On this day: 13-year crown quest finally conquered

Between 2006 and 2018, the Darwin Triple Crown remained elusive.

On June 16, 2019, current Team Penske IndyCar rookie Scott McLaughlin finally became the first driver to claim the crown.

Under three-race format between 2006 and 2008, no driver was able to pull off the sweep.

Two came close under the three wins format; Craig Lowndes won both Sunday races, before Jamie Whincup won the first two races of the 2014 event.

In 2019, the Triple Crown represented winning both races and topping Sunday's ARMOR ALL Top 10 Shootout.

In a season he won a record 18 races, McLaughlin claimed the Saturday win, and returned on Sunday to top the shootout.

On the Sunday, the Shell V-Power Racing Team ace became the first driver to win the Triple Crown as he eased to victory in Race 16 of the 2019 season.

WATCH: MCLAUGHLIN CLAIMS THE CROWN

To gauge how dominant McLaughlin was in 2019, the Sunday Darwin win was his 12th in 16 starts.

McLaughlin, who also went on to win his maiden Bathurst 1000 that year, effectively led all the way and crossed the line 13.8s ahead of David Reynolds by 13.8s, with Fabian Coulthard third.

Coulthard and McLaughlin enjoyed equal launches, but the former was held wide at Turn 1, helping Reynolds into second.

Bumps forced Jamie Whincup off and down into 24th, first from James Courtney at Turn 5 and then from Nick Percat at Turn 8.

McLaughlin leads the field into Turn 1

At the front, McLaughlin was assured and regularly gapped Reynolds by around half a second a lap.

Coulthard was first to blink on lap 17 and dove into the lane, with the lead duo stopping three laps later.

A short stop by Tickford helped Cameron Waters jump into second ahead of Coulthard, who had cleared Reynolds.

As the second round of stops played out, Reynolds had found himself ahead of Coulthard, with Waters back into fourth after taking on more fuel.

McLaughlin takes the flag

When McLauglin stopped on lap 44, he had the field covered, and enjoyed a 10s lead over Reynolds.

When the Kiwi crossed the line to win, Reynolds hadn’t even turned onto the front straight.

McLaughlin not only bagged the previously elusive Triple Crown, but also extended his series lead over Coulthard to 319 points.

It was the perfect way for McLaughlin to pay tribute to engineer Richard Harris, who had returned home to the UK following the passing of his father.

'We’re missing our boy Richard at home in the UK'

“It’s an awesome thing for all our guys and girls at Shell V-Power Racing, Ford Performance, to be the first to win the Triple Crown is really cool,” McLaughlin said.

“It’s a big team effort. We’re missing our boy Richard at home in the UK, our thoughts are with him.

“I’ve got a great car, great team, the pitstops were unreal. I had a good battle with Fabs at the start.

“I’m just lucky. I’m 26, just living the dream driving race cars and I’m lucky I drive a fast one.”

WATCH: NINE SEARING DARWIN MOMENTS

From 2020, the Triple Crown trophy was awarded to the driver that scored the most points across the weekend.

That honour went to Whincup, who claimed the final victory of the weekend following wins for Anton De Pasquale and McLaughlin.

Whincup claimed round honours on a countback due to his win, having ended the weekend level on points with Coulthard.

Will a new name claim the crown this weekend?

The Repco Supercars Championship field will return to the Northern Territory this weekend for the Merlin Darwin Triple Crown. Tickets are available here.

The event will be broadcast live on Foxtel and will be streamed on Kayo, and will be broadcast live and free on Seven.