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‘Really gutted’ Kiwi’s Sprint Cup hopes go up in smoke as star seals golden ticket Broc Feeney has pulled off the ultimate smash and grab performance, claiming victory in the final race of the Ipswich Super 440 – and the 2026 Repco Sprint Cup in the process, amid heartbreaking scenes for rival Matt Payne. Watch every race of the 2026 Repco Supercars Championship LIVE & ad-break free during racing on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1. Sunday’s win capped off a memorable 150th career start for Feeney, who also won his 50th and 100th Supercars starts. And as a result of his Sprint Cup crown, Feeney is now automatically qualified for the Supercars finals series, and will carry 25 bonus points into the first Elimination Final on the Gold Coast. But Feeney’s miraculous turnaround was paired with utter devastation for red-hot favourite Payne, who was forced out from a winning position with an engine failure at the halfway mark of the race. It was on lap 32 that the Repco Sprint Cup battle was completely turned on its head, as Payne’s Ford dropped a cylinder entering Turn 3, the second engine drama for a major player in the space of 20 minutes. The Kiwi immediately headed straight for pit lane, and could only watch helplessly as Feeney streaked away at the front of the field, with seven seconds in hand over Brodie Kostecki, who had also moved his way by Will Brown and into second. “It sucks. We did everything right today,” Payne told the broadcast. “It might not have been the easiest day behind the wheel, but I felt like even when we had a good start and passed Chaz, and was sitting in a nice window, and was just working our way into the five there. “Next thing the motor just sounded like it was an electrical issue. Really gutted. “I was looking forward to wrapping up the Sprint championship, but it is what it is.“ Penrite Racing CEO Brenton Grove was also in disbelief, given his team had been near bulletproof on the reliability front. “It’s not fun. This is something we all put a lot of time and effort into and Matt’s done a faultless job,” Grove said. “Our mechanical reliability is probably one of the best in the lane and unfortunately today something has gone wrong. We had no warning before it happened. We’ll lick our wounds and make sure we come back stronger.” Payne registered just his second DNF of the season, and first since Melbourne in March. Earlier in the race it was heartbreak for reigning champion Chaz Mostert when he was forced into the lane when his upgraded Toyota engine went off-song on lap 24; another big bag of points for Walkinshaw TWG Racing falling by the wayside. As the engine dramas unfolded, Kostecki was slowly eating in to Feeney lead before he pitted on lap 45. Feeney, meanwhile, was dealing with lapped traffic on much newer tyres, Cam Waters and Rylan Gray both blazing by before Feeney made his final stop on lap 47. An incentivised Kostecki closed to within a second of Feeney, and set the fastest lap of the race as Feeney got up to speed, the lapped traffic severely cutting into Feeney’s deficit. All Feeney needed to defend his Sprint Cup title was a podium finish, but back-to-back personal best laps broke the back of the Kostecki charge, with Feeney claiming the most unlikely of Sprint Cup triumphs. Brown completed the podium to cap off his stellar weekend, with Allen, James Golding, Anton De Pasquale, Waters, Gray, David Reynolds and Aaron Cameron rounding out the top 10. The 2026 Repco Supercars Championship now shifts into enduro mode, with the next round at the AirTouch 500 at The Bend from September 11-13. This article was originally published at Supercars.com.au and was republished with permission