Brown feared puncture, Wood 'won’t be so nice' after battle

It was a tale of what could have been for both Will Brown and Ryan Wood as their spirited battle lit up the closing stages of the Penrite Oil Sandown 500 opener.

Charging from 15th on the grid, Brown mowed down Wood, who was playing a crucial role in defending teammate Chaz Mostert's race lead.

Wood denied Brown in the final laps, before the reigning champion made his move with a robust attack down the inside of Turn 4. By that stage, Mostert was clear up the road, bringing an end to Brown's remarkable fightback.

Wood played the team game from the outset, helping Mostert into an early lead before again handing the lead over as the second stops approached. Mostert was pushed along by Wood in the final stint, before Brown emerged as a serious threat to Walkinshaw Andretti United's perfect day.

Wood hailed Brown's speed post-race, but suggested he won't be as courteous in future given Mostert is now through to the bp Adelaide Grand Final.

“To be honest, I probably over-defended tor try and get Chaz a gap,” Wood said.

“If I was to do that in a normal scenario, I probably wouldn’t have tried to block too hard.

“I needed to get Chazzy the win there, and I’m glad I did. Browny races super hard but fair. Next time I won’t be so nice, and I won’t have to worry about Car 25 or myself in The Finals.

“We’ll punch on into tomorrow. Congrats to Chaz again and Triple Eight on an awesome race."

Brown panicked after the pass, fearing he had cut a tyre. However, he was quickly reassured that he was fine to race to the end, but Mostert was too far up the road.

“I wasn't sure whether to save and be conservative with Woody there, or just race hard as I could,” Brown said.

"And I thought, 'nah, stuff it, let's have a go'. Actually, we hit quite hard over there and I thought that maybe I got a puncture, so I was a bit worried about that.

“I was getting the guys to check the tyres and they were like, 'no, you're all good to go'. It was an awesome battle with Woody. I knew he was going to make it hard and he did a fantastic job."

Starting 15th and in the drop zone, Brown now finds himself third in points heading into Sunday.

"In that first stint I knew we had something pretty good in that second stint, we were super fast,” Brown said.

"At the end there, I said on the radio I said, 'it's like Maverick and Goose, he's got his wing man out there. I dunno if I'm gonna be able to get him’.

"But Woody did an amazing job. Woody actually, he deserves to be in The Finals. He's done a mega job for the last half the season, so I think everyone should give him a cheer for that.

“We had a fast car. I was trying to get to Chaz, but I knew it was gonna be hard when Woody was there and it just torched the tyres racing him.

"But I was excited to get second, back into the top four. We're just gonna have a strong day tomorrow and we'll be there in The Finals hopefully.”