Mark Dutton explains Triple Eight's Sandown tyre struggles
Broc Feeney scraped through to Grand Final, Will Brown eliminated
Feeney dropped from third to 12th late on Saturday in big scare
Team Manager Mark Dutton has outlined Triple Eight's struggles with tyre life at Sandown, as the team fought to find balance with its Ford Mustangs.
Triple Eight missed the podium at a Sandown round for the first time since 2017, with Broc Feeney fighting his way through the weekend to qualify for Adelaide.
Will Brown, meanwhile, was eliminated from Finals contention on what was a troubled weekend, first spinning out of the lead on Saturday before being forced to fight back from 19th on Sunday.
Post-race on Saturday, Brown claimed both cars were "terrible," citing Feeney's slump from third to 12th in the final stint of the race.
The troubles with tyre life were labelled "uncharacteristic" by engineer David Cauchi, given Sandown has been a Triple Eight stronghold. Team Principal Jamie Whincup also admitted the team "made our bed pretty early" at Sandown.
Critically, Feeney is still in contention, while the teams' championship is still within reach following a woeful string of weekends for Kai Allen.
"We didn’t accomplish everything we came to do at Sandown," Dutton said.
"We had the opportunity to have both Bulls in the Grand Final so we’re disappointed. But we’re pumped that we got one car through and we’re in the fight and in the hunt.’
"This weekend what hurt us was tyre life. We didn’t look after them well enough with the balance of the car and Will Brown had to push too hard for too many laps.
"We need to get the takeaways from this weekend and apply it for Adelaide. We'll endeavour to roll out as strong as we can and then tune from there."
Feeney dropped from second to third in the standings, and starts the Adelaide weekend 54 points behind Penrite Racing rival Matt Payne, who is twice an Adelaide event winner.
Feeney, though, is himself three times a race winner in Adelaide, and swept the poles last year.
The team now has a potential trump card in Brown, who can be used to push Feeney towards championship glory.
That possible advantage isn't lost on Dutton, who said: “I don’t think you could ask for a better set-up with Will Brown as teammate for Broc Feeney, so we’re motivated.”
Track action in Adelaide commences on Thursday November 26.
