Tagging a concrete wall during post-race victory burnouts was the only mistake from Will Davison on a day where he led home a Ford Performance Racing one-two.
Davison scored his second win of the season and his first in Townsville after hunting down Craig Lowndes in the closing stages.
Lowndes had shot from 12th on the grid to the lead over the opening 10 laps having been the only driver to elect to start on the soft tyres.
It took until 11 laps remained for the race’s true picture to really show, with first Davison and then team-mate Mark Winterbottom moving to the front in quick succession.
Fabian Coulthard also made it around Lowndes to steal the final podium spot, while his Brad Jones Racing stable-mate Jason Bright fell marginally short of Lowndes in fifth.
James Courtney, Jamie Whincup, Garth Tander, Alex Davison and Chaz Mostert completed the top 10.
It was a disastrous race for Tekno Autosports, whose drivers Shane van Gisbergen and Jonathon Webb finished 17th and 22nd respectively.
Both Holdens received drive-through penalties for being released from their air-jacks before the refueling process had been completed.
Pole-sitter Van Gisbergen had lost the lead to Davison off the grid but regained the ascendancy in a cheeky dive beneath the Pepsi Falcon a short time later.
Van Gisbergen had remained the leading hard tyre runner throughout the entire opening stint before the pitstop drama struck.
Proceedings were little better at Erebus Motorpsort, with Lee Holdsworth and Tim Slade both on the retirements list after opening lap contact and an overheating issue respectively.
German Maro Engel salvaged 19th after also taking damage in the early corners.
Russell Ingall was also on the retirements list, dropping out late in the going with a power steering failure.
The race ran devoid of Safety Cars for its entire 70 lap duration, leaving those who had saved soft tyres for a potential charge at the end with an extra set of the quicker rubber for Sunday’s second 200km leg.
Despite a low-key day, Whincup continues to lead the points standings over team-mate Lowndes. Winterbottom is the biggest mover inside the top 10, jumping two places to fifth.
See below for the full Race 20 result
| 1 | Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford | Will Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 01:28:39.5968 | 1:14.4892 |
| 2 | Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG | 01:28:43.6066 | 1:14.5498 |
| 3 | Lockwood Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VF | 01:28:55.0644 | 1:14.3707 |
| 4 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 01:28:57.3868 | 1:14.1311 |
| 5 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VF | 01:28:58.9114 | 1:14.2288 |
| 6 | Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 01:29:06.1989 | 1:14.5086 |
| 7 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 01:29:09.5998 | 1:14.5357 |
| 8 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 01:29:11.9691 | 1:14.2028 |
| 9 | Jeld-wen FPR Ford | Alex Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 01:29:12.4494 | 1:14.3178 |
| 10 | Wilson Security Racing | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG | 01:29:17.3364 | 1:14.6554 |
| 11 | The Bottle-O FPR Ford | David Reynolds | Ford Falcon FG | 01:29:17.5850 | 1:14.5820 |
| 12 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 01:29:28.3300 | 1:14.3679 |
| 13 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Alexandre Premat | Holden Commodore VF | 01:29:30.1802 | 1:14.2636 |
| 14 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Scott McLaughlin | Holden Commodore VF | 01:29:31.2467 | 1:14.4695 |
| 15 | Norton 360 Racing | James Moffat | Nissan Altima | 01:29:37.6517 | 1:14.6094 |
| 16 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 01:29:41.7355 | 1:14.1510 |
| 17 | TEKNO Team VIP | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 01:29:42.7426 | 1:13.6836* |
| 18 | Norton 360 Racing | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 01:29:47.9954 | 1:14.8471 |
| 19 | SP Tools Racing | Maro Engel | Mercedes E63 AMG | 01:29:51.6260 | 1:14.8729 |
| 20 | Dodo Insurance Racing | Dean Fiore | Holden Commodore VF | 01:29:02.4162 | 1:15.2201 |
| 21 | Wilson Security Racing | David Wall | Holden Commodore VF | 01:29:26.0678 | 1:15.3711 |
| 22 | Tekno Autosports | Jonathon Webb | Holden Commodore VF | 01:29:36.3909 | 1:14.9772 |
| 23 | Wilson Security Racing | Tim Blanchard | Ford Falcon FG | 01:29:49.7401 | 1:15.8843 |
| 24 | ekol Racing | Scott Pye | Holden Commodore VF | 01:29:50.0991 | 1:15.8518 |
| 25 | Team HIFLEX | Tony D’Alberto | Holden Commodore VF | 01:30:19.9184 | 1:14.5784 |
| DNF | Supercheap Auto Racing | Russell Ingall | Holden Commodore VF | 01:08:00.2017 | 1:14.4047 |
| DNF | Irwin Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Mercedes E63 AMG | 01:29:08.4789 | 1:15.3006 |
| DNF | Heavy Haulage Australia Racing | Tim Slade | Mercedes E63 AMG | 44:17.9965 | 1:15.3975 |
See below for the updated points standings after Race 20
| 1 | Jamie Whincup | 1519 |
| 2 | Craig Lowndes | 1384 |
| 3 | Will Davison | 1298 |
| 4 | Fabian Coulthard | 1237 |
| 5 | Mark Winterbottom | 1217 |
| 6 | Jason Bright | 1212 |
| 7 | Shane Van Gisbergen | 1181 |
| 8 | Garth Tander | 1152 |
| 9 | James Courtney | 1105 |
| 10 | Jonathon Webb | 1035 |
| 11 | Scott McLaughlin | 882 |
| 12 | David Reynolds | 871 |
| 13 | Rick Kelly | 860 |
| 14 | Alex Davison | 763 |
| 15 | James Moffat | 762 |
| 16 | Alexandre Premat | 677 |
| 17 | Tony D’Alberto | 651 |
| 18 | Russell Ingall | 600 |
| 19 | Michael Caruso | 598 |
| 20 | Dean Fiore | 597 |
| 21 | David Wall | 551 |
| 22 | Lee Holdsworth | 523 |
| 23 | Tim Slade | 507 |
| 24 | Tim Blanchard | 497 |
| 25 | Todd Kelly | 472 |
| 26 | Scott Pye | 468 |
| 27 | Chaz Mostert | 466 |
| 28 | Maro Engel | 366 |
| 29 | Jonny Reid | 149 |
