Whincup executed two moves on Will Brown's Erebus co-driver Jack Perkins during the early stages of the race, one either side of the first stops, to set up yet another Sandown victory for Triple Eight.
Feeney inherited the car in a comfortable lead at the second round of stops and looked to be on for an easy win – only for a late restart to bunch up the field. But Whincup's replacement in the Chevrolet Camaro outfit held off series leader Brodie Kostecki to secure his first Sandown 500 win and a fifth for team boss Whincup.
Kostecki and co-driver Dave Russell both contributed to the recovery of an early double stack that dropped them back into the pack to finish a fine second while Brown made a late mistake to fumble a podium, handing third spot to Shane van Gisbergen and Richie Stanaway.
Whincup made good early progress in the #88 entry, the veteran moving past Erebus co-drivers Russell and Perkins in the first couple of laps to lead the way. Whincup was leading by about a second on lap 19 when fourth-placed Garth Tander's Grove Mustang shed its left-rear wheel on the way through the fast Dandenong Road section.
The stray wheel bounced onto the back of James Moffat and Cam Waters' fifth-placed Tickford Mustang and tore off the rear wing. With Tander beached in the Turn 9 sand, the safety car arrived to prompt a flurry of early stops, Tickford completing its repairs in time to keep Moffat on the lead lap.
Perkins managed to jump back ahead of Whincup amid all the stops, while Russell plummeted from third to 10th in the order after being forced to double stack behind Perkins.
The race went green again on lap 26, Perkins initially leading comfortably over Whincup and Michael Caruso's Team 18 Camaro, until lap 39 when Caruso was easily passed by Porsche World Endurance Championship ace Kevin Estre's #19 Grove Mustang into Turn 1. Two laps later there was a change for the lead when Whincup eased past Perkins again.
Once the magic lap 54 had been reached – the minimum for co-drivers – the second round of stops burst into life. Perkins was the first of the front-runners to pit, handing his car over to Brown for the run to the finish. Whincup and Estre then followed suit, Feeney resuming in a comfortable effective lead as Matt Payne slotted back into third behind Brown.
Source: Autosport