Grove Racing has thrown down a marker in the 2026 Supercars Championship, with the Penrite-backed squad declaring it intends to take the fight to runaway leaders Triple Eight for the rest of the season.
Red Bull Ampol Racing, run by Triple Eight, holds a commanding 68-point advantage in both the drivers' and teams' standings, with Broc Feeney having converted that pace into victory in the Tasmania finale at Symmons Plains. But Grove's young gun Matt Payne has emerged as the closest challenger, and team CEO Brenton Grove insists the goal now is to apply relentless pressure on the benchmark outfit.
"Our job is to keep improving our package and keep putting them under pressure and see what happens," Grove said.
"Our job is to take it to them for the entirety of the season and see where we land."
Grove pointed out that Triple Eight, the most successful team in Supercars history, has rarely had to race from a position of genuine threat — something he believes his team can change.
"It's not often they've been put under pressure in the past," he said.
The Tasmania weekend offered both encouragement and a reality check. Grove was pleased to see one of his cars beat a Triple Eight entry in combat, but was honest about the fact that outright pace still eluded the team on the day.
"To be in the fight today and beat one of their cars, I think was nice. But ultimately, we weren't the fastest car and we didn't win the race," Grove said.
The challenge for Grove is as much technical as it is competitive. Triple Eight team manager Mark Dutton has suggested the Penrite squad has found a better handle on the Gen3 Ford Mustang package, while team co-owner Stephen Grove was quick to stress that Triple Eight remains the benchmark every rival is chasing.
That blend of respect and ambition sums up where Grove Racing sits in the pecking order. The team has the personnel and a rising star in Payne, but bridging a 68-point gap to a juggernaut that has set the standard in the category for two decades is a tall order.
The next opportunity to close that margin comes when the championship resumes in Darwin on June 19-21. For Grove, the message is clear: keep chipping away, keep the pressure on, and hope that a team unaccustomed to being chased eventually feels the heat as the title run-in intensifies.
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*Originally published on [Motorsports Global](https://motorsports.global/article/grove-racing-targets-triple-eight-supercars-2026). Visit for full coverage.*