Skaife makes bold Feeney call, Tander 'on the fence'
Skaife puts Feeney in Sprint Cup seat, Tander insists it's "too early to tell"
Feeney leads reigning champion Brown by 33 points after Round 4 in Tasmania
Points lead has changed hands four times in the last eight races
After Broc Feeney took control of the points lead, Mark Skaife believes the Triple Eight star will be hard to beat in the hunt for the Repco Sprint Cup, while Garth Tander says it’s “too early to tell.”
Feeney laid down the gauntlet to his rivals in Tasmania, winning two races and missing out on a sensational clean sweep by just 0.05s.
The 22-year-old propelled himself into the points lead for the first time since March 2024, marking a rapid turnaround after being 91 points behind as recently as the Taupō opener.
Notably, Feeney has been imperious in qualifying, and owns an 11-2 head-to-head lead over teammate and reigning champion Will Brown.
In Tasmania, Feeney finally put his foot forward in the races, overhauling Thomas Randle before racing away to dominate Race 11, before negating a multi-car battle pack to win Race 12.
According to Supercars Hall of Famer Skaife, Feeney is showing the kind of performance that could lock the Red Bull Ampol Racing driver into the Finals with victory in the Repco Sprint Cup.
“I think Feeney, and I think his qualifying performances are such that it really stands you in good stead in sprint racing,” Skaife said on the broadcast.
“If you keep on qualifying well… I think qualifying will determine his performance, and I think he’s the man to beat.”
Five-time Bathurst winner Tander was far more diplomatic, given the points lead has changed four times in the last eight races. Cam Waters led for the first five races, before Brown took the lead in Melbourne. Waters and Brown exchanged the lead in New Zealand, before Feeney took over at Symmons Plains.
“I think it’s too early to tell," 2007 champion Tander said.
“How many times has the championship lead changed, it seems like every time we have a race, we’ve change the championship leader.
“I think Cam Waters is going to have some firepower in him, I think Will Brown’s certainly got plenty of firepower, Matt Payne in the back part of the Sprint Cup, there are some tracks that are very strong for him.
“There’s a lot more water to go under the bridge before we finish the sprint part of this championship. We haven’t been able to pick a race yet, let alone what happens in five rounds’ time.
“I’m absolutely on the fence, proudly."
Feeney leads Brown by 33 points heading to Perth on June 6-8, with Matt Payne and Cam Waters 75 and 91 points down respectively.
