Payne responds to NASCAR deal question

Matt Payne has broken his silence over the NASCAR Cup Series debut deal that was turned down by his team.

The Bathurst champion soared to third in Friday's betr Darwin Triple Crown opener behind Cam Waters and Penrite Racing teammate Kai Allen.

Payne, who is coming off a broken wrist, made headlines last week after it emerged that he had a request to race a Chevrolet in the Cup Series blocked by his team.

On Thursday, he released a decisive statement regarding his future, stating he expects to see out his contract with Penrite Racing through the end of 2027.

The New Zealander didn't dwell on the situation when asked in the press conference, and insists all parties have moved on.

"It was obviously a cool opportunity," Payne said.

"To be presented with something like that, it's obviously very special. But unfortunately, the decision was made and we all moved on.

"So, we'll continue to do what we're doing now, and that's continuing trying to win races."

Payne went with Allen in a thrilling sprint on Friday, picking off Anton De Pasquale and Brodie Kostecki in the closing laps to complete an all-Ford podium.

With Broc Feeney only 14th, Payne slashed the deficit from 90 to 59 points heading into Saturday.

"It was a good day for us, rolled out pretty strong, had a good race," Payne said of his Friday.

"Had a pretty bad start, but the rest of it was alright. I thought these guys were gonna have an airplane crash at some stage. They were battling pretty hard. That didn't happen, which is great.

"And then, basically just trying to move forward and went really long. Unfortunately, didn't quite have a great stop, which kind of hurt us.

"Good to come back through the pack with Kai. It was pretty fun actually."

Boost Mobile Qualifying kicks off Saturday action in Darwin at 10:45am local time/11:15am AEST.