Lowndes treated to surprise 300th round celebrations

Craig Lowndes has been treated to a surprise celebration by Triple Eight staff in recognition of his 300th round.

Lowndes will become the first driver to record 300 ATCC/Supercars round starts this weekend.

Fittingly, Lowndes will bring up the milestone at Mount Panorama, where he has won seven times.

The 48-year-old will share a #888 Supercheap Auto Commodore wildcard with Declan Fraser.

Lowndes made his Bathurst debut six years before Fraser was born.

The three-time series champion made his championship debut at Eastern Creek in 1996.

He duly won the round, and ended the year with a then record 16 wins.

At the time, Lowndes became both the youngest series champion and Bathurst winner.

Nearly 30 years on, and the popular racer’s place in Supercars and Australian sporting history is secure.

Triple Eight staff surprised Lowndes with masks of his own face, with all drivers present.

Jamie Whincup, who combined with Lowndes to win the Great Race three times, presented him with a special framed artwork.

The artwork features several race-winning Lowndes cars underneath a large ‘300’.

The 300th round will become official once Lowndes rolls out for Practice 1 on Thursday.

“It's always going to be special going back to Bathurst, and the 300th is just the icing on the cake in some regards,” Lowndes recently told Supercars.com.

“But our main objective and job is to try and do the best we can with Declan and myself.

“Having #888 back on the car again, that's nice for me, it's a bit sentimental because it's been a number that I've carried for a long time with this team.

“Now being the lead driver again, I keep saying it’s like going full circle because now I'm the teacher teaching the student."

Cars will hit the track at Mount Panorama for Practice 1 on Thursday.

Tickets for the Repco Bathurst 1000 are available on Supercars.com and Ticketek.

Most ATCC/Supercars rounds*

*Correct to 2022 ITM Auckland SuperSprint