Grove's emphatic statement despite opportunity missed

Despite the overwhelming positive of team leader Matt Payne leading Penrite Racing into the bp Adelaide Grand Finals as top seeds, there was an opportunity missed for the squad at Sandown.

With Red Bull Ampol Racing struggling throughout the weekend for rear tyre life, which saw Will Brown bow out of title contention in a cloud of tyre smoke, the Grove operation had a golden opportunity to put away the Thrifty Teams' Championship.

However, while Payne was flying at the head of the field, teammate Kai Allen couldn't find the same speed, and was left to scrounge results of 22nd and 18th, his Saturday result impacted by picking up damage after an off through the Turn 3 shortcut.

Having entered Sandown with a 102-point lead over Triple Eight, Penrite could only stretch its margin out to 148, and with a maximum of 576 points available to teams in Adelaide, the teams' race is still well and truly alive.

It could provide an interesting dilemma in Adelaide, though Penrite Racing CEO Brenton Grove is desperate to claim both titles, and was emphatic in declaring that the teams' championship in particular was "very important."

Grove continued: "It's going to be an interesting thing for us to navigate in Adelaide, because obviously Matt's driver championship is very, very important to us as well.

"Hopefully there's not a position where we have to choose one over the other, ultimately if you have a fast car they both kind of take care of themselves, they're not mutually exclusive.

"It's gonna be very important, but as the same as this weekend, we're gonna throw our entire support behind Matt and Car #19, and do everything we can to get him a driver championship.

"If we can get Kai at the same level as what he's been operating on earlier this year and support him, then they should go together."

Penrite and Triple Eight aren't the only teams locked in battle on the teams' leaderboard, with Tickford Racing and Walkinshaw TWG Racing locked in battle for third, separated by just 33 points.

The only movement in the teams' championship at Sandown came from PremiAir Racing, which jumped ahead of the Blanchard Racing Team into ninth off the strength of Cooper Murray's breakthrough podium.

The final round of the 2026 Repco Supercars Championship will be held at the bp Adelaide Grand Final from November 26-29.

2026 Thrifty Teams' Championship

After Round 13, Penrite Oil Sandown 500