The Red Bull Ampol Racing driver won both races at Hidden Valley and also qualified on pole position for the Sunday encounter, banking 300 points from the weekend.
It was not quite the Triple Crown – that was already dashed when James Golding was fastest in Friday’s qualifying session – and it was not maximum points given fastest lap bonuses were on offer.
However, it marks the first time Feeney has won multiple races at an event (technically, he ‘swept’ the 2023 Sandown 500 by winning every race that weekend) and, more importantly, he stemmed the bleeding relative to team-mate Will Brown in the title fight.
The 2024 Supercars season might have been expected to be Feeney’s time given his increasing maturity, the departure of Shane van Gisbergen, Brown’s poor end to 2023 at Erebus Motorsport, and the turmoil at that squad off the back of its dual championship triumph last year.
Some soul-searching and “a few big chats” followed, including one with the man who brought him into Triple Eight in one of his final big decisions as team boss.
Feeney has now snipped Brown’s lead back to 108, and is brimming with confidence again.
“I s’pose I was a kid when I joined the team, but I just can’t thank the team enough for believing in me,” said the 21-year-old on Fox Sports after winning Race 12 of the season.
“It was such a big opportunity. I think they signed me when I was about 18 years old to replace Jamie Whincup; it’s unheard of, and Roland was a big part of that, so was everyone else in the team.
“He [Roland Dane] was the one I sat down with after Perth to figure out how I need to get back on the front foot, so it’s obviously great to sort of repay them with victories and being in the hunt.
“Obviously, with Jamie and Shane leaving, a lot of people sort of questioned where we’d be able to be.
“So, to keep the momentum going, keep the wins coming’s obviously awesome and I’m just so proud to be a part of this team and, look, hopefully I’m here for a lot longer.”
Pole position proved crucial for Feeney in Race 12.
Brown gained a spot from Row 2 on the grid when the lights went out but the #88 Camaro was already in the lead and (effectively) held it all the way, although the gap did briefly drop under one second in the closing stages.
While Feeney’s tail is up again, he also admitted that there are still areas where his team-mate is superior.
“The big one for me’s just been understanding why we haven’t had the speed in the last few [races],” he recounted.
“It’s easy to go, ‘We didn’t have a great round; okay, let’s reset for the next one,’ but I’m a big one of trying to understand why, and how I can actually do better at the next one.
“So, obviously Taupo, he hunted me down and passed me in the late laps, so, for me, it’s trying to understand what he did better then.
“And same at Perth, I didn’t have the speed, so it’s just about understanding what I need to do.
“There’s certainly some thing’s Will’s better at and some things that I’ve been able to be a little bit better as well, so, just understanding that, what I need to adjust in my driving to get better.
“This track obviously suits my style pretty well, and we obviously have a great car to go with it.”
Feeney was particularly honest about one corner where Brown had his measure at Hidden Valley, and how he responded.
“Will’s been real strong at the real stop-start corners,” he explained.
“So, in that race then, he was quicker than me at Turn 6 so Marty [Martin Short], my engineer, was giving me updates.
“Just focus on the exit out of there, he said. ‘For the rest of the lap, you’re matching him; he’s just a bit quicker out of 6.’
“So, for me, every lap, I just said, ‘Hook the inside of the kerb at 6 and you should be able to hang on,’ so, every time I got there, I made sure I got it stopped and got into the kerb. But, he’s [Brown] been good at that.
“I’m really excited for what the future brings between me and him because I think it’s going to be a great battle of us for the next few years.
“You want that someone that’s really going to push you and he’s certainly been doing that this year.”
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