Shell V-Power Racing Team driver Scott McLaughlin scored the final win in Round 9 of the BP Supercars All Stars Eseries at Michigan International Speedway.
The Kiwi led the final stanza of the race, which saw primary rival Anton De Pasquale taken out by Chaz Mostert who received a penalty as a result.
Initially, it was Shane van Gisbergen who led the field to the green flag for the final 45 lap race of the evening.
Carnage kicked off on Lap 2 when Fabian Coulthard and David Reynolds made contact on the back straight.
Reynolds slammed into the wall and clipped Jake Kostecki in the process. Cameron Waters was caught out as well.
Still, van Gisbergen led Bryce Fullwood, McLaughlin, De Pasquale, and Mostert.
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Mostert soon surged to the lead with De Pasquale in tow. Fullwood fell to third while van Gisbergen ceded position to fourth.
Come Lap 15, van Gisbergen pitted from fourth for an early stop. However, as it turned out, he didn’t take enough fuel believing a second compulsory pit stop was necessary.
The leading pack, led by De Pasquale, stayed out with Fullwood, Mostert, Le Brocq, McLaughlin, and Super2 Series wildcard Jordan Boys in tow.
Mostert dropped out of the lead pack on Lap 21 for his sole pit stop.
Come Lap 26, De Pasquale pitted from the lead. That left McLaughlin and Fullwood battling for top spot.
A lap later and McLaughlin, Fullwood, and Le Brocq pitted.
Once the pit stop sequence was complete it was van Gisbergen who led by a sizeable margin but had to pit for a second time to get the remaining fuel needed to finish the race.
Fullwood, who had been a contender, received a drive-through penalty for speeding in the pit lane and duly dropped outside of the top 20.
Come Lap 30, van Gisbergen pitted, which left McLaughlin to lead the race with Mostert a distant second and De Pasquale third.
The final stanza of the race saw De Pasquale usurp Mostert as the latter saved fuel.
Shortly thereafter, drama struck late in the piece as Mostert and De Pasquale came to blows on Lap 42.
The Penrite Racing driver went spinning and fell to 13th. Mostert was duly given a drive-through penalty for the incident.
Mostert caught McLaughlin on the final lap but ultimately ran out of fuel coming through the final turn.
In the end, McLaughlin claimed the win from Le Brocq and Boys.
Mostert provisionally claimed fourth pending the application of the drive-through penalty that wasn’t served.
Todd Hazelwood, Waters, De Pasquale, Macauley Jones, Andre Heimgartner, and Rick Kelly completed the top 10.
Aaron Seton was 13th ahead of van Gisbergen in 14th. Michael Caruso finished 24th ahead of Renault F1 Team junior Christian Lundgaard in 26th.
The final round of the BP Supercars All Stars Eseries takes place at Mount Panorama and Oran Park on June 10 at 18:00 AEST.
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