Will Brown has pulled off a Supercars classic, going from second-last to first in the final race of the season.
It was a dream finish for the newly-crowned champion after a horror start as the Adelaide 500 descended into a demolition derby on Sunday.
Brown found himself in 22nd position and facing the wrong way on turn seven after being bumped by former teammate Brodie Kostecki on lap nine.
Gradually carving his way up the field, Brown was given a huge favour by his Triple Eight teammate Broc Feeney, who shunted race leader Chaz Mostert with 16 laps to go.
As the drivers braked into turn six, Feeney clipped Mostert's back right corner and sent him spinning into the barrier.
With Mostert's damaged Ford Mustang lacking pace, Brown closed the gap and overtook the Walkinshaw Andretti United man on the Brock Straight with 12 laps left, eventually crossing the line with a nine-second lead.
Mostert was in a forgiving mood when asked about the incident after the race.
"It's motor racing. It's happened. I've probably done it to 20 other people in this category before," he said.
"He came and said sorry and that's pretty good sportsmanship from Broc so he deserves a round of applause for that."
The 32-year-old Mostert eventually limped over the line in second place, with Tickford's Thomas Randle third after hauling in Will Davison and Nick Percat in a fierce fight to the finish.
Mostert and Feeney had been locked in an intense duel from the starting line, when Mostert refused to cede the inside line and ploughed straight through the gravel at the Senna Chicane to put his nose ahead.
It looked as though he would ease to victory after Feeney was handed a 15-second penalty for an unsafe release when he pulled into Mostert's path as both emerged from pit lane.
Feeney was given another 15-second penalty for his bump on Mostert, resulting in him dropping to seventh, despite being the first to cross the line.
"Obviously a lot of things went wrong in our race, but then I suppose it was a bit too aggressive," Feeney said.
"I was trying to get to the lead and try and extend my 15-second gap and I made a mistake and tagged him."
The 22-year-old had good company in the naughty corner.
Kostecki, Cam Waters, Anton De Pasquale, Ryan Wood, Aaron Love and Mark Winterbottom - in his last race as a full-time driver - all received penalties for colliding with rival drivers in a chaotic season finale.
To end his championship season with an instant classic Adelaide 500 was the icing on the cake for Brown.
"I was pretty stoked to finish the year off with that race to be honest," he said.
"Unfortunate there I got turned around and I literally just had a moment to myself and thought - oh well, there's no pressure, I'm just going to go out here and have some fun and drive back through and start picking a few people off."
Reigning Adelaide 500 champion Matt Payne was also sent headfirst into the tyre wall on turn 11 by Nick Percat, spearing under the barrier and losing his bonnet in the process.
Payne dropped to the back of the pack while his car was repaired and the sole safety car of the race went onto the track.
Kai Allen was also dogged by damage to the back of his Mustang after contact from James Courtney on lap one.
The Super2 runner-up was elevated into Richie Stanaway's seat after the New Zealander was ruled out with concussion from his own crash at turn eight on Friday.
Only 23 cars started the race after Brad Jones Racing rookie Jaxon Evans was also diagnosed with concussion following another ugly high-speed crash on turn eight in qualifying.
RACE 24 RESULTS:
1. Will Brown (Triple Eight Race Engineering)
2. Chaz Mostert (Walkinshaw Andretti United)
3. Thomas Randle (Tickford Racing)
4. Will Davison (Dick Johnson Racing)
5. Nick Percat (Matt Stone Racing)
CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS:
1. Will Brown - 3060 pts
2. Broc Feeney - 2838 pts
3. Chaz Mostert - 2667 pts
4. Cam Waters - 2551 pts
5. Thomas Randle - 2032 pts
