Payne delivers Saturday pole sweep as Sprint Cup beckons

Matt Payne has moved two steps closer to wrapping up the 2026 Repco Sprint Cup, sweeping Saturday's Boost Mobile Pole Awards at the Century Batteries Ipswich Super 440.

Payne led a record-breaking opening qualifying session of the day as he continued his march towards the 2026 Repco Sprint Cup, and the first automatic Finals berth. However, Payne's second pole was arguably the most impressive of his young career, somehow beating three drivers who had a tyre advantage.

With main Sprint Cup rival Broc Feeney qualifying fifth and sixth for Saturday's two races, Payne can wrap up the Sprint Cup on Saturday should he pull out a margin of 146 points. Payne entered the day with a 118-point advantage.

Brodie Kostecki, Chaz Mostert and comeback story Will Brown emerged as Payne's closest rival for pole, but it was the defending Bathurst champion who had the edge on both tyre compounds.

Race 26 commences at 12:45pm local time, with Race 27 to begin at 4:15pm.

Race 26

Wet weather was looming as all 27 cars rolled out for the first qualifying session of the weekend.

Armed with an updated Toyota motor, reigning champion Mostert picked up where he left off from an encouraging Friday, topping the opening run in Q1 on a 1:08.4214s, with Feeney and Kostecki both within a tenth.

A big mistake at Turn 2 left Payne in 11th, and at risk of being eliminated in the final run, with Anton De Pasquale and outside Sprint Cup contender Cam Waters also needing to lift in 14th and 15th respectively.

After smashing the field in Friday practice, Kostecki repeated those efforts to put more than a quarter of a second on the field, setting a new Gen3 qualifying record with a 1:08.1084s.

Payne elevated himself comfortably into the top 10, as did Waters, but De Pasquale could only manage 12th, with Ryan Wood also dropping back to 13th.

All bar Feeney, Brown, and Cooper Murray elected for one run only in Q2, with Feeney squeaking ahead of his teammate by 0.0689s, though times were well down on Kostecki's huge Q1 marker.

Kostecki's new record was reset in the very final moments of Q2, the #17 Ford looking set for pole on a 1:08.0360s, before Payne set a 1:08.0105s to claim his sixth pole of the season.

Kostecki fell just 0.0255s short, while Mostert was 0.0811s away in third. Brown outqualified Feeney in a welcome return to form, the Red Bull Fords to start fourth and fifth. Allen, Thomas Randle, Rylan Gray, Waters, and Murray rounded out the top 10.

Race 27

The Soft tyre made way for the Super Soft tyre, but as the field rolled out for the second qualifying session of the day, a light drizzle started to fall over Queensland Raceway.

The rain wouldn't fall heavily enough for drivers to throw on wets in Q1, with Kostecki, Mostert and Brown first through third after the opening run, and electing to gamble by sitting out the final run in the opening segment.

The gamble initially paid off as the drizzle got slightly heavier through Q1, as the trio remained at the head of the timesheets. However, Mostert was once again the only Toyota in the top 10.

Walkinshaw TWG Racing threw a major setup change at Wood's #2 Mobil 1 Truck Assist Supra, after the Kiwi battled through the opening run, but he could only manage 18th, behind Andre Heimgartner.

With the track condition slightly deteriorating, all bar Waters rolled out immediately in Q2, with Brown and Mostert playing their green tyre cards immediately.

Brown set a 1:08.6409s, which was pipped by Mostert on a 1:08.6381s, before Brown delivered an emphatic response to set a 1:08.4874s. The party was crashed by Kostecki, a 1:08.4265s 0.06s quicker than both Brown and Mostert, with the trio considerably faster than those who hadn't saved a set of tyres.

That was until Payne set an extraordinary final flyer, somehow setting a 1:08.3582s despite not saving a set of tyres to claim back-to-back pole positions, much to the disbelief of Penrite Racing.

Kostecki, Brown, Mostert, Allen, Feeney, De Pasquale, James Golding, Waters, and Murray rounded out the top 10.