Supercars supremo Scott McLaughlin says his car is fast enough to win Darwin's elusive Triple Crown after clinching Saturday's race one from pole position.
McLaughlin, 26, is one-third of the way to becoming the first driver to complete the Triple Crown, with nobody able to achieve the landmark in the Top End since its inception in 2006.
To etch his name into the history books, the DJR Team Penske speedster needs to win Sunday's top-10 shootout and race two at Hidden Valley.
"We've got a fast enough car to do it but you need a lot of things to go your way," McLaughlin said.
"Everyone is going to come back with a stronger car tomorrow and we've got to make our car better."
The safety car was required with just three laps completed on Saturday when Tim Slade's race ended after a bump from Rick Kelly at the hairpin.
A slow pit stop on lap 15 cost Anton de Pasquale any chance of a podium and he finished 12th after starting fourth on the grid.
Chaz Mostert aggressively pitted early and was the biggest winner during the stops, as he managed to jump four spots and finish second behind McLaughlin.
Will Davison and Dave Reynolds clashed in the pit lanes but the latter still rounded out the podium, while the former came ninth after starting third on the grid.
Jamie Whincup and Shane van Gisbergen pitted late and made up ground to finish fifth and eighth respectively, while Cameron Waters was fourth.
McLaughlin has been sensational this season and is on track for back-to-back championships after 10 poles and 11 wins from 15 races. He leads the title race by 298 points.
"That was an awesome run," McLaughlin said.
"We had a really quick car so we pushed really hard in that first stint, especially after the safety car, to get away and get some breathing room.
"I came out (of the pits) in front of Chaz and pushed again. It was pretty good from then on."
Mostert admitted their strategy was risky but said it proved the correct one.
"We had a top-five car today and our strategy was a better one to get us a podium," Mostert said.
"But we were very lucky there in the end. I just tried to hold onto the tyres and, with the temperature up here, that's really hard so the end of the race was pretty interesting."
McLaughlin is one pole position short of Peter Brock's career tally. Brock (57) sits second among overall pole winners behind Jamie Whincup (80).
Saturday's pole marked a 600th for DJR Team Penske.
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