'Sheep stations, not on PlayStations': Triple Eight counting the cost of incidents
Triple Eight Team Manager Mark Dutton calls out chaotic racing in Melbourne
Dutton says drivers "forget that we are racing for sheep stations, not on PlayStations"
Triple Eight assessing Broc Feeney's damaged Ford after Sunday pile-up
Triple Eight Team Manager Mark Dutton has called out the chaotic racing at the Melbourne SuperSprint, claiming drivers "forget that we are racing for sheep stations, not on PlayStations."
Will Brown was also involved in a series of incidents across the four days, notably being penalised for a Friday clash with Erebus Motorsport's Cooper Murray.
Driving standards were a hot topic across the weekend, with Brown and Team 18's David Reynolds critical following Sunday's race. After clashing with Blanchard Racing Team rival James Golding on Saturday, Bathurst champion Matt Payne also took a swipe.
"Because there's no pit stops I think a few of the drivers out there forget that we are racing for sheep stations, not on PlayStations," Dutton said in a team release.
"Our lads [Feeney and Brown] know that, they will drive accordingly, but sometimes they get caught up in things that other blokes are getting up to."
Feeney's crash was also Triple Eight's first DNF since Shane van Gisbergen retired from the 2023 Adelaide 500 finale, breaking a streak of 64 races.
What's more, is Feeney's 93-race run without a DNF came to a crunching end, with the Red Bull Ampol Racing driver finishing every race since he was involved in the 2022 Gold Coast 500 chicane pile-up.
The cost wasn't just the looming repair bill for the team, with Feeney and Brown third and 11th in the championship, and Red Bull Ampol Racing still third in teams', heading to New Zealand on April 10-12.
Dutton earlier told Supercars.com that the team is confident it can avoid putting Feeney into a spare chassis, but was pleased to have the option if required.
"So look, we do have a quick turnaround for New Zealand and there's a lot of work to be done on Broc's car. We do have the option of fixing that rocket, or we do have a spare car," Dutton continued.
"The team worked exceptionally hard to make sure that we did have a spare car for this time in the season should something like this happen so that we'd be ready to race no matter what.
"So bring on New Zealand and the double header."
