A clash between early leaders Scott McLaughlin and Michael Caruso left Jamie Whincup to lead home another Red Bull one-two in Race 24 at Queensland Raceway.
Pole-sitter McLaughlin jumped away to an early lead while fellow front-row starter Caruso fought to hold out Whincup in the opening laps.
The Nissan proved to be the fastest car as the race unfolded, however, eventually reeling in the Volvo by the halfway mark of the 33 lap encounter.
Stalking his rival for several laps, Caruso eventually pulled a late dive with 11 laps to go at Turn 6; resulting in contact with the right-rear of the Volvo.
The hit saw McLaughlin spin while Caruso was handed a drive-through penalty.
Whincup, who had been closing on Caruso at the time of the incident, managed to hold out Lowndes over the remaining laps to record a narrow victory.
The win is Whincup's sixth in eight races and sees the five-time champion close Mark Winterbottom's points lead to 48.
Chaz Mostert flew the Ford Performance Racing flag highest in Race 24, getting the better of Shane van Gisbergen in the closing stages to complete the podium.
Rick Kelly salvaged fifth for Nissan after a late-race dice with Winterbottom, while Nick Percat, Garth Tander, Fabian Coulthard and James Courtney completed the top 10.
McLaughlin limped home 19th while Caruso was 24th.
Qualifying and a 200km Race 25 will complete the Coates Hire Ipswich 400 on Sunday.
Result: Race 24
1 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 33 | 39:06.38 |
2 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 33 | 39:06.88 |
3 | Ford Pepsi Max Crew | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG | 33 | 39:18.63 |
4 | Team Tekno VIP Petfoods | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 33 | 39:24.56 |
5 | Jack Daniel's Racing | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 33 | 39:26.50 |
6 | Ford Pepsi Max Crew | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG | 33 | 39:26.60 |
7 | Walkinshaw Racing | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore VF | 33 | 39:27.06 |
8 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 33 | 39:27.43 |
9 | Lockwood Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VF | 33 | 39:28.22 |
10 | Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 33 | 39:29.70 |
11 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VF | 33 | 39:30.03 |
12 | Wilson Security Racing | Scott Pye | Ford Falcon FG | 33 | 39:30.45 |
13 | Norton Hornets | James Moffat | Nissan Altima | 33 | 39:30.83 |
14 | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Will Davison | Mercedes E63 AMG | 33 | 39:32.92 |
15 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | David Reynolds | Ford Falcon FG | 33 | 39:34.37 |
16 | Jack Daniel's Racing | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 33 | 39:35.13 |
17 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Tim Slade | Holden Commodore VF | 33 | 39:35.76 |
18 | Erebus Motorsport V8 | Lee Holdsworth | Mercedes E63 AMG | 33 | 39:36.51 |
19 | Valvoline Racing GRM | Scott McLaughlin | Volvo S60 | 33 | 39:38.18 |
20 | Wilson Security Racing | David Wall | Ford Falcon FG | 33 | 39:38.44 |
21 | Repair Management Aust Racing | Russell Ingall | Holden Commodore VF | 33 | 39:38.83 |
22 | Valvoline Racing GRM | Robert Dahlgren | Volvo S60 | 33 | 39:40.56 |
23 | Team Advam/GB | Dale Wood | Holden Commodore VF | 33 | 39:41.07 |
24 | Norton Hornets | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 33 | 39:43.56 |
25 | Team JELD-WEN | Jack Perkins | Ford Falcon FG | 33 | 39:46.76 |
Championship points after Race 24
1 | Mark Winterbottom | 1736 |
2 | Jamie Whincup | 1688 |
3 | Craig Lowndes | 1490 |
4 | Fabian Coulthard | 1463 |
5 | Shane Van Gisbergen | 1454 |
6 | James Courtney | 1448 |
7 | Scott McLaughlin | 1299 |
8 | Garth Tander | 1225 |
9 | Chaz Mostert | 1193 |
10 | David Reynolds | 1171 |
11 | Jason Bright | 1071 |
12 | Will Davison | 992 |
13 | Michael Caruso | 969 |
14 | Lee Holdsworth | 946 |
15 | Rick Kelly | 945 |
16 | Scott Pye | 938 |
17 | James Moffat | 906 |
18 | Russell Ingall | 897 |
19 | Tim Slade | 873 |
20 | Nick Percat | 872 |
21 | David Wall | 786 |
22 | Dale Wood | 686 |
23 | Jack Perkins | 646 |
24 | Todd Kelly | 620 |
25 | Robert Dahlgren | 474 |