V8 Supercars / Andy Morris / 24 November 2009 / Leave a comment Bet Now

No surprise that Jamie Whincup is trading as low as 1.05 after putting one hand on the V8 Supercars trophy at Barbagallo Raceway in Perth, writes Andy Morris.

Craig Lowndes took out the race, but his Triple Eight teammate is now all but guaranteed to defend his title after stretching his advantage at the top of the standings.

Whincup's victory the day before stretched his lead over TollHRT's Will Davison, the unfortunate victim of a freak crash on Sunday which ruined his hopes of securing the title.

On Sunday, Whincup finished fourth and has stretched his lead to 281 points, virtually wrapping up the series title.

Steven Johnson finished second on Sunday, with Davison's teammate Garth Tander in third.

Whincup says he is not going to cruise home, he's going to go all out to secure the title in style in Sydney in a fortnight.

The day before, Whincup had started from second on the grid and took the lead quickly before storming to his 11th win of the season.

That left Davison needing to win on Sunday and hope Whincup slipped up badly, but instead Davison's car skidded on a patch of oil and he damaged the steering on his car as he collided with a tyre wall.

Lowndes took the 74th race win of his V8 career on Sunday, giving Whincup an even bigger smile as he reflected on Triple Eight's strength.

The reality is that Whincup now only needs to finish one of the two races at the Olympic Park street circuit in two weeks to become the first driver since Marcos Ambros in 2004 to go back-to-back.

As far as the minor standings go, Garth Tander can pip Davison for second place while if Tander falters, he can be caught by Lowndes as there are 300 points up for grabs and Lowndes is 222 points behind the Holden driver.

However, there will be few traders taking a punt on anything other than a Whincup title win in Sydney.