Lowndes hands Triple Eight's famous #888 to Brown

The #888 will return to the Supercars grid on a full-time basis from 2026, with Will Brown taking the reins of Triple Eight’s famous number.

Brown, the 2024 Supercars champion, will race with his third different number in as many seasons with Red Bull Ampol Racing.

Confirmed Wednesday, the iconic #888 has been handed to Brown, with long-time custodian Craig Lowndes handing the number to Brown with his blessing.

The #888 has graced the grid with Triple Eight since it joined Supercars in 2003, with Lowndes racing with the number between 2005 and 2025.

Across 20 years with Triple Eight, Lowndes won 58 races, including six Bathurst 1000s, and claimed 130 podiums and 29 pole positions.

Lowndes won Bathurst with Jamie Whincup and the #888 in 2006, 2007 and 2008, with Mark Skaife in 2010, and Steven Richards in 2015 and 2018.

The most recent win for the #888 came at the 2019 Sandown 500, when Whincup and Lowndes dominated the final enduro of the season.

Shane van Gisbergen and Garth Tander carried the number at the 2021 Bathurst 1000, celebrating Roland Dane’s final race in charge of the team.

Since 2022, Lowndes raced with the #888 in Triple Eight’s wildcard entry, headlined by a wildcard best of eighth at that year’s Bathurst 1000.

Now bound for Team 18, Lowndes has handed the #888 over to Brown, with Triple Eight switching to Ford from 2026.

“This number is iconic to the team. In motor racing and in sports sponsors come and go, liveries change, kits change. But this is Triple Eight Race Engineering, that’s the number and it’s iconic with the success that comes out of this workshop,” Lowndes said.

“When I first arrived I was lucky enough to carry the number and to see the legacy of the number continue on, it's an iconic number for the sport, and it's an iconic number for the team, so it’s going to be really great to see the car running around with that number on the side.

“I know Will pretty well, to have him carry on that legacy I think that he'll do it proud. He’s obviously a great young talent which does sound strange already being a Supercars champion, he’s a proven young talent.

“I think the new change of manufacturer, the new change of car, the new change of number, it’s all a good fit and I think at the start of the season he’ll come out punching.”

With Shane van Gisbergen departing at the end of 2023, Triple Eight opted against keeping his preferred #97. Brown arrived and took on the #87, before using the champion’s #1 in 2025.

“It's cool to know I’m going into 2026 with such an iconic number on my car. Obviously there’s a lot of history there, I’ve watched the #888 race around for years now ever since I started watching the sport,” Brown said.

“For me there wasn't a question mark, I’ve had two great years already with the team – one awesome year with the championship win and one great year last year fighting all the way to Adelaide, so it meant a lot to me to start the conversation about 2026 and my race number.”

“With Craig leaving the team he thought it best that the #888 number stay with Triple Eight, he was really keen for it to stay here. That was a really easy conversation to have knowing how much it meant to him. I’m really excited to go racing with that number.”