Cub Cadet Racing’s Anton De Pasquale finished sixth in the opening 250km race of the Sandown 500, gaining two places from his starting position to keep his bid for a spot in the Supercars Final Four alive.

Snowy River Racing’s David Reynolds charged from 22nd to ninth before losing ground in a double stack. He recovered to 14th at the chequered flag and was classified 18th after a 15-second pit lane penalty.

De Pasquale advanced to the Top Ten Shootout with seventh in qualifying on a drying track. A moment through Turns 7 and 8 on his Shootout lap left him eighth on the grid. Reynolds qualified 22nd after Kai Allen went off ahead of him on his final push lap.

De Pasquale briefly lost eighth to Andre Heimgartner at the start before reclaiming the position and passing Cooper Murray for seventh on lap 10. He gained further ground at the first round of stops under Safety Car, jumping Broc Feeney and Thomas Randle as both waited behind their teammates.

The first stop also moved Reynolds up to 13th. After racing resumed on lap 20, he passed James Golding at Turn 1 on lap 22, then overtook Murray on his way to ninth.

De Pasquale moved into fifth on lap 36 when Will Brown spun at Turn 4 while battling Brodie Kostecki. The Safety Car returned a lap later after Jackson Walls crashed at Dandenong Road corner, prompting the second round of stops. Chaz Mostert gained track position on De Pasquale in the pits, while Reynolds dropped back through the field after queuing behind his teammate.

Reynolds received a 15-second penalty for a pit lane infringement while waiting behind De Pasquale in the double stack.

De Pasquale stayed in the fight for a top-five finish until Golding passed him at Turn 1 with four laps remaining. Reynolds managed his rear tyres through a long final stint and worked his way back to 14th on the road before his penalty was applied.

Team 18 returns to Sandown on Sunday for another 250km race on the Soft tyre, kicking off at 3:30pm AEDT, with De Pasquale’s bid for a place in the Final Four to be decided. All the action can be viewed live on Fox Sports & Kayo.

RESULTS & QUOTES

Anton De Pasquale, #18 Cub Cadet Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Qualifying: P7 (1:08.7902)
Shootout: P8 (1:09.6455)
Race 33: P6 (1:09.7749)

“We finished sixth in the first race here at Sandown. It was a big last stint after a couple of Safety Cars and we didn’t quite have the pace to fight further forward, so we got the best result we could out of it.

“It’s another day tomorrow on the Soft tyre.”

David Reynolds, #48 Snowy River Racing Chevrolet Camaro ZL1

Qualifying: P22 (1:13.8918)
Race 33: P18 (1:09.9290)

“It was a bit of an up and down day. When the track’s drying like that in qualifying, your last lap is usually your best one. A car spun in front of me on that lap and I lost about a second, which would’ve made a big difference from 22nd.

“The car was pretty good in the race. We gained a lot from the first Safety Car, got up to ninth and were taking about half a second a lap out of the cars ahead. Then the second Safety Car came at the wrong time for us. I had to double stack behind Anton and lost a heap of spots.

“I knew it was going to be a long final stint, so I had to play the long game and look after the rear tyres. The car was pretty quick compared to the field over the last 15 laps. We got back to 14th at the flag, but the pit lane penalty dropped us to 18th.”