Craig Lowndes added to his earlier victory with another win in the second 22-lap race of the Coates Hire Ipswich 300 at the Queensland Raceway. Lowndes' win also sealed the 2011 Manufacturer's championship for Holden, with their 15th win in 17 races.
Polesitter, Lowdnes kept his cool to close out race two ahead of team-mate Jamie Whincup who made it a TeamVodafone one-two having passed Lucky 7 Racing's Tim Slade on the opening lap.
“It's been a long time coming,” Lowndes said.
“My last victory was with Skaife at Bathurst so it's been a long time between drinks!”
“It's been a great weekend for the team so far, and we've still got tomorrow to come but right now I'm going to celebrate.”
Unable to repeat his second-place finish in the first race, Slade still kept the leaders within range to round out the podium, his second in as many races.
“It felt like a dream sitting on the front row of the grid,” a jubilant Slade exclaimed, clearly delighted with the day’s results.
“I couldn't ask for a better day … second in the first race and another podium. I can't say enough about all my guys, they're the best bunch in pit lane I reckon.”
With just a 15 minute service window between races to fix the cars and line up on the grid, race two had got underway trouble-free, but with just four laps done, the safety car emerged.
Contact between Irwin Racing's Alex Davison and Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing's Karl Reindler left defending series champion Toll Holden Racing Team's James Courtney with nowhere to go as the pack bunched and he ploughed into the rear of Jack Daniel's Racing's Todd Kelly, ending the race for both drivers.
It was to be a bad day for Courtney's team-mate, Garth Tander too. Having started at the back of the grid after picking up a puncture in the first race, Tander had made his way up to 14th. But after being spun by Jana Living Racing's Jason Bargwanna on the last lap, he eventually finished a disastrous 23rd.
Just two laps after the restart, it was very nearly bedlam again as VIP Petfoods driver Steve Owen and Pepsi-Max Crew's Greg Murphy came together in the final turn and the cars running sixth to tenth all arrived at turn one virtually side-by-side.
In a somewhat processional race at the front of the field, Jack Daniel's Racing's Rick Kelly was again fourth, followed home by Steve Owen and Steve Johnson improving one position to finish sixth. Murphy, SP Tools Racing's Shane van Gisbergen, Jim Beam Racing's James Moffat and Orrcon Steel FPR's Mark Winterbottom rounded out the top ten.
The Coates Hire Ipswich 300 concludes with a 65-lap, 200km race on Sunday.
Race 17 results:
| Pos | Entrant | Driver | Vehicle | Fastest Lap | Fastest Lap Time | Race Time | Laps |
Points |
| 1 | TeamVodafone | Craig Lowndes | Commodore VE2 | 6 | 01:10:9034 | 28:44:5740 | 22 | 75 |
| 2 | TeamVodafone | Jamie Whincup | Commodore VE2 | 2 | 01:10:7854 | 28:46:0211 | 22 | 69 |
| 3 | Lucky 7 Racing | Tim Slade | Falcon FG | 6 | 01:10:9870 | 28:47:2450 | 22 | 65 |
| 4 | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Rick Kelly | Commodore VE2 | 2 | 01:11:1635 | 28:54:3627 | 22 | 60 |
| 5 | VIP Petfoods | Steve Owen | Commodore VE2 | 6 | 01:11:3075 | 28:58:7950 | 22 | 56 |
| 6 | Jim Beam Racing | Steven Johnson | Falcon FG | 6 | 01:11:3678 | 28:59:7826 | 22 | 51 |
| 7 | Pepsi Max Crew | Greg Murphy | Commodore VE2 | 2 | 01:11:3369 | 29:00:7820 | 22 | 48 |
| 8 | SP Tools Racing | Shane van Gisbergen | Falcon FG | 7 | 01:11:6706 | 29:03:4570 | 22 | 45 |
| 9 | Jim Beam Racing | James Moffat | Falcon FG | 6 | 01:11:5485 | 29:04:0375 | 22 | 42 |
| 10 | Orrcon Steel FPR Falcon | Mark Winterbottom | Falcon FG | 2 | 01:11:4826 | 29:07:8918 | 22 | 39 |
| 11 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Lee Holdsworth | Commodore VE2 | 2 | 01:11:5007 | 29:08:1065 | 22 | 36 |
| 12 | Supercheap Auto Racing | Russell Ingall | Commodore VE2 | 7 | 01:11:5782 | 29:08:4316 | 22 | 35 |
| 13 | Jana Living Racing | Jason Bargwanna | Commodore VE2 | 6 | 01:11:6047 | 29:10:2046 | 22 | 33 |
| 14 | Team Boc | Jason Bright | Commodore VE2 | 18 | 01:11:9252 | 29:10:3210 | 22 | 32 |
| 15 | Trading Post FPR Falcon | Will Davison | Falcon FG | 7 | 01:11:6189 | 29:11:0315 | 22 | 30 |
| 16 | Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing | Karl Reindler | Commodore VE2 | 12 | 01:11:9917 | 29:12:8831 | 22 | 29 |
| 17 | Wilson Security Racing | Tony D’Alberto | Falcon FG | 7 | 01:11:8873 | 29:14:4973 | 22 | 27 |
| 18 | Bundaberg Racing | Fabian Coulthard | Commodore VE2 | 6 | 01:12:2205 | 29:14:8145 | 22 | 26 |
| 19 | Fujitsu Racing GRM | Michael Caruso | Commodore VE2 | 6 | 01:11:9577 | 29:16:6189 | 22 | 24 |
| 20 | Mother Energy Racing Team | Jonathon Webb | Falcon FG | 7 | 01:12:0340 | 29:19:6032 | 22 | 23 |
| 21 | Triple F Racing | Dean Fiore | Falcon FG | 6 | 01:12:1663 | 29:19:8309 | 22 | 21 |
| 22 | Irwin Racing | Alex Davison | Falcon FG | 6 | 01:11:9261 | 29:25:7919 | 22 | 20 |
| 23 | Toll Holden Racing Team | Garth Tander | Commodore VE | 8 | 01:11:6628 | 29:26:3520 | 22 | 18 |
| 24 | Gulf Western Oil Racing | Warren Luff | Commodore VE2 | 6 | 01:12:2049 | 29:30:7220 | 22 | 17 |
| 25 | The Bottle-O Racing Team | Paul Dumbrell | Falcon FG | 10 | 01:11:5927 | 29:27:8231 | 21 | 15 |
| 26 | Stratco Racing | David Reynolds | Commodore VE2 | 3 | 01:13:6661 | 29:59:6003 | 18 | 14 |
| DNF | Jack Daniel’s Racing | Todd Kelly | Commodore VE2 | 1 | 01:22:1274 | 01:22:1274 | 1 | 0 |
| DNF | Toll Holden Racing Team | James Courtney | Commodore VE2 | 1 | 01:22:4474 | 01:22:4474 | 1 | 0 |
