“Unfortunately I stuffed up”, he said.
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Team principal Tim Edwards added: “It’s been 10 years in the making and a lot of hard work, a lot of tears, a lot of highs and lows and to finally get it done is just a huge sense of relief”.
‘I wish my mum was here; I wish she was here’.
Winterbottom holds a 179-point lead over Holden rival Craig Lowndes ahead of the season’s final round.
Lowndes had a shocker on Saturday with a crash in qualifying, and then managed only 15th and seventh in the two sprints.
Lowndes has gone 16 seasons without winning a V8 trophy, his third and last being in 1999.
Winterbottom showed pace and patience in equal measure as he decided not to indulge in a death or glory dice to win the race but to stay out of trouble, finish as close to the front as he could, and pick up as many points as possible.
His title win ends a five-year drought for Ford, with James Courtney the last man to steer the Blue Oval to victory in 2010.
But the champion elect kept his cool again, driving a controlled race to finish third behind Whincup and David Reynolds. “The day’s about Mark, I don’t want to take any shine off him”.
“Plenty of critics said Mark couldn’t do it, but I’ll happily hand over the number one tomorrow afternoon”, said Whincup.
His late mother June, who died of cancer in 2011, raised him nearly single-handedly on limited finances.
All year, he’s worn a helmet with her photo on the back.
“I won’t be doing anything untoward to anyone else, including vehicle No. 5 (Winterbottom). I have been with Ford a long time, been with the team for a long time, but we got it done”, he said seconds after stepping out of his title winning Falcon.
‘Thank you to all the Ford fans that have stuck by us.
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Winterbottom, though, will have to wait until after today’s race to be officially crowned champion and have the No. 1 sticker plastered on his Falcon for next season.
