Paddock Notebook: Huge championship swings in bruising finale

The tides are turning in the 2026 Repco Supercars Championship, with Brodie Kostecki, Matt Payne and Cam Waters returning serve at Broc Feeney in the fight for Repco Sprint Cup honours.

Triple Eight's form (or lack thereof) has turned the season on its head, but there's no doubt about Penrite Racing's speed. Execution could decide this year's title, given how many errors there were in the pits for all teams.

A big winner was Chaz Mostert, who in the face of points pressure, delivered the weekend he sorely needed to put breathing space between himself and the cut-line.

Catch below the key stories for each team leaving the weekend's NTI Townsville 500, listed in pit lane order.

Penrite Racing

Grove Racing established itself as the benchmark in the championship right now, even if it was another one-win weekend like Darwin. Matt Payne cut a very relaxed figure post-race. With nine podiums in 11 starts, can you blame him? Critically, though, the team still isn't out of the woods yet in pit lane, with more slow stops recorded across the weekend.

Red Bull Ampol Racing

Broc Feeney was clearly dejected on a weekend of experimentation, while Will Brown showed his first genuine sign of frustration after Sunday's qualifying slump. Six races without a podium is Triple Eight's longest spell since 2006. Consistency has kept them in the hunt, but they’ve officially fallen down the pecking order.

Tickford Racing

Victory on Friday was sweet, but there's still a lingering sense of frustration given the slow second stop for Cam Waters on Sunday. Waters was forced into "maximum fuel save" on Sunday, which didn't sit well with the Monster Ford pilot. It was an important weekend for Thomas Randle, however, who has powered back into the Finals frame. Then, there was the rollercoaster for wildcard Reuben Goodall, whose otherwise solid debut weekend ended on a sour note after being caught up in Sunday's lap 1 clash.

Walkinshaw TWG Racing

Chaz Mostert stood up to the challenge to lay down a huge weekend for his title defence, moving more than 100 points clear of the cut-line. Ryan Wood had promising Sunday race pace in the first stint, nearly rounding up Waters at Turn 2. Save for Wood's incident with Kai Allen on Saturday, it was a strong weekend for the Toyota team, even if it didn't deliver silverware.

Team 18

Anton De Pasquale and Team 18 put on a strategy clinic on Saturday, but his luck run out at Turn 2 on Sunday. The team simply needs to find consistency in qualifying. There's ongoing work with the engine, with the Camaro receiving a minor mapping change mid-round.

Shell V-Power Racing Team

Execution had been the problem, until Sunday. A slow start on Friday, and a slow stop on Saturday was buried by a brilliant run on Sunday. Brodie Kostecki’s middle stint did the damage for everyone else, and it was arguably the most pumped Kostecki has been all season. Rylan Gray was also pumped with a breakthrough Shootout cameo. Kostecki's burnout blunder didn't damage the car, thankfully, while thoughts remain with injured mechanic Charlie Blanshard.

Matt Stone Racing

Jack Le Brocq is back in the 10. He's getting it done, but admitted on Supercars' Equip Super Cool Down Lap podcast that qualifying is still letting him down. Zach Bates was far happier than he was leaving Darwin. Wildcard Aaron Seton was also pleased with his weekend, making it very clear that he is building towards Ipswich and the enduros, given he was effectively subbing for Cameron Crick in Townsville. MSR also jumped BJR and BRT in the teams' championship.

Brad Jones Racing

It was a nightmare weekend for Brad Jones Racing. Speed was non-existent save for Andre Heimgartner's Sunday Shootout showing, but even then, he was ruled out with an engine issue. Macauley Jones copped big damage on Sunday, while Cameron Hill fought to find positives when speaking on Supercars' Equip Super Cool Down Lap podcast.

Blanchard Racing Team

A chastening weekend was topped off by both Blanchard Mustangs being turned around on lap 1 on Sunday. Aaron Cameron was wiped out of the race, while James Golding dropped out of the top 10 in points. Golding wasn't happy with Cooper Murray's lap 1 move in particular. Saturday offered a glimpse of early season speed, but form is coincidentally tapering with Triple Eight's form slump.

PremiAir Racing

Jayden Ojeda is now 12th in the standings, and made it clear to Supercars' Equip Super Cool Down Lap podcast that he's on the march. The gap between rookie Ojeda and Declan Fraser has widened, ringing alarm bells for the team. Fraser is 293 points behind his teammate after seven rounds, and the head-to-heads make for tough reading for the Queenslander.

Erebus Motorsport

The result mightn't show it, but Erebus Motorsport stepped forward in Townsville. Cooper Murray's penalty was branded silly by CEO Barry Ryan, who insisted the team can deliver once all things fall into place. Still, the team is now on its longest ever streak without a podium. Green shoots are there.

Objective Racing

It was arguably Jackson Walls’ best weekend yet. He qualified well on Saturday and had a great start on Sunday. Like Erebus, the headline results aren't there yet. Walls bounced back from a cool suit failure on Saturday to power from 24th to 16th on Sunday.