
Speedy pit stop sets up emphatic Supercars win
After a tough day on Friday, Feeney returned to the form that led to him winning five straight races across the Perth and Darwin legs.
The Red Bull Ampol star finished more than six seconds ahead of Walkinshaw Andretti United's Chaz Mostert, who made up 15 places after qualifying 17th.
Kiwi Matt Payne was the other driver to secure a podium finish.
Pole-sitter David Reynolds, who was battling illness, was overtaken by Payne on lap one.
Feeney made his move during the safety car, jumping ahead of Payne and Reynolds on lap 14.
After the race, Feeney started off by paying tribute to motorsport personality Tim Miles, who died in a road accident last week.
The championship leader then heaped praise on his team.
"The turnaround from this team overnight has been pretty fantastic," Feeney said.
"I had my doubts coming into today, even qualifying.
"But to get in there, we made a change to the shootout, and the thing was a rocket ship.
"What a great job by this pit crew, once again, to get us in the lead.
"From there, I could just manage the race, which I like doing up front.
"These guys were super quick, but I can't believe we turned that around to a win.
"That first one (pit stop) after the safety car, I was lucky.
"I just got Davey (Reynolds), and I knew I was going to be tight with Matty.
"I can't thank those guys enough for what they're doing at the moment."
Brodie Kostecki, who on Friday broke through for his first win since joining Shell V-Power at the start of the season, came in fifth.
Heading into Sunday's race, Feeney has a 201-point championship lead over Penrite's Payne.
Reigning champion Will Brown, Feeney's Triple Eight teammate, is 210 points behind in the title race.

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Perth Now
11 hours ago
- Perth Now
'That guy is unbelievable' - SVG rules NASCAR roads
Three-time Supercars champion Shane van Gisbergen has extended his NASCAR winning streak in the US to two straight and three victories in the last five weeks with yet another dominating run on a road course. The New Zealander once again showed he's in a completely different class on road and street courses than his rivals as he led 97 of 110 laps to win from pole at Sonoma Raceway in northern California on Sunday. All three of his wins this year have been from pole — which tied him with Jeff Gordon for a NASCAR record of three consecutive road course victories from the top starting spot. Gordon did it between the 1998 and 1999 seasons. Victory number four for van Gisbergen — who stunned NASCAR in 2023 when he popped into the debut Chicago street course race from Australian Supercars and won — seemed a given. His rivals have lamented that "SVG" has a unique braking technique he mastered Down Under that none of them — all oval specialists — can ever learn. That win in Chicago two years ago led van Gisbergen to move to the US for a career change driving stock cars for the Trackhouse Racing team. Van Gisbergen is the fastest driver to win four Cup Series races — in his 34th start — since Parnelli Jones in 1969. He's also the winningest driver born outside the US. "It means everything. That's why I race cars. I had an amazing time in Australia, and then to come here and the last couple weeks, or years, actually, has been a dream come true," said van Gisbergen. Although he dominated again on Sunday, van Gisbergen pitted from the lead with 27 laps remaining and then had to drive his way back to the front. He got it with a pass of Michael McDowell with 19 laps remaining, but two late cautions made van Gisbergen win restarts to close out the victory in his Chevrolet. Chase Briscoe was second in a Toyota. "I never played basketball against Michael Jordan in his prime, but I feel like that's probably what it was like," said Briscoe after not being able to pass van Gisbergen on the two late restarts — the last with five laps remaining. "That guy is unbelievable on road courses. He's just so good. He's really raised the bar on this entire series."

