Will Brown shattered as Triple Eight stare down the barrel
Brown suffered self-induced spin whilst battling for race lead
Teammate Bric Feeney only 11th, only one point clear of cut
"We were terrible."
That was the frank admission from Will Brown after a nightmare Sandown Saturday that has left Red Bull Ampol Racing on the brink of a shock double Finals elimination.
Brown stole the lead early in an early Safety Car pit stop cycle, but came under heavy fire from Brodie Kostecki, who threw everything he could at the #888 Ford.
Kostecki blazed by on lap 36, and ultimately went on to book his ticket to Adelaide with a strong victory, whilst Brown immediately tried to regain the lead, only to spin himself out at Turn 4 with a low percentage move.
Brown's comeback hit a further snag when he spun at Cameron Hill at Turn 4 after the second Safety Car restart, with the 2024 champion ultimately finishing 20th, and plummeting to 88 points below the cut-line.
Speaking on broadcast post-race, Brown admitted to overdriving his Mustang, whilst conceding he also could've decided to live for another day.
"Firstly I want to apologise to the team, I made a mistake out there, a couple. So very sorry to Red Bull Ampol Racing, all my fans watching at home," said a deflated Brown.
"I probably knew I didn't have the car underneath me I knew I needed, so I thought would make it a bit of a dogfight and see if I could heat their tyres up and keep them behind me until the next stint.
"Ultimately at the end of the day, I was to'ing and fro'ing with myself in the car whether I let them go and live to fight another day, or I fight to the end, and unfortunately we're race car drivers.
"The ego took over, and I thought, 'I'm going to fight to the end'.
"I did what I could out there, putting on a bit of a show in a big race, but unfortunately at the end of the day it didn't come off.
"I'll come back, try and do a better job tomorrow. I'm very disappointed in my performance then."
Teammate Broc Feeney also struggled with his car in the final stint, and after briefly holding down a podium berth, finished all the way back in 11th as he struggled for rear tyre life.
As a result, the Sprint Cup winner has dropped from second to fourth in points, and is just one point above the cut-line, likely facing a scenario where he has to beat Cam Waters - who scored a podium - on Sunday.
Brown pointed out Feeney's drop-off as proof both Triple Eight Fords need big swings thrown at them for Sunday.
"Like I said we didn't have the car underneath us we needed. We were terrible then, actually. Both cars, look at how far Broc dropped back," Brown said.
"Like I said, I just tried bringing that race craft in and trying to make it as hard for the guys behind me as I could."
Brown very nearly sent Kostecki spinning as well in the race-defining incident, quipping that it could've made for an interesting chat on his Lucky Dogs podcast.
"Ultimately at the end of the day I'm very glad for Brodie that I didn't take him out of the race or punt him off or anything silly.
"Congratulations to him, obviously it would've been an awkward podcast on Tuesday if that happened, but tried having a great fight with him.
"Hopefully it looked good on TV. but ultimately we came off worst, and Red Bull Ampol Racing has a lot of work to do tonight to try and get one of these cars to win tomorrow."
