Feeney has been the man to catch throughout 2025 but has been brought back to the field by a points reset ahead of the Gold Coast 500.
The Triple Eight driver enters the event with a 30-point buffer over Great Race winner Matt Payne following the reset and application of bonuses based on the post-Bathurst points table.
Will Brown, Cam Waters, Brodie Kostecki, Chaz Mostert, Anton De Pasquale, Thomas Randle, Ryan Wood and Kai Allen are the other finals contenders.
Feeney’s buffer to Payne had already been slashed to 56 points following a difficult Enduro Cup campaign.
However, his gap back to 10th has been cut from 1026 points to just 156 thanks to the Finals.
“It’s certainly a huge change. I think going back 12 months, you would be trying to manage that championship and just finish the year with good points to finish it off,” said Feeney.
“But this year you have to win. You’re going to have to win in the next few rounds to even make it to the Grand Final and then come Adelaide, you going to have to go out and win the races.
“For me, it’s certainly not defence at this time of the year, which maybe it could have been a couple of years ago. It’s all offence.
“You’ve got to be on the front foot, win races and have a fast car. We’ve had a great year, have had plenty of speed and been able to win 12 races.
“We need to try and get that momentum going again and try and get a few trophies again.”
Mostert quipped to Speedcafe at today’s Finals Series launch that there’s “one guy out of the 10 that is probably pretty upset with the format, but nine guys that are excited about it.”
Feeney said the fact he lost the majority of his points lead – which had been out to 345 points following the Sprint Cup – across the two enduros has eased the Finals pain.
“Maybe before Tailem Bend, I probably would have said that, but I gave up a huge lead in the enduros,” he said.
“Look, it’s brought a lot more people into it, the guy who’s 10th has got a great shot of winning the championship.
“So for sure, I think last year’s [format] would favour the leader, but you’ve got to be excited about it. If I’m negative about it, you can’t expect to go out and have a good run.
“I think the three tracks that we’ve got at the back end of the year are very strong tracks for me. It’s not like I feel like I’m going to a weak track of mine.
“So it’s exciting. It’s exciting for the fans. There’s lots of talk about it. I just want to go out and win it both ways. I don’t want there to be a question about it.”
Three drivers will be cut from contention following the Gold Coast 500, with another three eliminated after Sandown to leave a four-way Adelaide title fight.
Drivers can either progress through on points or by winning a Finals Series race. The points are reset – and bonuses applied based on rankings – between each round.
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