DJR supremo Story defends Triple Eight

Dick Johnson Racing Executive Chairman, Dr Ryan Story AM, has launched a surprise defence of fierce rivals Triple Eight as Red Bull Ampol Racing fight through a slump.

It comes after DJR and Triple Eight have waged war for over a decade, with notable title battles in 2010 and 2017, before they became the all-conquering forces of the sport between 2018-2022.

Now, after Triple Eight have joined DJR on the blue side of the Ford/GM divide, and taken homologation duties off the Shell V-Power Racing Team, the two teams are arguably closer now then they have ever been before.

The move away from the homologation role has worked wonders for the Shell team, Brodie Kostecki already matching his win tally from his title-winning 2023 campaign in just the first 22 races of the season to date.

Triple Eight also started strong with Broc Feeney winning two of the three races in Sydney back in February, but recent events in Darwin and Townsville have left the team stumped as to where their qualifying pace has gone.

It was always going to be a learning year for Triple Eight, who not only are getting up to speed with their all-new Ford package, but also running a third car for the first time since 2018 for rookie Jackson Walls under the SCT Motorsport license.

Ford homologation duties also took a toll on DJR's fortunes between 2023 and 2025, the team only winning four races — three of which came from Kostecki last year — as they battled amid constant parity wrangling.

"It's different strokes for different blokes," said Dr Story on DJR's PG and The Doc podcast.

"I think there might be some similarities there to an extent, but fundamentally they're still learning that package."

With Triple Eight's enormous workload beginning to raise questions as to whether or not they can maintain their competitive edge, Dr Story has declared that they will be back to their best once the learning curve flattens.

However, whilst Triple Eight are in a down period, new forces have emerged, most notably reigning Bathurst champions Penrite Racing, who have stormed to the lead of both the teams' and drivers' championships.

"They're a phenomenal organisation, just look at the scoreboard," Story continued.

"They're almost without peer in what they've achieved over the course of their 20-25 years in existence, but they're still learning the package.

"We've got the advantage of multiple years of understanding what it takes to go racing in the Shell V-Power Ford Mustang, and same with Grove. Groves have had a phenomenal year so far leading the teams' and drivers' championship.

"I think we can really pinpoint and prescribe the differences and some of the struggles Triple Eight have been having in recent times is down to the knowledge bank we have of how to get the most out of this car and package."

Kostecki enters his home event in Perth, from July 31-August 2, third in the championship despite missing a race in Darwin, whilst rookie teammate Rylan Gray is 19th.