Kostecki wins Townsville finale, tags wall celebrating

Kostecki undercut pole position sitter Cameron Waters and executed a clinical second stint of the race to inherit a comfortable lead that he never surrendered after the first round of pit stops.

Matt Payne bounced back from a slow start to score second while Waters’ hopes of a comeback driver were bogged down by a slow final pit stop and fuel concerns that forced him to go into conservation mode.

Post-race, Kostecki performed a series of burnouts, which began with him clipping the wall at the chicane in a moment that rekindled memories of Will Davison’s incident in 2013 at the same spot.

Kostecki’s Dick Johnson Racing Ford Mustang came back to the pits with scratches on its rear wing and bumper.

“I had some guys down from Summernats, Heath (Waddington) down from Castlemaine Rod Shop in the garage, so I didn’t want to disappoint, but I’ll have to work on that a little bit,” said Kostecki.

“I thought you guys couldn’t see it through the smoke. I need to do a better job getting in there with a bit more smoke.

“But I’m super stoked for everyone at the Shell V-Power Racing Team, the #17 Ford Mustang was absolutely on fire.

“It’s had this potential the whole weekend and we just haven’t executed. I’m so pleased with that.”

He's put it in the FENCE!!!

Brodie Kostecki hits the wall mid-celebration in Townsville! #RepcoSC #Supercars pic.twitter.com/8OGXvDQ96m

— Supercars (@supercars) July 12, 2026

From pole position, Waters got the holeshot into the first turn. Payne was slow away from third and dropped behind Wood and Allen

Wood was the aggressor at the start, sweeping around the outside of Kostecki and Waters at Turn 2 to briefly get his nose into the lead of the race. However, with an overlap, Waters maintained the lead into Turn 3.

Behind them, there was drama as Aaron Cameron’s Blanchard Racing Team Mustang spun off the nose of Andre Heimgartner’s Brad Jones Racing Supra.

With nowhere to go, De Pasquale in his Team 18 Camaro drilled the front bumper of Cameron’s car. At the same time, Macauley Jones centre-punched De Pasquale’s rear bumper and destroyed the front of the Brad Jones Racing Supra.

Later in the lap, Cooper Murray tipped James Golding into a spin. That cruelled a fast start for the Blanchard Racing Team Mustang driver, who had climbed nine places in less than a lap. For the clash, Murray was given a 15-second penalty.

Another angle of that BIG crash on Lap 1 in Townsville!

Catch the Race 22 Live Feed here: https://t.co/7dJ4PB7Dba #RepcoSC #Supercars pic.twitter.com/fR0NT62xUS

— Supercars (@supercars) July 12, 2026

Under the Safety Car, Heimgartner pulled his car into the pits with an engine issue and ultimately retired. Cameron and Jones were also retired during the intermission.

Waters led Wood to the race restart on Lap 4 followed by Wood, Kostecki, Allen, Payne, Chaz Mostert, David Reynolds, Broc Feeney, Thomas Randle and Jayden Ojeda.

Kostecki usurped Wood for second on Lap 8 at Turn 2 and settled into second. On Lap 16, the Dick Johnson Racing Mustang pitted with Payne and Ojeda in tow.

Wood made an unforced error on Lap 23 at Turn 2 when he locked up and let Allen by.

Waters pitted from the lead on Lap 25 with Wood behind him. Kostecki was the big benefactor in the first pit stop sequence, executing a massive undercut and short-filling to turn a one-second deficit into a 10-second difference back to Waters

Payne also jumped Waters in the process in what proved to be the decisive pit stop sequence.

Will Brown’s march forward from 19th on the grid ended on Lap 27 when he pitted from fourth on the road. Once the pit stops cycled out, he was 10th on corrected order.

Just shy of half-race distance, Kostecki led Payne by six seconds. Waters was another two-and-a-half seconds back in third with Mostert and Wood in fourth and fifth respectively.

Feeney was sixth, Ojeda seventh, Allen eighth, De Pasquale ninth, and Brown the last of the top 10 runners.

With a tyre advantage, Waters passed Payne for second and Allen passed Feeney for fourth — both at Turn 2 on Lap 38.

On Lap 48, Kostecki pitted with an eight-second lead. Waters responded on Lap 50, but whatever fuel advantage the Tickford Ford had over DJR Mustang was negated by a slow pit stop. Adding insult to injury, the team didn’t get all the fuel in and put him in conservation mode to the end.

The same was true for Allen, who pitted on the same lap as Waters and had to stop exiting his bay with the left front wheel not properly fastened. That dropped Allen behind Feeney.

Once the second round of pit stops washed out, Kostecki led Payne by a little more than three seconds. Mostert was the quiet achiever in third, though Waters usurped him inside seven laps to go.

At the head of the field, Kostecki cruised to the chequered flag. All told, Kostecki finished nine seconds clear of Payne while Waters was another five seconds in arrears.

Results: Repco Supercars Championship NTI Townsville 500, Race 3