Brodie Kostecki showed he didn’t need pole position to power to a sixth Supercars victory of the season as he blitzed a hot grid to win the final race of the Townsville 500.

The Dick Johnson Racing star secured his second career victory in Townsville by a massive 9.349 seconds in the 68-lap, 200km race at Reid Park Street Circuit on Sunday.

It comes after Kostecki just missed out on a pole sweep when he finished second in the top-10 shootout earlier in the day.

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But despite earning pole for Friday and Saturday’s races, he couldn’t convert them into a victory and was left to vent his frustration in the subsequent press conferences.

Perhaps the key to it was not to begin first on the grid, as Sunday’s sparkling victory moved him two wins clear as the driver with the most first-placed finishes this season.

Brodie Kostecki has taken out the final race of the Townsville 500. Credit: AAP

Championship leader Matt Payne couldn’t replicate his rousing victory from Saturday, finishing second after staving off a hard-chasing pole-sitter Cam Waters, in third.

Toyota also had a strong outing with Walkinshaw TWG teammates Chaz Mostert and Ryan Wood coming fourth and fifth. 

The Triple Eight Race Engineering team collected another unwanted record, with both their drivers unable to finish on the podium for the fifth consecutive time, something that hasn’t happened to the team since 2007.

Ex-championship leader Broc Feeney came sixth, while 2024 champion Will Brown rallied to eighth after a disastrous qualifying that left him to start in 19th.

It was a chaotic opening to Sunday’s race as the safety car was called into action when Reuben Goodall, Andre Heimgartner, Aaron Cameron, and Macauley Jones crashed into each other, and the latter three were all ruled out.

At the same time, Wood made a daring move to launch himself behind pole-sitter Waters, but after the safety car departed, Kostecki slotted back into second.

The Dick Johnson Racing star took an early pit stop on lap 16, which paid dividends as he later emerged as the leader and soared to victory.

Multiple drivers jostled for the final two podium spots, and Payne’s premature pit stop on lap 43 thrust him into second before Waters edged past Mostert in the final laps to earn third place. 

RACE 22 RESULTS:

1. Brodie Kostecki (Dick Johnson Racing) 

2. Matt Payne (Grove Racing)

3. Cam Waters (Tickford Racing)

4. Chaz Mostert (Walkinshaw TWG Racing)

5. Ryan Wood (Walkinshaw TWG Racing)