Tim Slade turned pole position into a popular maiden V8 Supercars victory in Race 10 of the season at Winton.
In his 227th career V8 Supercars start, the Brad Jones Racing Holden driver put in a commanding performance to lead every lap outside the pitstop cycle.
Scott McLaughlin tracked Slade through the opening stint before the Holden and Volvo pitted on laps 10 and 11 of 40 respectively.
Slade’s one second advantage doubled in the stops.
The 30-year-old then extended his margin to more than five seconds before cruising to a 4.3s victory.
The result marks the ninth different V8 Supercars winner from 10 races this season.
“Finally. Man, what a feeling,” beamed Slade post-race.
“I got out of the car and didn’t really know what to do. It’s awesome.
“I can’t thank Brad and Kim (Jones, team owners) and everyone at BJR enough.
“Thanks to everyone who has supported me. It’s a pretty crazy feeling.”
McLaughlin had been the big mover at the start, rocketing from fourth on the grid to second at Turn 1.
The Volvo driver spent the bulk of the race holding off front-row starter Mark Winterbottom, who proved unable to find a way by.
Rick Kelly, Jamie Whincup, Will Davison and Chaz Mostert rounded out the top seven, all finishing nose-to-tail thanks to the Volvo.
Davison was among the last to pit but was robbed of a stronger result thanks to a slow pitstop.
Caruso, Shane van Gisbergen and Lee Holdsworth completed the top 10, while Craig Lowndes had a disappointing run to 14th.
Cameron Waters and James Courtney managed just 16th and 19th respectively after a high-speed collision that will be the subject of a post-race investigation.
The incident occurred after Will Davison emerged from pitlane narrowly ahead of a train of cars that included Michael Caruso, Waters and Courtney.
Waters squeezed the HRT Commodore for room on the exit of Turn 4 before contact with the left-rear door of the Monster Falcon sent the youngster spinning at the following turn.
The results see McLaughlin take over the lead in the championship, 21 points ahead of Whincup.
Erstwhile leader Lowndes drops to third, a further nine points adrift of his team-mate.
Result: Virgin Australia Supercars Championship Woodstock Winton Super Sprint Race 10
| 1 | Freightliner Racing | Tim Slade | Holden Commodore VF | 40 | 54:40.4946 |
| 2 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | Scott McLaughlin | Volvo S60 | 40 | 54:44.8552 |
| 3 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG/X | 40 | 54:45.0781 |
| 4 | Sengled Motorsport | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 40 | 54:45.6718 |
| 5 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 40 | 54:45.9471 |
| 6 | Team Darrell Lea STIX | Will Davison | Holden Commodore VF | 40 | 54:46.7209 |
| 7 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG/X | 40 | 54:47.0187 |
| 8 | Nissan Motorsport | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 40 | 54:51.0728 |
| 9 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 40 | 54:51.2290 |
| 10 | Preston Hire Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Holden Commodore VF | 40 | 54:51.5389 |
| 11 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VF | 40 | 54:55.5487 |
| 12 | DJR Team Penske | Scott Pye | Ford Falcon FG/X | 40 | 54:56.0217 |
| 13 | carsales Racing | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 40 | 54:56.3848 |
| 14 | GB Galvanizing Racing | Dale Wood | Nissan Altima | 40 | 54:59.5994 |
| 15 | TeamVortex | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 40 | 55:01.4180 |
| 16 | Monster Energy Racing | Cameron Waters | Ford Falcon FG/X | 40 | 55:01.8607 |
| 17 | DJR Team Penske | Fabian Coulthard | Ford Falcon FG/X | 40 | 55:02.2878 |
| 18 | Super Black Racing | Chris Pither | Ford Falcon FG/X | 40 | 55:06.6170 |
| 19 | Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Holden Commodore VF | 40 | 55:07.1403 |
| 20 | Team Cooldrive | Tim Blanchard | Holden Commodore VF | 40 | 55:08.6448 |
| 21 | ABRO/Repair Management Aust | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore VF | 40 | 55:08.8140 |
| 22 | Erebus Motorsport Penrite | David Reynolds | Holden Commodore VF | 40 | 55:10.8953 |
| 23 | ABRO/Repair Management Aust | Andre Heimgartner | Holden Commodore VF | 40 | 55:22.3766 |
| 24 | Plus Fitness Racing | Aaren Russell | Holden Commodore VF | 40 | 55:28.4370 |
| 25 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 39 | 54:54.3418 |
| 26 | Wilson Security Racing GRM | James Moffat | Volvo S60 | 35 | 55:30.9400 |
Championship Standings
| 1 | Scott McLaughlin | 984 |
| 2 | Jamie Whincup | 963 |
| 3 | Craig Lowndes | 954 |
| 4 | Mark Winterbottom | 945 |
| 5 | Shane Van Gisbergen | 887 |
| 6 | Will Davison | 858 |
| 7 | Rick Kelly | 741 |
| 8 | Garth Tander | 739 |
| 9 | James Courtney | 726 |
| 10 | Michael Caruso | 705 |
| 11 | Tim Slade | 669 |
| 12 | Chaz Mostert | 659 |
| 13 | Todd Kelly | 637 |
| 14 | Jason Bright | 612 |
| 15 | Scott Pye | 568 |
| 16 | Fabian Coulthard | 565 |
| 17 | Lee Holdsworth | 558 |
| 18 | David Reynolds | 535 |
| 19 | Cameron Waters | 502 |
| 20 | Nick Percat | 501 |
| 21 | James Moffat | 498 |
| 22 | Tim Blanchard | 377 |
| 23 | Dale Wood | 376 |
| 24 | Chris Pither | 364 |
| 25 | Andre Heimgartner | 302 |
| 26 | Aaren Russell | 264 |
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