'Oh my god': One year on, Tasmania’s photo finish still boggles the mind

"Oh my god, maybe it's going to be with two laps to go..."

That was the scenario Broc Feeney faced as he mowed down Matt Payne in Tasmania. Few could have predicted exactly how the race would finish, but the scene had been set after the fateful Safety Car period.

The thrilling climax to the 2025 Tasmania event has forever immortalised a moment that only Symmons Plains, which celebrates 100 championships races this weekend, could deliver.

Tasmania knows how to deliver a shock. Take the 2006 dust cloud and 2017 pile-up, for example. They were as heart-stopping as they were eye-catching.

But the 2025 finish was was no regular drag race down the pit straight, vis-à-vis the 2025 Sydney photo finish just weeks earlier. This was two drivers and two teams banking on two wildly different paths to victory.

The foreground

Little did we know that, at the time, Feeney was on the path to dominance. He was two for two in Tasmania, and had the race gone his way, a deserved sweep would have been the reward.

In contrast, Payne wasn't supposed to be a factor. The Kiwi hadn't been a factor in Tasmania at any stage since his debut at the circuit in 2023. Starting 11th, he barely featured in the discussion pre-race.

Will Brown and Ryan Wood shared a surprise front row, before James Golding was an even more surprising leader by the time the field scythed through Turns 1 and 2.

Payne was right near the chaos that saw Anton De Pasquale and Cooper Murray caught up at Turn 2. He still only emerged in 10th, with Feeney marching to fourth after teammate Brown had his ears boxed.

The big call

Contact between Brodie Kostecki and Bryce Fullwood through Turn 3 left the former stranded in a dangerous position. The Safety Car was deployed, and Penrite Racing acted quickly.

Payne came in and took his second stop as Feeney took control of the race. Payne restarted ninth, but had completed his two-stop requirement during the lengthy Safety Car period.

Highest of the two-stoppers, Payne had to manage his tyres for 48 laps. Feeney would stop again, setting up a grandstand finish.

The grandstand finish

Ultimately, Feeney came up short by 0.05s. It was the third closest competitive margin in championship history.

It was an unexpected result, orchestrated by Penrite Racing and delivered on track by Payne.

Feeney was brought in with 21 laps to go, but he had it all to do. Payne was in management mode, and needed a clean run home with no mistakes and consistent pace to have enough in reserve, should Feeney get there.

Feeney was there with two laps to. On the final lap, Feeney actually led — albeit for a split second — into the braking zone at the Turn 4 hairpin.

The reaction

Payne couldn't believe it. However, he drove the perfect final lap, all 2.4 kilometres of it. From squaring off the Turn 2 exit, being down the middle through Turn 3, bravely defensive into the hairpin, Payne held his own.

"I knew I could run high 52's all day, that was my pace, and I knew that I was going to cover off Will if I was running those times, so I knew we were clear of him, but I didn't think Broc was going to come that hard at the end," Payne said.

"I couldn't really see him for a while, and then all of a sudden he was within three seconds, so it was seriously close. I was just trying to eek out, if we had a little more in the tyre, I was just trying to eek it out, and the last lap was everything it had, and I don't think it has much left on it now.

However, Feeney made sure he didn't overdo the hairpin. He knew he stood a chance if he didn't punt Payne into Turn 6. Armed with superior grip, Feeney executed the over-under to perfection through Turn 7.

The problem? He still fell approximately three metres short, after nearly 190,000 metres of racing.

"I knew it was going to be with a couple of laps to go, and Marty [Short, engineer] was giving me lap updates, telling me how close, and I'm like, 'Oh my god, maybe it's going to be with two laps to go'," Feeney said.

"Just towards the end, I started running out a little bit with rear tyre, but Matty did a great job. We came across some traffic as well, but you can't really be too disappointed about it."

The legacy

Feeney smiled through gritted teeth, but Triple Eight team boss Jamie Whincup could only see the result.

“I’m really torn at the moment,” Whincup said in the press conference.“Of course it was a great weekend, it was a great day for the sport. It was a fantastic race.

“But I’m just filthy we didn’t win. We come down here with two extremely quick cars, I thought Broc drove unbelievably well all weekend."

What that day proved, was what Payne and Feeney — now both among Supercars' absolute elite — are capable of.

It would have been far too easy for Feeney to get into Payne on the final lap. However, the narrative would have centred on a potential bump and run, inviting more questions into driving standards.

Conversely, Payne could have easily burned up his tyres, and Feeney could have cruised past in the closing laps. Both drivers had been thrown strategy curveballs by their teams, but they drove to the scenario perfectly. Ultimately, there had to be a winner, and a loser.

What Payne did, though, was preview the driving smarts he would draw on at Mount Panorama five months later.

Little did we know.