A four-car pile-up was triggered by Todd Hazelwood and Blake Tracey coming together on Lap 1. Image: Fox Sports
Herne (#29 Chevrolet Camaro) sealed the round victory with yet another win, leading home Blake Tracey (#5 Ford Mustang) by 2.1s, with James Moffat (#34 Camaro) in third.
With Hazelwood handed his second DNF of the season, Herne heads into the final round next weekend with a 76-point advantage.
Hazelwood remains mathematically in the hunt, however it will be a tall order to claim his third consecutive championship.
Ben Bargwanna (#97 Mustang) capped off a solid weekend in fourth, while Lachlan Evennett (#8 Camaro) rounded out the top five.
Nathan Herne dominated Race 3 of Trans Am in the hunt for his third championship. Image: Speed Shots Photography
Hazelwood ran side-by-side with Tracey through Turn 2, with the pair coming together through the switchback to Turn 3, damaging the reigning champion’s suspension and taking him out of contention.
The pair coming together stacked up the field, causing a multi-car incident on the exit of Turn 3 and drawing the safety car.
Jarrod Hughes and Tom Davies came together, with Harrison Sellars being spun off Davies’ front bumper.
Cody Brewczynski made heavy contact with the spinning Sellars, while Davies bounced across in front of Jack Smith and Tyler Cheney, leaving all four cars with front-end damage.
Sellars brought his car back to the pit lane alongside Hughes and Cheney, while Brewczynski was out on the spot.
Davies was forced to pull over on the pit straight after the restart with the bonnet propped up in front of the windscreen.
Further back in the pack, Smith was still in the wars, coming together with Jenson Teleskivi at Turn 9, pitching the rookie into a spin and collecting Cheney in the process.
Isaac Demellweek (#36 Mustang) came home in sixth, ahead of Ayrton Hodson (#44 Mustang) in seventh, while Smith (#11 Camaro) was relegated to eighth after a penalty for a start procedure infringement.
Des Collier (#63 Mustang) came home in ninth, while Teleskivi (#2 Mustang) recovered to 10th.
The Trans Am Cup Series now returns for its season finale at the Sandown 500 on November 6-8.