Todd Kelly wins again in race two

Kelly again led from start to finish apart from a brief period during compulsory pit stops. Smart pit strategy by Mark Winterbottom moved him from fifth before the stops to second after them, the Ford driver the only driver to finish within sight of the rampant Kelly.

While there was no doubt who would finish first and second, the battle for third was much tighter. Craig Lowndes took second at the start before a mistake on the exit of Southern Loop allowed title rival Rick Kelly to move ahead, with Kelly's Toll HSV teammate Garth Tander just behind.

Through the pit stops Tander moved ahead of Lowndes while Rick Kelly dropped a couple of seconds behind Lowndes as a right front wheel proved troublesome at Kelly's stop.

The gap between Lowndes and Kelly steadily disappeared however as Tander drove defensively in the middle stages, his driving earning the wrath of the stewards who gave him a bad sportsmanship flag for his repeated blocking and slowing of the pace, Mark Skaife also receiving the flag while battling Lowndes in race one after the drivers had been warned not to unfairly interfere in the championship fight.

The flag had the desired effect, Tander returning to his normal lines, but by this time Kelly had closed right on Lowndes, and now had a car in front and a car behind to worry about.

As the laps wound down, Kelly fell away a little as Lowndes resumed his attack on Tander. Tander again began to defend his line, but having already received the bad sportsmanship flag, was treading a fine line between unfair driving that would see him penalised and the right to race for position in the closing laps.

With five laps to go Tander was given a drive-through penalty, finally freeing Lowndes from the battle. Lowndes took third with Kelly in fourth, Steven Richards completing the top five while Tander dropped from third to finish the race in eighteenth.

With just one race remaining, the two title contenders Rick Kelly and Craig Lowndes are tied on 3258 points, with the driver who finishes in front set to be the 2006 champion. Meanwhile, Tander's drop down the order in the closing laps has guaranteed that Mark Winterbottom will finish third overall in the championship.

Pos  Driver                   Car
 1.  Todd Kelly               Holden Commodore VZ
 2.  Mark Winterbottom        Ford Falcon BA
 3.  Craig Lowndes            Ford Falcon BA
 4.  Rick Kelly               Holden Commodore VZ
 5.  Steven Richards          Holden Commodore VZ
 6.  Mark Skaife              Holden Commodore VZ
 7.  Will Davison             Ford Falcon BA
 8.  Jason Bright             Ford Falcon BA
 9.  Jamie Whincup            Ford Falcon BA
10.  Cameron McConville       Holden Commodore VZ
11.  Lee Holdsworth           Holden Commodore VZ
12.  Jason Richards           Holden Commodore VZ
13.  Warren Luff              Ford Falcon BA
14.  Dean Canto               Holden Commodore VZ
15.  Steven Johnson           Ford Falcon BA
16.  Max Wilson               Ford Falcon BA
17.  Greg Murphy              Holden Commodore VZ
18.  Garth Tander             Holden Commodore VZ
19.  Jason Bargwanna          Ford Falcon BA
20.  Paul Dumbrell            Holden Commodore VZ
21.  John Bowe                Ford Falcon BA
22.  Andrew Jones             Holden Commodore VZ
23.  Brad Jones               Ford Falcon BA
24.  Marcus Marshall          Ford Falcon BA
25.  Shane Price              Holden Commodore VZ
26.  Russell Ingall           Ford Falcon BA
27.  Paul Morris              Holden Commodore VZ
28.  Jose Fernandez           Ford Falcon BA
29.  Steve Owen               Holden Commodore VZ
DNF  Tony Evangelou           Ford Falcon BA
DNF  James Courtney           Ford Falcon BA