a margin as Kostecki and Mostert kept pace with Payne. After sliding wide at Turn 11, Kostecki let Mostert through at Turn 2 on lap 35, and dropped behind Brown on lap 38.
Feeney’s lead breached three seconds with 27 laps to go, with Reynolds stopping from sixth on the following lap. Mostert was brought in as Brown attacked, with WAU first to blink. However, WAU was slow on the right rear wheel, and Mostert stalled as he hesitated.
Payne was brought in in response, and was forced to defend as his tyres came up to temperature. Feeney stopped, and rejoined ahead of the two Fords. Kostecki then stopped, but question marks remained over his right rear wheel.
Mostert fought past Payne with 20 laps to go, but their battle handed Feeney more breathing room in the fight for the effective lead. Behind them, Brown muscled past Kostecki and De Pasquale, but was over 11 seconds behind Payne.
Feeney broke the back of Mostert’s efforts in the closing laps, closing out his 21st career win and first at Reid Park by 6.429s, with Payne 13.765s ahead of Brown, who claimed fastest lap bonus points.
Kostecki, De Pasquale, Le Brocq, Wood, Murray and Reynolds rounded out the top 10, with Nick Percat racing from 20th to 12th, and Richie Stanaway from 22nd to 15th.
Supercars action resumes on Saturday with Boost Mobile Qualifying at 10:05am AEST, followed by the Boost Mobile Top Ten Shootout at 12:05pm. The final race of the weekend, Race 22, commences at 3:00pm.
Foxtel/Kayo’s Saturday coverage commences at 8:00am AEST.
This article initially appeared on Supercars.com and was republished with permission.