Having just missed out on pole, Garth Tander was determined his Toll Holden Racing Commodore would lead early at the start of Race 1 at the Clipsal 500. With a great start he was able to jump Jamie Whincup, in the Team Vodafone Commodore, off the line.
That situation stayed the same until lap 13, when Whincup regained the lead. In between though Jason Bargwanna was already watching the race from the pits. His Rock Racing Commodore suffered front steering arm damage in a incident with Will Davison coming out of the last corner. Davison appeared to miss a gear in his Toll Holden Racing Team Commodore when locked in a close battle with Bargwanna through the last few turns.
With Davison missing the gear shift he was slow to accelerate out of the turn and Bargwanna was unable to avoid contact. The problem then came to head as he applied the brakes into turn one with the car sliding sideways with no steering. He was able to limp back to the pits but took no further part in the race.
Tim Slade then ran his Wilson Security Racing Falcon wide in turn 8 and had heavy contact with the wall. With the car sliding to a stop midway between turn 8 and 9, the Safety car was deployed.
However in the lead up to that incident Jamie Whincup had run wide into turn 9 and Garth Tander was able to regain the lead. With the Safety car out the leaders took the chance to dive into the pits.
Due to slightly better fuel economy in the early going, Jamie Whincup was able to be stopped for less time and exited the pits back in the lead (on a pit stop adjusted basis).
Paul Dumbrell in the Bottle-O Falcon stayed out on the track and took the on track lead. Radio chatter however suggested perhaps he was not in 
agreement with the team or missed the call in.
Not long after green flag racing returned Dumbrell seemed to suffer some type of issues and quickly dropped back through the field.
Mark Winterbottom was then rammed from behind by Craig Lowndes. The Team Vodafone driver however seemed to be not at fault as James Courtney appeared to push him into Winterbottom. Winterbottom had to take the Ford Performance Racing Falcon to the pits under a black flag due to a back bumper hanging off.
There was plenty of on track passing with turn 9 in particular proving a popular spot, coming off the long straight behind turns 8 and 9.
Karl Reindler and his Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing Commodore then went off into the last turn and the safety car was again deployed.
On the restart Shane van Gisbergen collected the tyre barrier on the inside of turn 1, causing heavy damage to the left front of the SP Tools Falcon.
Making great progress through the field meanwhile was Jim Beams Racing James Courtney who had moved up to 3rd outright.
The major incident of the race occurred when Craig Lowndes turned Will Davison around in a move at turn 9. With Davison spun Rick Kelly had no where to go and Lowndes himself was ploughed not by Todd Kelly. As a result both Jack Daniels Racing Commodores were on the wrong end of the damage bill. Lowndes was given a drive through penalty.
The incident also caused the final safety car of the event, with the teams feeling they could make it make to the end of the race on fuel. However in the rush Team Vodafone neglected to change the front tyres on Jamie Whincups car. 
This proved critical as Whincup could not match the speed of the other front runners on the restart. Tander was able to slip by and Courtney also took the chance to move up into second place. Whincup then settled into a battle with Dumbrell and swapping spots. However looming up was Lee Holdsworth and his Fujitsu Racing Commodore.
In the end Holdsworth got them both to grab the last podium spot.
Unofficial Results
1. Garth Tander
2. James Courtney
3. Lee Holdsworth
4. Jamie Whincup
5. Paul Dumbrell
6. Jason Bright
7. Fabian Coulthard
8. Michael Caruso
9. Will Davison
10 Russell Ingall
