Brad Jones Racing, Shell V-Power Racing and the Red Bull Holden Racing Team will vie for the PIRTEK Pitstop Challenge major prize this month.
The trio will make up the head-to-head semi-finals held on the Thursday evening (October 15) of the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.
Not only have reigning winners BJR secured the minor premiership thanks to consistently fast stops on Nick Percat’s #8, they’ve guaranteed themselves a berth in the grand final.
That’s due to the fact that Percat’s #8 will take on the #14 sister car of Todd Hazelwood, which placed fourth after the eight qualifying rounds, in the opening semi-final.
The season’s on-track title protagonists will then engage in their latest scrap, this time in pitlane as the Shell #17 of Scott McLaughlin is put up against the Red Bull #88 of Jamie Whincup.
McLaughlin’s car had been set to miss a finals spot before a pair of swift stops during the OTR SuperSprint rocketed the entry from fifth up to second in the competition standings.
The middle race of the second Bend event did not count towards final tallies, given that a Safety Car was deployed.
The winners of each semi-final will meet in the ultimate decider, with the winner receiving $20,000 and the Golden Rattle Gun trophy.
In the event of a washout, preliminary rankings will be taken into account – in which case BJR and the Percat entry would be awarded victory.
PIRTEK Pitstop Challenge leaderboard final standings (regular season)
1. R&J Batteries Racing #8 – 392 points
2. Shell V-Power Racing #17 – 353
3. Red Bull Holden Racing Team #88 – 348
4. Brad Jones Racing #14 – 344
5. Shell V-Power Racing Team #12 – 336
6. Monster Energy Racing #6 – 320
7. Supercheap Auto Racing #55 – 315
8. Penrite Racing #9 – 310
9. Truck Assist Racing #5 – 305
10. Red Bull Holden Racing Team #97 – 278
11. Team CoolDrive #3 – 271
12. Penrite Racing #99 – 271
13. Mobil 1 Appliances Online Racing #25 – 266
14. Boost Mobile Racing #44 – 245
15. Mobil 1 Middy’s Racing #2 – 239
16. DEWALT Racing #20 – 236
17. IRWIN Racing #18 – 229
18. NED Racing #7 – 199
19. Yellow Cover Racing #35 – 199
20. Castrol Racing #15 – 183
21. SCT Motor Sports #4 – 181
22. Team Sydney #22 – 176
23. Team Sydney #19 – 150
24. UNIT Racing #34 – 140