Broc Feeney opens up on Matt Payne, Penrite Racing rivalry
Feeney and Payne engaged in two battles for Perth wins
Perth a big step forward for Feeney, Triple Eight after recent struggles
Broc Feeney has declared that he can take the fight to championship leader Matt Payne as the 2026 Repco Supercars Championship approaches Finals.
Perth could be looked back upon as a pivotal turning point in the title fight, as Feeney snapped Triple Eight's longest podium-less streak in 20 years with an emphatic victory in Race 24 on Saturday.
Having made an opportune move on Payne to claim his first win since May, Feeney had the tables turned on him on Sunday with one of the boldest overtakes of the season.
Both Feeney and Team Principal Jamie Whincup were livid post-race, having seen a chance at back-to-back victories slip, despite Payne battling a damaged left rear wheel. Feeney had suffered similar damage on the right rear, the unloaded side of the car at Wanneroo.
Penrite Racing has been the form team of the year to date, claiming seven wins and 23 podiums to lead the teams' points by 258 points over Red Bull Ampol. Payne's teammate Kai Allen has also starred this year, winning the first two races of his career.
“I think they’ve raised the bar, I mean Triple Eight’s always been known as being the benchmark team, and at the moment we’re not," said Feeney of Penrite Racing on MotorRacing 360.
“We’ve probably slipped to being behind Groves this year, and we know why. We’ve swapped manufacturers, and it has been a little bit hard to get on top of.
“But we’re getting there, we’re learning. They’ve obviously had a bit more time, but we’re not trying to use that as an excuse.
“They’re doing a great job with both of their cars, for Kai to drive from last to fifth was super impressive, albeit what’s going on, but very impressive."
While a race win on Saturday was a welcome relief to both team and driver alike, Feeney has admitted that there was still a pace deficit to Payne in particular.
On average, Payne was the fastest car in race trim over the course of the Perth weekend, some 0.12s per lap quicker than Feeney, who was the second fastest car all weekend.
But for Feeney, being able to beat Payne and Penrite Racing despite being at a pace disadvantage is proof than when they do get on top of their Mustang, they will be right in the hunt.
He also spoke to the growing rivalry with Payne, which has delivered thrilling moments such as those in Perth and their photo finish in Tasmania last year, but not any major collisions or confrontations.
“For us, we know we’ve got to be better, we know we can beat them because we feel like we’re still at a little bit of a deficit out there, and we beat them on Saturday and gave it a good crack on Sunday," Feeney continued.
“They’re doing a great job, I credit the whole team, Matt, Kai, they’re all doing a really solid job.
“Obviously the rivalry talk of me and Matt, we’ve never had any real comings together, we’re just two guys that love racing and can go fast.
“I’ve enjoyed it. He probably spoke a bit more of it on Sunday, but it’s good racing him, He’s clean, I think we both race super hard together, and we get a good outcome out of that.”
Feeney is 118 points behind Payne heading into the Repco Sprint Cup finale at the Century Batteries Ipswich Super 440 from August 21-23.
