Murphy details tough love behind Wood's meteoric rise

Ryan Wood is now a Supercars pole winner and podium finisher, and mentor Greg Murphy has opened up on the lessons that helped the rising star continue his rapid rise.

The 21-year-old claimed his first Supercars pole position in Perth on Saturday, just weeks after scoring his maiden podium on home soil in New Zealand.

Wood has benefited from the tutelage of Murphy, a four-time Bathurst winner, with the Walkinshaw Andretti United driver currently sitting 10th in the points.

The Wellington-born driver celebrated his maiden pole with a wild reaction, with WAU crew getting around its young charge on a day Chaz Mostert also scored a pole.

Speaking on the broadcast, Murphy told Garth Tander — himself a mentor at Penrite Racing — that the key has been putting Wood on the right path.

"It's awesome to see these guys achieving what we think that they can achieve, and we've watched heaps of them go through it," the four-time Bathurst winner said.

"You [Tander] have been a part of watching next door at Grove Racing, and Kai [Allen] is on his way as well, and it's the processes and hopefully having a bit of guidance on what they need to be looking at and where the focus should be."

Wood kicked off 2024 with a double DNF, and was unable to claim silverware amid a litany of Shootout appearances and costly mistakes.

He arrived in 2025 by shedding weight and working hard to improve all facets of his racing, both on- and off-track.

For Murphy, Wood’s rise required some understanding of what to expect, what sacrifices to make and how much work he needed to put in.

"I think it's just reinforcing the important things, it's also trying to take away from being put on a pedestal as well, because if you want to be successful in the sport for a long time, there's a lot of sacrifices you need to make," Murphy said.

"We went through in a very different time, and we've learnt a lot through that process, because the pressure now to perform, and how difficult it is to perform, you've just got to tick all of the boxes, and you've got to put all of the pieces together, and it is so difficult to do.

"So it's a little bit of guidance on just trying to maintain that thinking and not forget it, because if you are not working harder than everyone else, then you're not going to get there."