Jamie Whincup drove to win the Race 34 at the Coates Hire Sydney 500 and Winterbottom is now closer to a maiden V8 Supercars Championship title. Winterbottom now needs to finish 21st or better in Race 35 to claim the crown.
The Ford driver started the 37-lap race from pole position and drove conservatively to protect his lead over Holden driver Lowndes.
The pair were separated by 179 points heading into the weekend, but the gap grew to 204 points after Lowndes finished 15th.
A maximum of 225 points is up for grabs across the round’s last two races.
The race had no real incidents with the Safety Car remaining in the pits during a race for the first time in the event’s history.
