Lowndes, Whincup win Sandown 500

Having run a close third in the opening stint, they took the lead on lap 62 with an aggressive move by Whincup just after the first safety car period ended and never looked back, despite light rain falling throughout the last quarter of the race.

Second was the Toll HSV Dealer Team car of Rick Kelly and Paul Radisich, who struggled a little early on but slowly made their way up the order before the first safety car, restarting third. Pressure on the second-placed car of Mark Winterbottom and Matt Halliday resulted in an off for their rivals, but Kelly and Radisich were unable to close the gap to the eventual victors.

Completing the podium was Owen Kelly and Steven Richards in their Ford Performance Racing Falcon, a steady start turning into a somewhat anonymous race, but no major mistakes saw them steadily climb up the order to take third position.

Fourth place was a great result for the other Toll HSV Commodore of Garth Tander and Craig Baird. Running fourth and challenging for a podium with less than 60 laps remaining, they were given a drive-through penalty for an inoperative 'speed limiter' light on his previous pit stop, either because the light had failed or the pit lane speed limiter was not on.

Tander took the penalty grudgingly, dropping to seventh. As the car rolled through pit lane, again no light was seen but no further penalty was issued, suggesting the penalty may have been rather harsh.

In fact, it is almost a surprise he was penalised when you consider a fellow Holden driver at the same event four years ago ran several laps near the end without the mandatory rain light switched on in the wet after he switched it off to save electrical power, only receiving a post-race fine for the rules breach.

Fifth was the Valvoline Cummins duo of Dean Canto and Oran Park victor Lee Holdsworth in their Holden, while last car on the lead lap and sixth overall was Supercheap's Paul Dumbrell and Paul Weel, a great result after starting 25th.

A group of cars lost out in the second safety car period, losing a lap to the leaders in the process. Among those to finish a lap down were eighth-placed Ford Performance Racing's Mark Winterbottom and Matt Halliday, and Holden Racing Team's Todd Kelly and Nathan Pretty. In the first 45 laps these two cars ran 1-2 nose-to-tail, but the timing of their pit stops cost them ground at each of their stops.

The second Holden Racing Team car of Glenn Seton and Tony Longhurst never showed consistent pace and their thirteenth place result flatter them somewhat, one place behind the Glenfords Falcon of John Bowe and Jonathan Webb.

Fourteenth was a disappointing result for the Tasman Motorsport Commodore of Jason Richards and Greg Murphy. Running fifth in the early stages, brake dramas compromised their day before their day went further downhill.

Following the second restart, tenth-placed Murphy was unwilling to let race leader Lowndes put him a lap down despite Lowndes spending several laps on his rear bumper, the officials deciding blue flags were not necessary.

Finally getting alongside into turn one on lap 122, Murphy then collided with Lowndes through turn one sending them both onto the grass, Murphy taking a shortcut to resume further ahead.

Again Lowndes closed in and again Murphy held his ground. Eventually blue flags began to wave, but it was over a lap before Lowndes moved ahead of Murphy on lap 129.

Soon after, Murphy received a drive-throught penalty for ignoring blue flags, dropping him seven places. A bit of common sense could have seen the whole situation avoided.

Having entered the event six points behind, Rick Kelly retook the lead from Garth Tander, Kelly of 443 now nine points ahead of his teammate. The winning duo of Jamie Whincup and Craig Lowndes moved a little closer to the Toll HSV duo, now 54 and 70 points behind Kelly.

Fifth and sixth are still the Holden Racing Team duo of Todd Kelly and Mark Skaife, both losing ground to the four drivers ahead of them, Kelly 119 points behind his younger brother while Skaife is now 170 behind.

Pos Drivers                            Car                   Time
 1. Craig Lowndes/Jamie Whincup        Ford Falcon BF        3:23:16.5157
 2. Rick Kelly/Paul Radisich           Holden Commodore VE   +     2.7173
 3. Owen Kelly/Steven Richards         Ford Falcon BF        +    13.0689
 4. Craig Baird/Garth Tander           Holden Commodore VE   +    35.6291
 5. Dean Canto/Lee Holdsworth          Holden Commodore VE   +    40.2961
 6. Paul Dumbrell/Paul Weel            Holden Commodore VE   +    59.7193
 7. Russell Ingall/Luke Youlden        Ford Falcon BF        +     1 lap
 8. Matt Halliday/Mark Winterbottom    Ford Falcon BF        +     1 lap
 9. Todd Kelly/Nathan Pretty           Holden Commodore VE   +     1 lap
10. Richard Lyons/Allan Simonsen       Ford Falcon BF        +     1 lap
11. Steve Owen/Tony D'Alberto          Holden Commodore VZ   +     1 lap
12. John Bowe/Jonathon Webb            Ford Falcon BF        +     1 lap
13. Glenn Seton/Tony Longhurst         Holden Commodore VE   +     1 lap
14. Greg Murphy/Jason Richards         Holden Commodore VE   +     1 lap
15. Steven Ellery/Paul Morris          Holden Commodore VE   +     1 lap
16. David Besnard/James Courtney       Ford Falcon BF        +     1 lap
17. Marcus Marshall/Kayne Scott        Holden Commodore VE   +     1 lap
18. Cameron McLean/Greg Ritter         Holden Commodore VE   +     2 laps
19. Fabian Coulthard/Chris Pither      Holden Commodore VZ   +     2 laps
20. Shane van Gisbergen/John McIntyre  Ford Falcon BF        +     7 laps
DNF Alex Davison/Andrew Thompson       Ford Falcon BF        +    21 laps
DNF Michael Caruso/Max Wilson          Ford Falcon BF        +    27 laps
DNF Jason Bargwanna/Grant Denyer       Ford Falcon BF        +    34 laps
DNF Alan Gurr/Warren Luff              Ford Falcon BF        +    38 laps
DNF Cameron McConville/David Reynolds  Holden Commodore VE   +    44 laps
DNF Mark Noske/Jay Verdnik             Holden Commodore VE   +    53 laps
DNF Andrew Jones/Simon Wills           Ford Falcon BF        +    69 laps
DNF Jason Bright/Adam Macrow           Ford Falcon BF        +    84 laps
DNF Christian Murchison/Damien White   Ford Falcon BF        +    95 laps
DNF Shane Price/Jack Perkins           Holden Commodore VE   +   126 laps
DNF Steven Johnson/Will Davison        Ford Falcon BF        +   132 laps