Payne dominates Townsville, Wood and Allen collide

Matt Payne has delivered his most emphatic Repco Sprint Cup statement yet, crushing the field in Race 21 at the NTI Townsville 500.

Despite running second to Brodie Kostecki through the opening stint of the race, a slow first pit stop for Kostecki handed the race lead to the #19 Ford, who disappeared up the road as the chasing pack engaged in several heated battles.

The big losers out of the squabbles were Kai Allen and Ryan Wood, who picked up damage in a controversial mid-race clash, whilst the big winner was Anton De Pasquale, who charged from 11th to second in a storming drive.

It was Payne's first win since Race 13 in Christchurch in April, whilst his championship lead over Broc Feeney ballooned out from eight to 61 points.

It was a manic first lap as Kostecki got the jump off pole position, whilst the second row of Thomas Randle and Ryan Wood both put pressure on the slow starting Payne.

The concertina at Turn 2 bit the Blanchard Racing Team Fords, as Aaron Cameron was pushed into the back of James Golding, the latter forced into the lane when a rear tyre burst due to rear bodywork damage.

As Golding sent up a smoke screen with his rubbing bodywork, there was chaos behind as Cam Waters and Wood traded blows on the run to Turn 5, before Kai Allen escorted Cameron into the grass at Turn 6.

The field eventually sorted themselves out, with Kostecki leading Payne, who had managed to go the long way around Randle at Turn 2 on the opening lap.

The top three stretched out a margin over Cam Waters, with Payne closing on Kostecki amidst fuel saving throughout the field in the opening stint.

Tickford wildcard Reuben Goodall had a busy opening to his race, picking up a five second penalty for cutting Turn 2 in the opening lap melee, before picking up a further 15 seconds for spinning Zach Bates at the final corner.

Red Bull Ampol Racing were also on the move, Will Brown moving from 12th to eighth in the opening stint, whilst Broc Feeney had carved his way through from 18th to 10th.

Payne was the first to blink at the end of lap 19, whilst Chaz Mostert followed from 10th after Feeney barged his way past at Turn 11.

Dick Johnson Racing were awake to the undercut, pitting Kostecki from the lead the next time by, with Feeney pitting at the same time.

However, the race was tipped on its head as the left rear tyre wouldn't come off the #17 Ford, with what was a lead of just over a second turning into a massive 12 second deficit.

Randle pitted at the end of lap 22, and jumped into effective second by virtue of Kostecki's pit drama, with Ryan Wood jumping into a short-lived effective third before Kostecki bumped past on lap 23.

Friday winner Cam Waters ran a long first stint to pit on lap 24, and came back out in effective third as the likes of Kostecki, Wood, Feeney, and Chaz Mostert battled, with a handy tyre advantage over Randle and Payne ahead.

However, Payne's margin in the effective race lead was enormous, the various dramas in pit lane extending his lead to 10 seconds over Randle, whilst Waters was asked to save fuel after even after his first stop.

Team 18 ran Anton De Pasquale extremely long in his first stint, bringing the #18 Cub Cadet Chevrolet in at the end of lap 30, and he blazed by Feeney and Allen in quick succession on much fresher tyres.

The battles continued ahead of De Pasquale, with Wood dooring Kostecki in an audacious move at Turn 2 on lap 32, though the Kiwi allowed the DJR Ford to resume position.

Four laps later De Pasquale had carved his way by Wood and into the top five as his march towards an unlikely podium continued, with Kostecki dispatched on lap 38.

Behind there was a furious battle pack between Brown, Wood, Allen, Feeney, and Mostert, with Brown and Allen both waging war with Wood.

Ultimately, Allen slid into the #2 Toyota with a brave move at Turn 11 on lap 41, with Allen suffering a left rear puncture, and Wood being sent to the pits with broken steering.

Kostecki immediately dived in to the lane pre-empting a Safety Car which never came, leaving Kostecki with a long 27-lap run home.

De Pasquale got by Randle for second on lap 43, the same lap that Brown pitted from fifth, with Randle and Mostert following at the end of lap 45.

Kostecki jumped back ahead of Randle in the final pit cycle, DJR believing that stronger track position would make up for a lack of car pace compared to the likes of Payne, De Pasquale, and the Tickford cars.

Waters came in at the end of lap 49, emerging behind Brown, whilst Payne and De Pasquale pitted for the final time the following lap, with Payne some 11 seconds up the road. De Pasquale fell behind both Kostecki and Randle, though with handy tyre offsets.

De Pasquale easily moved back ahead of Randle on lap 53, and had just over a second to find on Kostecki in the final 15 laps.

It only took the Team 18 Camaro three of those 15 laps to get by Kostecki, though Payne was once again extending his margin beyond 10 seconds.

However, the momentum swung back towards Kostecki in the last 10 laps, with De Pasquale saving fuel, and Kostecki also bringing Randle, Waters, and Brown into the fight for second.

Waters moved by teammate Randle with five laps to go, whilst questions continued to simmer over De Pasquale's fuel, and whether or not he could make it to the finish.

De Pasquale did hold off Kostecki by eight tenths of a second, with Waters and Randle rounding out the top five in another strong day for Tickford.

Brown gained six positions to finish sixth, ahead of Mostert, whilst Broc Feeney and Jack Le Brocq gained 10 and 11 positions respectively in eighth and ninth, with David Reynolds rounding out the top 10.

The final day of the 2026 NTI Townsville 500 begins with Boost Mobile Qualifying at 11:25am AEST, followed by a Top Ten Shootout at 12:10pm, and Race 22 at 3:05pm.