Grove pit miscues 'cost us a race win every time'

Penrite Racing CEO Brenton Grove was left to rue a Sunday pit stop fumble that cost Matt Payne a potential third race win of the 2026 season.

Payne, who had affirmed his contractual commitment to Penrite Racing on Thursday, was well in control of Race 19, having made a decisive move on Cam Waters at Turn 1 before putting the hammer down.

But his race hit a snag when there was confusion at his first stop, as he was held up when he tried to exit his pit bay, with uncertainty over whether or not his left front wheel was properly tightened.

However, Payne was quickly waved on, but the damage had already been done. Payne fell back behind both Anton De Pasquale and, frustratingly, Waters.

“It was just human error,” Grove said.

“We just didn’t quite get the wheel on cleanly and it just compounded from there and unfortunately we gave up a race win.

“It’s something we’ll take pretty seriously and we’ll take back to the factory and work on."

It's not the first time a pit drama has cost Penrite Racing this year, the right rear wheel parting company with Payne's Mustang in Christchurch, potentially costing him yet another win.

Whilst Payne took the diplomatic approach on a weekend where he closed right up onto Feeney in the race for the Repco Sprint Cup, Grove was clearly frustrated.

“It’s happened a few times this year and it’s cost us a race win every time it’s happened," continued Grove.

"I think Matt was very supportive in his comments of today, but he has every right to be frustrated with the result as we all are.

“We weren't good enough today. It’s not acceptable and we’ll work hard to fix it. We know what our issues are.

“We’ve got very fast cars, which is cool, but we’re getting a lot of things wrong at the same time with crew mistakes, driver mistakes and we’re letting other people have results that we should be having.

“We need to fix that and it’s up to us to turn it around.”

Despite the pit issues, Payne is still only 15 points off Feeney. Had it not been for the two miscues, Payne would have at least a 60-point swing in his favour, with a tyre advantage in his favour over Brodie Kostecki and Kai Allen in Christchurch.

Regardless, the team have also established themselves as the 2026 benchmark, jumping ahead of Triple Eight by 39 points, and claiming top billing for Townsville next month.

Payne is confident that the momentum can continue, though he admitted Sunday was a case of what could've been: “I was a little bit disappointed we didn’t get the win today.

“I felt like the first stint, we executed that really well, and then it was kind of a bit tough from there following the guys and trying to catch back up to Anton.

“Unfortunately we just didn’t quite have enough for him at the end sitting in the hot air, just with the way the tyre works.

“[It’s] a little bit bittersweet but still really good points for the team.”

Supercars track action commences on Friday July 10 in Townsville.