Lowndes's crazy Bathurst longevity stat

Craig Lowndes again heads to Mount Panorama as the most experienced driver.

This year, he nearly has as many Great Race starts as half of his rivals.

Lowndes, who debuted in 1994, will record consecutive Bathurst start No. 29 next month.

This year’s Repco Bathurst 1000 will also be his 300th ATCC/Supercars round.

No driver has ever reached 300 rounds, with Lowndes making his full-time debut all the way back in 1996.

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

Such is Lowndes’ longevity, that he made his Bathurst debut six years before co-driver Declan Fraser was born.

Only Jim Richards (35 starts) and Peter Brock (32) made more Bathurst appearances than Lowndes.

Lowndes will share a Triple Eight wildcard with current Super2 points leader Fraser.

Fraser is one of seven rookies in this year’s 28-car, 56-driver field.

Fraser, Matt Chahda, Jaylyn Robotham, Aaron Seton, Matt Payne, Cameron Hill and Jaxon Evans are all debuting.

Tyler Everingham, Zak Best and Jordan Boys have all made one start each.

Just ahead on two starts are Broc Feeney, Zane Goddard, Jayden Ojeda, Kurt Kostecki and Dylan O’Keeffe.

On three starts are Thomas Randle, Brodie Kostecki, Jake Kostecki, Jack Smith and Matt Campbell.

Add these 20 drivers’ starts together, and you get 28 - Lowndes’ total career tally.

Lowndes is 26 years Fraser's senior

At the time of his 300th round media call, Lowndes joked that he "might pass out blowing out all the candles”.

The seven-time winner will complete a final wildcard test with Fraser on September 28.

“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 for Practice 1 on Thursday October 6, with race day Sunday October 9.

Most Bathurst starts (2022 grid)

28: Craig Lowndes23: Garth Tander22: Greg Murphy21: Warren Luff20: Jamie Whincup19: Mark Winterbottom18: Will Davison, Lee Holdsworth, Fabian Coulthard17: Alex Davison, Tony D’Alberto16: James Courtney, Michael Caruso, Jack Perkins15: Shane van Gisbergen14: David Reynolds13: Tim Slade, Dale Wood, Dean Fiore12: Chris Pither, James Moffat, David Russell11: Nick Percat, Tim Blanchard10: Cam Waters, Scott Pye8: Chaz Mostert, Andre Heimgartner7: Jack Le Brocq, Macauley Jones6: James Golding5: Todd Hazelwood4: Anton De Pasquale, Will Brown, Bryce Fullwood, Richie Stanaway3: Thomas Randle, Brodie Kostecki, Jake Kostecki, Jack Smith, Matt Campbell2: Broc Feeney, Zane Goddard, Jayden Ojeda, Kurt Kostecki, Dylan O’Keeffe1: Tyler Everingham, Zak Best, Jordan Boys0: Declan Fraser, Matt Chahda, Jaylyn Robotham, Aaron Seton, Matt Payne, Cameron Hill, Jaxon Evans