Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes will take a slight lead into the final race of this year’s Pirtek Enduro Cup, the Sandown 500, which they will start from pole.
However, wins for Lowndes and Whincup in the qualifying sprints at the Penrite Oil Sandown 500, combined with a DNF for van Gisbergen in his 20-lap race, have put Car #888 21 points clear at the top of the series within a series on 628 points.
Van Gisbergen/Tander are now second, while Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 winners Scott McLaughlin and Alexandre Premat still occupy third on 500 points.
Whincup/Lowndes could guarantee that a Triple Eight Race Engineering entry would win the Pirtek Enduro Cup by finishing 10th in today’s 161-lap race, which would put them out of race of McLaughlin/Premat.
Van Gisbergen/Tander would have to climb to eighth from second-last on the grid to ensure they are not overhauled by the #17 Shell V-Power Racing Team entry, which now starts behind them after their engine penalty from Bathurst.
If Whincup/Lowndes could pull off the Pirtek Enduro Cup win, Lowndes would become the first driver to go back-to-back.
Pirtek Enduro Cup standings
| Pos | Num | Drivers | Team | Pts |
| 1 | 888 | Jamie Whincup/Craig Lowndes | Triple Eight Race Engineering | 628 |
| 2 | 97 | Shane van Gisbergen/Garth Tander | Triple Eight Race Engineering | 607 |
| 3 | 17 | Scott McLaughlin/Alexandre Premat | DJR Team Penske | 500 |
| 4 | 9 | David Reynolds/Luke Youlden | Erebus Motorsport | 465 |
| 5 | 2 | Scott Pye/Warren Luff | Walkinshaw Andretti United | 459 |
| 6 | 22 | James Courtney/Jack Perkins | Walkinshaw Andretti United | 454 |
| 7 | 5 | Lee Holdsworth/Thomas Randle | Tickford Racing | 441 |
| 8 | 23 | Will Davison/Alex Davison | 23Red Racing | 414 |
| 9 | 6 | Cameron Waters/Michael Caruso | Tickford Racing | 372 |
| 10 | 15 | Rick Kelly/Dale Wood | Kelly Racing | 360 |
| 11 | 18 | Mark Winterbottom/Steven Richards | Team 18 | 343 |
| 12 | 8 | Nick Percat/Tim Blanchard | Brad Jones Racing | 303 |
| 13 | 12 | Fabian Coulthard/Tony D’Alberto | DJR Team Penske | 296 |
| 14 | 19 | Jack Le Brocq/Jonathon Webb | Tekno Autosports | 266 |
| 15 | 3 | Garry Jacobson/Dean Fiore | Kelly Racing | 258 |
| 16 | 21 | Macauley Jones/Dean Canto | Brad Jones Racing | 255 |
| 17 | 78 | Simona De Silvestro/Alex Rullo | Kelly Racing | 252 |
| 18 | 34 | James Golding/Richard Muscat | Garry Rogers Motorsport | 248 |
| 19 | 99 | Anton De Pasquale/Will Brown | Erebus Motorsport | 230 |
| 20 | 33 | Richie Stanaway/Chris Pither | Garry Rogers Motorsport | 208 |
| 21 | 14 | Tim Slade/Ash Walsh | Brad Jones Racing | 171 |
| 22 | 56 | Brodie Kostecki/Jake Kostecki | Kostecki Brothers Racing | 152 |
| 23 | 55 | Chaz Mostert/James Moffat | Tickford Racing | 148 |
| 24 | 7 | Andre Heimgartner/Bryce Fullwood | Kelly Racing | 128 |
| 25 | 35 | Todd Hazelwood/Jack Smith | Matt Stone Racing | 125 |
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