Lowndes saves a tear for Brocky

Almost nine years later Craig Lowndes welled up with emotion recalling his greatest ever race, the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 in honour of his mentor and friend Peter Brock.

Lowndes confirmed his immortal racing status with a century of wins at the SKYCITY Triple Crown in Darwin when memories of one of the most emotional races of all time came flooding back.

After waiting for two months, Lowndes scored his 100 in the second Darwin race. Of all his race wins that day on the Mountain, when he struggled to start the race as his emotions peaked, was the best.

"I got my first victory in '96 at Eastern Creek on the short circuit but my all-time best race victory of course was Bathurst in 2006 and Peter Brock," said Lowndes.

"That was the most emotional I have ever driven and everyone as drivers that day remembered why we race. There are people that stay forever in your memories and Peter was one of them for me. It was great to celebrate on that day."

Lowndes may have lost his early nickname 'The Kid' - he is 41 tomorrow - but he hasn't lost the talent that has made him one of the all-time greats. His 100 wins today also kept him in sight of the Championship lead behind Mark Winterbottom.

"You never set out in this career to say you are going to have 100 wins. For me it has been a great career. I've been fortunate enough to be in some great teams from HRT all the way through and even some time in a Ford. Thinking back on it now it has been a fantastic career," he said.

"Part of me is thankful to get it over and done with. Every round we have gone to since Tasmania it has been 'are you going to do it this round or is it going to be this round'. It's nice to now finally have it done and I can focus on 101. It's part relief, part satisfying."

After a disastrous first race when Lowndes was taken out on the first lap the heavens, and possibly Brock, looked down on him today from the start line. In-form Rick Kelly went into turn one too hot from ARMOR ALL Pole Position and set a chain reaction that gifted Lowndes the lead.

"It was almost like the seas parted going into turn one. With all that, the carnage at the front and everyone gyrating off to the right it all came together for me," said Lowndes. "I knew the car was good for the distance but you never know if the car has the speed for the distance."

He virtually cruised from there despite a mid-race safety car, holding young Pepsi Max Crew flier Chaz Mostert and Supercheap Auto Racing's Tim Slade at bay throughout.

It made up for the chaotic first race of the day that had dozens of passing moves, crashes all around the circuit and a whopping eight separate incidents subject to post-race stewards' inquiries.

It didn't stop the relentless charge of Winterbottom and Mostert who stayed out of the complete madness in what was arguably the most spectacular race of the season to date.

The Bulls, however, had to fight like their namesake to salvage anything from the day, both coming from last after separate first lap incidents which also took out the flying Fabian Coulthard.

Jamie Whincup crawled back into 11th to save some points from the race while Lowndes ended up 18th but still in second in the Championship to Winterbottom.

Amidst the crazy antics all four Nissan Motorsport cars ended up in the top ten with Rick Kelly leading the Altimas in third, continuing the impressive form of the entire team this year.

HRT fought through the entire race until the very end when Courtney tangled with van Gisbergen, indirectly leading to he and his teammate Garth Tander veering off the track from fourth and sixth. Courtney ended up last on the race track and Tander 20th, ruining a promising race.

It followed another clash in Winton when Courtney crashed into Tander at the first corner on the Saturday, leaving their team shattered that two teammates could take each other out.

Tune in on ONE at 8.30pm EST for highlights from today's SKYCITY Triple Crown.