The Age
11 hours ago
- The Age
Brown's future role at Eels in question
Ryles was non-committal when asked about Brown's selection prospects. 'Ryley's back next week, so come in on Tuesday or Wednesday and we'll sit down and put the names up and see what it looks like … I'll tell you next week,' he said. Brown's best chance of adding to his 138 NRL games for the Eels would appear to be a bit-part utility role off the bench, or as a stopgap injury replacement. The Kiwi international playmaker could also potentially be dropped back to NSW Cup, if Ryles sticks to the plan of preferring young players who will be at the club next season and beyond. The coach indicated 21-year-old Papalii, who debuted earlier in the season, would be given an extended run at five-eighth. 'Obviously our spine was young tonight, for periods there, but that's where we're going with the club,' he said. 'We've decided to take that approach, and I'm really comfortable with it. 'I just need to get them on the field as often as possible for as long as they can, and get their lessons while they're developing.' Walsh magic sinks Titans as Broncos put more heat on Hasler Joel Gould Brisbane fullback Reece Walsh came up with the big plays to sink Gold Coast and heap further pressure on Titans coach Des Hasler. Brisbane won their fifth game in a row - a 26-14 victory at Robina on Sunday night - to stay fifth in the NRL standings and keep alive their top-four hopes. The last-placed Titans had chances to win, but failed to win the key moments. It was a far from convincing display by the Broncos, who were error-riddled in the first half. Their opponents were no better. Walsh scored a try and set one up when the match was on the line, while centre Kotoni Staggs was the best player on the field. The scores were locked at 2-2 until the Broncos scored twice in the final four minutes of the first half to take a 14-2 lead. The Broncos finally went over in the 34th minute, and it was rookie 26-year-old prop Ben Talty who scored his first NRL try in his second match. Staggs swooped on a loose pass minutes later when it appeared the Titans would score, and back-rower Jack Gosiewski scored at the other end after a Walsh pass. Walsh started and finished a long-range try after the break and topped it off with a back-flip to boot to give his side a 20-2 lead. Loading Two tries to Titans centre Jojo Fifita in the space of nine minutes lit up a crowd of 24,553. An AJ Brimson grubber and a superb interchange between half Jayden Campbell and forward Chris Randall set up the four-pointers. The Titans went close to levelling before Broncos hooker Billy Walters scored at the other end. Earlier, Broncos second-rower Brendan Piakura knocked on early while attempting to score after an Adam Reynolds kick and was concussed in the process. He failed his HIA and did not return. Hasler, who is contracted until the end of 2026, remains the centre of plenty of discussion regarding his future.

Sydney Morning Herald
20 hours ago
- Sydney Morning Herald
‘Self-loathing' and ‘embarrassment' ends with Cleary getting his mojo back
'You can only kick stones and feel sorry for yourself for so long. I didn't want to drag that into today's performance. It is tough, and as I said, I don't know if you ever fully get over it.' Cleary's father and coach Ivan said Nathan had 'negotiated pretty hard' to play, but he opted to start him from the bench to manage his workload. In a hard-fought contest, the four-time premiers proved their title defence is very much alive, barely six weeks after they were in last position. If rival teams were not already nervous enough, the Panthers got the job done against Parramatta despite resting NSW Origin stars Liam Martin, Dylan Edwards and Brian To'o. Fellow Blues Isaah Yeo and Cleary both played, but Cleary started from the bench for only the second time in his illustrious career. With eight regular-season rounds to play, the Panthers are still five points adrift of the top four, but with their next four games against strugglers South Sydney, Wests Tigers, Gold Coast and Newcastle, anything would appear possible. 'We lost five in a row, so we just won five in a row, so it's taken a long time to get the ledger back,' Ivan said. 'We'll finish where we deserve. We're still trying to build. We need to play better than what we did today.' A try after the half-time siren lifted Penrith into the lead for the first time. Trailing 10-6, the Panthers kept the ball alive and swung it from the right edge to the left, where back-rower Luke Garner scored to give the visitors a 12-10 advantage and a psychological boost as they headed into the sheds. Fielding a restructured team in which Kiwi international five-eighth Dylan Brown started at hooker for the first time in his career, Parramatta drew first blood after rampaging Fijian back-rower Kitione Kautoga crashed over for the opening try. Penrith responded eight minutes later when winger Thomas Jenkins reached out one-handed and planted the ball for his ninth try of the season. A penalty goal from Paul Alamoti then locked the scores at 6-6, before Eels centre Bailey Simonsson, in his comeback game from an injury that sidelined him for 10 weeks, flicked a freakish pass and Zac Lomax finished in the corner. Panthers centre Izack Tago increased his team's lead 16 minutes into the second half when he weaved between front-rowers Jack Williams and Junior Paulo and stretched out to score one-handed next to the posts. Loading Cleary scored a try of his own in the 72nd and, with two points in safe keeping, earned a deserved early mark soon afterwards. Penrith iced the win with a barging Lindsay Smith try from dummy-half two minutes from full-time. Disappointed Eels coach Jason Ryles indicated he would continue with rookie Joash Papalii at five-eighth, saying: 'Our future is now.'