The 22-year-old undertook a reconnaissance mission to the US in late March amid talks with GM squad Kaulig Racing for possible Xfinity Series road course outings.
While his bid received strong support from Kaulig graduate and former Triple Eight teammate Shane van Gisbergen, Feeney has been unable to strike a deal.
Kaulig’s spare seat at this weekend’s Portland event has been taken by Feeney’s current teammate Will Brown, whose call-up came after disappointment in the Chicago Cup race.
Brown had raised as much as $500,000 in sponsorship to join Kaulig for the Chicago race, where he was an innocent party in a multi-car accident on just the third lap.
Opening up on his NASCAR talks via the Lucky Dogs podcast with Brown and Brodie Kostecki, Feeney said the season’s last non-oval – the October 4 Charlotte ‘Roval’ – is off the table due to its proximity to the Bathurst 1000.
“I’d spoken to Kaulig at the start of the year and tried doing a race and we were just trying to make the right one fit,” explained Feeney.
“I was trying to do Portland and it didn’t work out.
“I probably could have done the Roval this year but it’s the week before Bathurst and it’s not worth, I think, compromising Bathurst.
“A hard one next year for us… you start from fresh and have got to build new relationships.”
The need for new relationships comes due to Triple Eight’s impending switch from GM to Ford.
That will impact the NASCAR ambitions of both Feeney and Brown, who debuted in the Cup Series with Richard Childress Racing at Sonoma in 2024 before linking with Kaulig this year.
Brown flagged the relative lack of opportunities on the Ford side of the fence in the top two NASCAR tiers – an issue that contributed to Cam Waters only racing in Trucks this year.
“I guess the way we were put it, if they didn’t have the opportunity for us, we probably could look at other options,” said Brown.
“But there’s not that many Cup Series opportunities in a Ford out there and I don’t even know about Xfinity, if there’s many, where it seems like in the GM there are a lot of opportunities.
“I think I’ve got a pretty good relationship with Kaulig and RCR. I was probably going to run with RCR at Chicago but it was because Austin Hill did it with his sponsor [that the Kaulig deal happened].
“I still see Richard [Childress] when I’m over there and he seems pretty keen, but I think to build those relationships… I don’t even know who to talk to in a Ford setup.”
Kaulig Racing will itself have split manufacturer allegiances next year, continuing its GM affiliation in Cup and Xfinity while running Dodge’s new RAM Truck Series program.
Feeney made clear that he will be pushing to race Stateside in 2026.
“For me it’s waiting for the right opportunity. I don’t want to just go do one for the sake of doing one,” he said.
“You want to do it right and make sure it’s the right opportunity to do it. I’d like to try and do some next year.
“To be honest I’d be keen to just go do Xfinity.”
Feeney and Brown both recently signed three-year contract extensions with Triple Eight, committing to the Supercars squad through the end of the decade.
While van Gisbergen had also signed a new Triple Eight deal just months before his 2023 Chicago Cup win drew a full-time NASCAR offer, Feeney affirmed Supercars is his focus.
“If I got offered a [full-time] drive in NASCAR right now, I wouldn’t leave,” he said. “I think I could get an offer from [top GM team] Hendricks and I wouldn’t leave.”
This weekend’s Portland Xfinity Series round features two Australians, with Jack Perkins returning for a second start in Joe Gibbs Racing’s #19 entry.
While there had been suggestions Feeney could act as an injury sub for JR Motorsports Connor Zilisch at Portland, the Supercars star is not expected to factor in the squad’s plans.
Get the latest NASCAR news, stats and betting insights at MotorRacing.com
Discussion about this post