Fifth in the first of three qualifying sessions for the triple-header weekend was a good base for Woody to work with for the Friday race, with rain turning the fearsome Adelaide street track treacherous.
Despite losing a place off the line, Ryan had his eyes forwards for the weekend’s short race, and he was back up to fifth by the third lap and up to fourth one lap later.
Title leader Broc Feeney was his final pass, demoting the Camaro to fourth place — widening the points gap between Feeney and second-placed Mostert — to move himself onto the podium on lap 10 in difficult conditions.
Third was all the afternoon had for him, however, with the race called off after 21 of 32 laps when Thomas Randle did damage to the turn 8 barriers.
Woody returned to his natural home at the top of the qualifying order on Saturday by snaring provisional pole, which turned P3 in the shootout.
A busy start saw him move up to second ahead of Feeney, and he then pinched the lead from rookie Aaron Cameron on lap 2.
He held top spot all the way through the second stint until Feeney pulled the undercut trigger on lap 50. Ryan responded on the following tour, but the Camaro emerged from the pit window ahead, setting up a long duel to chequered flag.
Ryan pressured the points leader until the final lap of the race, when an apparent fuel issue forced him into maximum economy mode. Fortunately Mostert was third on the road behind him, allowing Woody to hold onto third place without negatively affecting the team result or harming his teammate’s title hopes.
The final day of the season dawned with another provisional pole for Ryan, resulting in another P3 in the shootout.
It confirmed Woody as the sport’s second-best qualifier by average result, an impressive statistic for the second-season driver.
Launching from the pole side of the grid, the Kiwi was aggressive off the line to hold third just behind Feeney into the opening chicane.
Woody had the pace to challenge, and he was nose-to-bumper with the Camaro through turn 4. A good run through the left-handed turn 5 got him some critical overlap down Feeney’s inside into the right-handed turn 6, but the Camaro squeezed him towards the barriers, against which the Mustang rebounded to tip Feeney into a spin.
A 15-second penalty for the collision dumped Woody down to 18th after his first stop, but his pace was undiminished, with a ferocious middle stint seeing him rise back to fourth.
But his day fell apart after his second stop, on lap 52. Reporting an issue at his right-front, Woody returned to the lane for seven-lap rectification work that cemented him to a last-place finish on the day his teammate won the championship.
It was a low-key ending to an otherwise standout follow-up season for the Kiwi, with a finals appearance in the sport’s first-ever knockout campaign and a pivotal role in Walkinshaw Andretti United’s top-three finish in the teams championship.
“I am so unbelievably happy for Chaz and the team. It’s so awesome for everyone involved, and I’m just so proud to be a part of this team. I am really proud of the year we have put together. We ticked a lot of boxes that we set out to achieve at the start of the year, and I just can’t thank the team enough. It was great to have back-to-back podiums, and there were a few good battles out there this weekend. We had some good momentum. The cars are really fast, and I can’t thank the crew enough for all their hard work leading into this event. 2026 is going to be huge, but for now it’s all about my mate Chaz, him getting the championship he deserves and this incredible team who got it done. Thanks to everyone for their support.”
