Bright brilliant in team's popular V8 win

SYDNEY (AAP) - May 22 - Considering the emotional rollercoaster his V8 Supercar team has been riding, it's not surprising Team BOC's Jason Bright can go so quickly on a flat track.
A team which has been dealing with driver Jason Richards' cancer battle, then the fiery crash involving Karl Reindler in Perth, secured a popular race win at Winton on Sunday courtesy of Bright.
Rocketing past championship leader Jamie Whincup with three laps remaining, Bright posted his second win of the year and moved to fourth in the championship.
Defying a cool suit failure, which sent his body temperature skyrocketing late in the race, Bright benefited from a different pit strategy to his rivals.
He flew home on better tyres after pitting later to beat Whincup and Garth Tander in a Holden 1-2-3.
While Whincup will have to make monumental and multiple mistakes to come back to the championship pack with his 262-point lead, Bright is as well placed as any rival to take advantage should that happen.
Fittingly, he pulled Richards on to the podium to join him after Sunday's race win - the New Zealander stepping down from fulltime driving as he battled a rare and aggressive form of cancer.
"We're one of the smallest teams on pit lane, and we're one of the closest teams," Bright said of a virtual home town win, with the team based in nearby Albury.
"I was pretty convinced that we (Richards and Bright) were going to be on the front row together at some stage this season and stand on the podium.
"He'd be up here for sure. He's still there as much as anyone in the team, even though he's not driving full time. We just want him to get better and get back out there."
Reindler, whose Fair Dinkum Sheds Racing team was also run by Bright's team owners, bravely returned to driving less than three weeks after his spectacular Perth crash.
He finished 23rd in a hastily-built Commodore, but will get a new car ahead of the next round in Darwin from June 17 to 19.