Heartfelt reason behind Triple Eight wildcard livery

Triple Eight Race Engineering has unveiled a heartfelt wildcard Indigenous livery for the upcoming Darwin Triple Crown, which supports HeartKids Australia.

HeartKids is the only national not-for-profit organisation solely focused on supporting and advocating for all children and adults impacted by childhood-onset heart disease (CoHD), one of the largest causes of infant death in Australia.

The artwork on rising star Cooper Murray’s #888 Supercheap Auto Chevrolet Camaro is the story of 13-year-old heart kid Lilly, with the support of 11-year-old brother Noah, mother Chantelle, and father Derrin from Larrakia Country.

The artwork was designed with the support of Darwin-based artist William Hewitt, who worked in collaboration with Lilly’s family.

Naming rights partner for the wildcard Camaro, Supercheap Auto, has been a Major Partner of HeartKids since January 2022. In this time, more than $500,000 has been donated to HeartKids by Supercheap Auto.

"It’s been fantastic to team up with HeartKids and Supercheap Auto to design an amazing Indigenous livery for my Supercars debut,” said rookie Murray, who recently tested the Triple Eight Chevrolet with Craig Lowndes.

"I think the Indigenous Round is an amazing initiative that Supercars implement for the Darwin Triple Crown and it’s great to see every team get on board.

“I’m so excited to kick things off in Darwin. Our test day went really well and there were a lot of positives that came out of the day — very few negatives, if any. I now have a lot of motivation and confidence going into the event.

"This opportunity is something I’ve looked forward to for a long time and I’m going to take in every single moment of it, from the signing sessions to meeting the fans, all the way down to getting into the car and doing what I do best.

"It’s going to be an amazing week that will no doubt go too quickly.”

Dunlop Series contender Murray will make his Supercars debut at the betr Darwin Triple Crown on June 14-16. Tickets for the event are on sale now. International viewers can follow all the action on Superview.

#888 Supercheap Auto Camaro artwork explained

From the centre, the circle patterns represent the community of the Larrakia people, of which Lilly is part of, and the areas that they inhabit and care for. For Lilly, this takes on additional meaning of being her heart in this story.

Connected to the centre circle patterns are pathways that flow out, paying tribute to past and present ancestors and their communities. This is Lilly’s connection to her family roots and connection to her culture.

The hand prints of Lilly’s contains palm markings representing her life journey with congenital heart disease, and the circular communities highlighting the support she’s had from mum Chantelle, father Derrin, brother Noah and the broader family.

With this unwavering support, Lilly’s journey continues with fish and currants deep into the background of the art, signalling fresh life and her connection to land and water. As Lilly’s story unfolds, the footprints represent taking steps into the future on the land of the Larrakia Country.