Lochie Dalton's hopes of winning the National Trans Am Series have been dealt a massive blow after he bombed out of the fourth race at Sydney Motorsport Park on the last lap.
In what was a one-lap dash to the chequered flag after the second safety car of the race, Garry Rogers Motorsport's James Moffat led the field to green.
Just behind him, Cody Gillis and Nash Morris battled over second and third. Gillis got loose through turn two while Morris went wide of the apex trying to pass him.
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Sensing an opportunity, Dalton went to the inside of Morris. The pair went side-by-side through turn two and into turn three, banging doors. Morris briefly got airborne as he made wheel-to-wheel contact.
Dalton copped a whack for good measure, which in turn opened the door for Ben Grice to mount an attack.
Dalton and Grice rubbed doors through turns four and five, neither giving the other an inch.
Over the exit kerb, Grice appeared to get loose on power down and lost control of his car. Grice veered to the left and into the right rear of Dalton's car, sending them both into a spin.
The pair eventually crossed the line in 16th and 17th respectively.
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At the head of the field, Moffat held on to victory in a statement win for the team.
After having their round three disqualifications overturned, the team was the subject of criticism from other teams.
"That was full send. Really, as a team, we wanted to do our talking on the track this weekend and I couldn't be prouder of everyone at GRM for sticking fat through a difficult situation," he told Stan Sport's Greg Rust.
"Really pleased with the result. Looking forward already to next weekend. Just taking one race at a time, we've got three more to go. We'll do our very best and what will be will be."
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Earlier in the race, Morris led the field into turn one but it wasn't long before Moffat snuck down the inside at turn two.
Tried as he might, Morris was unable to find a way back past. In the end, Cody Gillis got by for second.
Gillis had two opportunities to challenge Moffat at the death but couldn't pull off a pass for the win.
Indeed, he was lucky to snag second after a gearbox issue on the final lap at the final turn.
"We were catching Moff when the safety car came out, so it was a bit unlucky," said Gillis.
"I actually got stuck in fourth gear going through the last corner, so I only just limped it home."
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Moffat and Morris shared the spoils across the four races, each taking two wins apiece.
Moffat collected the most points of all with 252 for the weekend while Dalton only racked up 201.
With one round to go, Moffat has 1345 points to his credit while Dalton sits on 1238. The pair are split by 107 points. Although not insurmountable, Dalton will almost have to rely on Moffat suffering at least one DNF at the Bathurst International in a week's time.
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