Waters promised to “come out swinging” in the Sunday race after falling below the elimination line with a lacklustre 12th place finish on Saturday.

The Monster Mustang driver proved true to his word, ultimately bundled out of the Finals race following a fraught encounter which included contact with both Will Brown and Matt Payne.

Side-to-side contact with Payne ultimately took the two Ford drivers out of contention – Waters limping home five laps down in 21st after going to the garage with a broken shock absorber.

His chances had already taken a major hit thanks to a five-second penalty following a nudge that sent Brown’s Camaro through the grass at Turn 2 on Lap 39 of 81.

Waters described the penalty via team radio as “an absolute f***ing joke”, while Tickford argued Brown was already locked up and heading off-track before the light contact.

Champion drivers turned TV commentators Mark Skaife and Garth Tander both declared post-race that they thought the penalty was unjust.

“I don’t think it warranted a penalty. I think Will was having a moment by himself, that’s the reality of it,” said Tander on Fox Sports.

“I have no desire or interest to go and adjudicate in race control, full disclosure, I don’t want that job, it’s a very difficult job, but I think in that instance Cam Waters didn’t deserve that penalty.”

Waters and Brown tussle after stopping for slicks 💥#RepcoSC #Supercars pic.twitter.com/6rbZk0rZl0

— Supercars (@supercars) November 16, 2025

Baird told Speedcafe the penalty was warranted under the rulebook.

“It was very simple,” he said.

“We had a report come in that there was an incident between two cars with one car leaving the road. So, I simply do my job, break it down, and look at all the different angles frame-by-frame.

“Was there contact? Yes, there was. Was Cam Waters locked up (at the rear)? Yes, he was. Did Will Brown leave the road? Yes, he did. Did Cam redress it? No.

“The biggest part of their defence was that Will Brown was locked. Will Brown was not locked until after the contact.

“That’s the beauty of having all the tools to break an incident down, frame-by-frame.”

“I have to enforce the rules. Avoidable contact and gaining advantage is a ‘small’ [infringement], which is a five-second penalty.”

Baird affirmed the event’s status as a Semi-Final and the consequences for Waters’ championship hopes are irrelevant to the conversation.

“The driver code of conduct is the same whether it’s the first race of the year or the last,” he said.

“Cam had the perfect opportunity, knowing there was contact and with so much to lose, to redress.”

The wheel-to-wheel contact between Waters and Payne, however, was fair game.

“They were both as bad as each other,” said Baird of that incident.

“They both would have gotten away with all of that had Payne’s wheel not interlocked with Waters’. That’s what caused damage to both cars.

“They were doing some wheel-banging, which I’ve got no drama with. But if you put your front bar on the rear bar of another car, that is a drama.”