Craig Lowndes says he felt relief more than anything after becoming the first man in Australian touring car championship history to chalk up a century of race wins.
The veteran Holden driver had been sitting on 99 victories since Tasmania in March but, on Saturday, broke through for No.100 in the second of two V8 Supercars sprints in Darwin.
Fittingly, it was the 888th race in the series - Lowndes' car number - and the eve of his 41st birthday.
"You never set out in this career to win 100 races," the three-time champion said.
"Part of me is just thankful to get it over and done with.
"Every round we've been to since Tasmania, it's been 'are you going to do it this round? Do you think it's this weekend?'. So it's nice to finally have it done.
"Now I can focus on trying to get 101."
He admitted he didn't think he'd crack the century-mark on what proved a day of chaos at Hidden Valley, having finished 18th in race one and qualifying fifth for the second.
An opening-lap clash between polesitter Rick Kelly's Nissan and Fabian Coulthard's Holden paved the way for Lowndes to take the lead.
"It was almost like the seas parted going into turn one ... and I just sort of snuck on the inside and plucked the gear and away we went," he said.
"For me, it was satisfying to bounce back.
"It's part relief, part satisfying."
Lowndes scored his first victory at Eastern Creek in 1996 with the Holden Racing Team, but the evergreen Red Bull Racing driver rated his best win as Bathurst 2006 - the year Peter Brock died.
"That was the most emotional I've ever driven," he said.
"But today was quite special."
As sweet as the victory was, it wasn't enough for him to regain the championship lead.
He remains second and 29 points behind Ford's Mark Winterbottom, who finished second and seventh in the two races.
His Prodrive Racing Australia teammate Chaz Mostert took out race-one honours to give the team their fourth win a row, before crossing the line third in race two.
Lowndes' Red Bull Racing teammate Jamie Whincup retains his spot in fourth on the overall standings, despite his poor 11th and 16th placings.
Whincup was caught up in a four-car pile-up in race two involving Andre Heimgartner, Will Davison and Nick Percat - triggering the third safety car of the day.
"It's been an unbelievably eventful day, but who really cares about me? The day's about Craig Lowndes getting the big 100," said Whincup.
"What a fairytale doing it on Race 888 of the championship. I'm not superstitious at all, but it's almost like someone upstairs wrote the script and we're all just puppets.
"It's crazy how the right person wins at the right time every now and again."
V8 action returns for qualifying at 11.35am (AEST) on Sunday, ahead of the round's feature race at 2.15pm.
Share
