Holden driver Craig Lowndes snared the Sandown 500 on Sunday but it was a controversial late move from Mark Winterbottom that captured the spotlight.

Winterbottom shouldered his Ford past defending V8 Supercar champion Jamie Whincup with two laps remaining to grab second spot.

Whincup had earlier surrendered the lead to his Team Vodafone teammate Lowndes 20 laps from the finish of the 161-lap race.

He finished third but at least his one-point lead over Winterbottom on the championship was stretched.

Whincup was on track to repeat the win he took when the long distance race was last held at the Melbourne track in 2007 before visiting Phillip Island for four years.

He and co-driver Paul Dumbrell produced a superb effort to carve their way through the field after starting from 19th on the grid.

But he was undone by a small brake lock-up which led to an off-track excursion and Lowndes pounced.

Ford Performance Racing's Winterbottom and Whincup both had horror qualifying runs on Saturday, with Whincup making driving errors and Winterbottom forced to start from the rear of the grid after an infringement.

Whincup said later he thought Winterbottom's late pass, which forced him off the tarmac, was "not on."

"I was a little bit sour about that," Whincup said.

- AAP