Just hours after scoring a first career Supercars pole (for Race 2 of the weekend), Wood put in a superb drive to score victory in the opening race.
The 21-year-old started second and overtook teammate Chaz Mostert for the lead early in the race before holding off a fast-finishing Will Brown in the closing stages.
Among those celebrating in the WAU garage was four-time Bathurst 1000 winner Murphy, who acts as mentor to his young countryman.
“It’s pretty amazing to have Murph here,” said Wood in the immediate aftermath of the race.
“The things he does for me behind the scenes, I can’t speak highly enough for him.
“I know everyone thinks he’s a hard bastard, but he is and that’s what keeps me committed and focused and got me to this result.”
Murphy is these days based in New Zealand but flew to Wanneroo at the request of Wood, helping to guide him through the weekend.
Wood said Murphy’s wisdom was on his mind in the crucial final laps of the race.
“With about eight to go, it’s funny what the brain does,” he said.
“He popped into my head, and I just felt like he was just riding those laps with me going, ‘don’t stuff it up, don’t stuff it up, look after the tyre’.
“It really helped because I was getting into that groove where you start making a few errors because you start overdriving and I just backed it back and it started to take off again.
“The role he’s played has been massive. He’s really got me into WAU, he and [backer] Scott O’Donnell.
“To be here representing a lot of my Kiwi sponsors on my helmet and to be part of that with Murph’s help.
“I’m lucky I’ve known Murph since I was about eight or nine, he used to come out to the local kart track and watch, and to now do this with him by my side is something I’ll never forget.”
A proud Murphy, who had not attended an event since the Sydney season opener, found it tough watching from the garage.
“It was awful actually watching. I think I was making everyone else more nervous, crushing plastic bottles and walking around,” said Murphy.
“It’s just so significant. It’s breaking a wall too. It’s not really a monkey off the back because he hasn’t been here that long, but you want to achieve.
“He’s been believed in by WAU, that’s why he’s here, but that first win is unforgettable, obviously.
“Unfortunately, you can’t celebrate as much as you’d like right now because he’s got to try and make it two out of two.”
Wood also thanked the guidance of his parents, who he spoke to by phone after the race, and the key figures at WAU.
“It’s so good for young Woody and so good for the team,” said WAU CEO Bruce Stewart.
“You bring on a young rookie and it’s such a road you’ve got to go through. He’s been so quick coming through that, and so proud of him. I feel like a proud dad.
“Shoutout to everyone at home with Walkinshaw, but also at home in New Zealand who have helped him get this far. It’s such an amazing pay-off.
“To his mum and dad and family, you must be so proud.”
Wood scored his first Super2 Series race wins at Wanneroo back in 2023, which helped catapult him into WAU’s main game line-up after a single season in the second tier.
He’d earlier given up a Porsche scholarship to take the Super2 drive with WAU, which had been impressed by the youngster during an evaluation day test in late 2022.
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