Ford driver Scott McLaughlin is certain his pit-stop gamble to win Sunday's Supercars race on the Gold Coast won't be the last bold play before this year's champion is crowned.
The DJR Team Penske driver pitted while behind championship rivals Jamie Whincup and Shane Van Gisbergen just past the midway point of the 300km race.
His gamble paid off two laps later when he came out in front of Whincup and Van Gisbergen, going on to secure a win that had looked extremely unlikely after only qualifying 13th earlier in the day.
Whincup's second-place puts him on 2580 points, 17 points ahead of Ford's Fabian Coulthard in the championship standings with just four races remaining.
It's the first time the six-time driver's champion has led the standings in 2017.
Just 189 points covers the top five drivers heading into next month's penultimate Auckland SuperSprint, setting up a mad scramble to the line.
McLaughlin's seventh win of the year comes after failing to finish at Bathurst earlier this month.
The crucial victory keeps him third on the standings, just 27 points behind Whincup.
"It's huge, obviously we were in a pretty bad spot there in 13th, not crazy bad but it's in the middle of the mischief," he said, praising co-driver Alex Premat for lifting their Falcon to sixth before handing it over.
"He drove like a champ and came through and put us in the spot.
"It's going to be on. It's good. It's awesome. I'm looking forward to it."
Whincup rued his team's conservatism in the face of DJR Team Penske's strategy but said that won't be happening again, promising all-out racing from now until the end of the year.
"It's nice to be leading, I haven't led all year but the only thing that matters is who's leading after race two in Newcastle," he said.
"We're all going to be aggressive right until the end. Otherwise you'll just dwindle away and come second."
Ford's Chaz Mostert finished seventh to secure this year's Endurance Cup but remains firmly in the title hunt, fourth on 2454 points.
Defending series champion Shane Van Gisbergen is also poised to strike if the top four stumble, his third-place finish lifting him to 2391 points.
The Auckland SuperSprint at Pukekohe will be held from November 3 to 5.
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