Broc Feeney is the 2026 Jason Richards Memorial Trophy winner, claiming the iconic New Zealand silverware after Ryan Wood's Ruapuna hopes were ended by a late-race engine failure.
Feeney finished the weekend on 483 points to take the trophy from Matt Payne (467) and Kai Allen (421). But it was far from a straightforward result. Tied on points with Brodie Kostecki after a late Safety Car restart, the Triple Eight Race Engineering driver needed a contact between Kostecki and Chaz Mostert — and Wood's subsequent non-finish — to get the mathematics over the line.
"That was a rollercoaster race there," Feeney admitted afterward. "Thoughts go out to Woody. We've had our differences, but to see him sitting on the sideline was tough."
The Gen3 Triple Eight entry, which has rebounded after a slow start to 2026, had to cope with a radio blackout just when it mattered most. With permutations changing on every caution, Feeney was left to work out the points picture on his own.
"I had no radio in the race, I was trying to do the math in my head, and I didn't know that Brodie and I were tied after that restart," Feeney said.
The victory carries particular weight for the Triple Eight squad given the trophy's namesake. Jason Richards — the popular Kiwi racer who competed for the team before his death in 2011 — remains an enormous presence at Ruapuna every year. Feeney credited Triple Eight crew chief Marty Small and Andrew Edwards for their long-standing connection to Richards' legacy.
The Ruapuna round has lived up to its billing as one of the most chaotic weekends of the 2026 Supercars calendar. Kai Allen's maiden Supercars win at Christchurch was followed by Matthew Payne's 100th-race victory on Saturday, with Brodie Kostecki recovering from a dust-induced engine temperature scare to challenge in race after race.
Championship leader Ryan Wood, who had controlled the Jason Richards Trophy race for much of the weekend, saw his bid unravel inside the final third of the decider. His mechanical failure eliminated what had looked like being a first Toyota GR Supra crowning on New Zealand soil.
For Feeney, a runner-up in the 2025 championship, the statement is significant. The Ruapuna result extends a growing body of evidence that Triple Eight's Gen3 package is once again a championship-quality weapon, and that Feeney has the racecraft — radio or no radio — to convert the rare windows those cars create.
The Supercars paddock now returns to Australia for the next round, with the field tightening at the top of the championship standings and Feeney firmly back in the conversation.
---
*Originally published on [Motorsports](https://motorsports.global/article/feeney-jason-richards-trophy-ruapuna-2026). Visit for full coverage.*
