Jamie Whincup has one hand on a fifth V8 Supercars Championship trophy after breaking through for his first win on the bruising streets of Sydney Olympic Park.
The pole-sitter trailed Jonathon Webb over the opening two laps after sliding wide at Turn 1, but soon retook command with an inside pass at Turn 9.
The Red Bull driver proved unbeatable on two late Safety Car restarts to eventually lead Webb home by just under two seconds.
Whincup will need to finish just 21st on Sunday to secure the title, even if his last remaining rival Craig Lowndes wins.
Starting 10th, Lowndes made it to third by lap 15 before a controversial tap from fellow contender Mark Winterbottom saw the Red Bull Holden tag the tyre wall.
Although dropping just two places, damage to the left-rear corner of Lowndes’ Holden in the incident would later prove costly, with his crew unable to get a full fuel load in the car during his second stop.
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The three-time champ was therefore forced into a third stop, ensuring a lowly eventual finishing position of 15th.
Winterbottom meanwhile continued with only cosmetic damage, but eventually fell foul of a second Turn 10 melee to chalk up a retirement and bow out of the title fight.
Shane van Gisbergen made it two Tekno Holdens on the podium, despite dropping outside the top 10 when he was forced to stack behind Webb at their first pitstops.
Van Gisbergen clashed with both Tim Blanchard and Fabian Coulthard on his charge back through the field; with the latter hit, dumping the Kiwi from third to 19th on the penultimate lap.
Jason Bright came home fourth after leading the race for a period thanks to running a long penultimate stint.
Will Davison, Tony D’Alberto, Michael Caruso, Tim Slade, Rick Kelly and Todd Kelly completed the top 10.
David Reynolds scored 11th despite taking damage in the Lowndes/Winterbottom incident, while Alexandre Premat recovered from an early mechanical black flag to follow Alex Davison home in 13th.
Garth Tander stormed from the back of the grid to seventh in the early stages before two offs at Turn 1 hurt his charge. He eventually finished 14th.
Team-mate Nick Percat appeared on course for a top 10 finish before being pushed off at Turn 1 in the closing stages. He finished 18th.
Driveline and brake failures took care of Scott McLaughlin and Maro Engel respectively, while Scott Pye was taken out after a mistake from James Moffat sent both cars off at the Turn 2 chicane.
A second 250km race will conclude the 2013 season on Sunday.
See below for full Race 35 results
| 1 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Jamie Whincup | Holden Commodore VF | 02:02:28.2244 | 1:28.8205* |
| 2 | TEKNO Team Darrell Lea | Jonathon Webb | Holden Commodore VF | 02:02:30.0154 | 1:28.9533 |
| 3 | TEKNO Team VIP Petfoods | Shane Van Gisbergen | Holden Commodore VF | 02:02:31.9986 | 1:28.9059 |
| 4 | Team BOC | Jason Bright | Holden Commodore VF | 02:02:32.7279 | 1:29.1367 |
| 5 | Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford | Will Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 02:02:34.0093 | 1:29.6244 |
| 6 | Team HIFLEX | Tony D’Alberto | Holden Commodore VF | 02:02:37.8738 | 1:29.4536 |
| 7 | Norton Hornets | Michael Caruso | Nissan Altima | 02:02:39.1448 | 1:29.9303 |
| 8 | Heavy Haulage Australia Racing | Tim Slade | Mercedes E63 AMG | 02:02:39.4624 | 1:29.8548 |
| 9 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Rick Kelly | Nissan Altima | 02:02:39.9473 | 1:29.4829 |
| 10 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Todd Kelly | Nissan Altima | 02:02:40.2948 | 1:29.8168 |
| 11 | The Bottle-O FPR Ford | David Reynolds | Ford Falcon FG | 02:02:41.1061 | 1:29.6539 |
| 12 | Jeld-wen FPR Ford | Alex Davison | Ford Falcon FG | 02:02:41.7757 | 1:29.3310 |
| 13 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Alexandre Premat | Holden Commodore VF | 02:02:42.6405 | 1:29.2402 |
| 14 | Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Holden Commodore VF | 02:02:43.0001 | 1:29.2120 |
| 15 | Red Bull Racing Australia | Craig Lowndes | Holden Commodore VF | 02:02:44.0437 | 1:29.4005 |
| 16 | Wilson Security Racing | David Wall | Holden Commodore VF | 02:02:45.6471 | 1:30.2594 |
| 17 | Dodo Insurance Racing | Dean Fiore | Holden Commodore VF | 02:02:46.7484 | 1:30.1112 |
| 18 | Holden Racing Team | Nick Percat | Holden Commodore VF | 02:02:48.1985 | 1:29.8056 |
| 19 | Lockwood Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Holden Commodore VF | 02:03:24.3813 | 1:29.4130 |
| 20 | Norton Hornets | James Moffat | Nissan Altima | 02:03:12.8155 | 1:29.6748 |
| 21 | Wilson Security Racing | Chaz Mostert | Ford Falcon FG | 02:03:01.0446 | 1:28.9013 |
| 22 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Russell Ingall | Holden Commodore VF | 02:02:53.6498 | 1:29.1637 |
| 23 | Irwin Racing | Lee Holdsworth | Mercedes E63 AMG | 02:02:54.6170 | 1:29.5252 |
| DNF | ekol Racing | Scott Pye | Holden Commodore VF | 01:43:06.3154 | 1:29.8338 |
| DNF | Pepsi Max Crew FPR Ford | Mark Winterbottom | Ford Falcon FG | 01:43:41.2027 | 1:29.5539 |
| DNF | SP Tools Racing | Maro Engel | Mercedes E63 AMG | 01:30:31.0216 | 1:30.1408 |
| DNF | Wilson Security Racing | Tim Blanchard | Ford Falcon FG | 27:48.8488 | 1:30.2499 |
| DNF | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Scott McLaughlin | Holden Commodore VF | 15:15.4102 | 1:29.9369 |
See below for the updated championship points
| 1 | Jamie Whincup | 2965 |
| 2 | Craig Lowndes | 2855 |
| 3 | Will Davison | 2703 |
| 4 | Mark Winterbottom | 2691 |
| 5 | Fabian Coulthard | 2441 |
| 6 | Shane Van Gisbergen | 2383 |
| 7 | Garth Tander | 2322 |
| 8 | Jason Bright | 2243 |
| 9 | David Reynolds | 1938 |
| 10 | James Courtney | 1909 |
| 11 | Jonathon Webb | 1865 |
| 12 | Scott McLaughlin | 1865 |
| 13 | Alex Davison | 1722 |
| 14 | Rick Kelly | 1703 |
| 15 | Russell Ingall | 1478 |
| 16 | Tony D’Alberto | 1463 |
| 17 | James Moffat | 1448 |
| 18 | Chaz Mostert | 1436 |
| 19 | Alexandre Premat | 1319 |
| 20 | David Wall | 1307 |
| 21 | Lee Holdsworth | 1295 |
| 22 | Tim Slade | 1226 |
| 23 | Michael Caruso | 1185 |
| 24 | Dean Fiore | 1169 |
| 25 | Todd Kelly | 1085 |
| 26 | Tim Blanchard | 1080 |
| 27 | Scott Pye | 1049 |
| 28 | Maro Engel | 791 |
