Yes, I know I haven't posted my points in ages...I have them updated but just haven't been bothered to putting them up here yet, will probably just put 'my' Chasers and say who's 13th some time this week.

Anyway, for the first time in 25 years, a driving pairing has won the Bathurst 1000 three years on the trot.

Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup were the guys who did it, and in doing so, remain the only drivers to win the Peter Brock trophy as that got introduced in 2006 after the tragic loss of Brock in a rough time for Australian icons since Steve Irwin moved on a month or so before that.

Lowndes taking the chequered flag at Bathurst.

The duo were the guys to beat ever since the track opened on Thursday. The other driver pairings who were hoping to displace the #888 Vodafone Falcon from the top step of the podium included Mark Skaife and Garth Tander (#1 HRT Commodore), James Courtney and David Besnard (#4 Jeld-Wen Falcon), Greg Murphy (who I think still hasn't forgiven NASCAR driver, Marcos Ambrose, for the collision in 2005 which took them both out of this race) and Jason Richards (#3 Sprint Gas Commodore), Steven Richards and Mark Winterbottom (#6 FPR Falcon).

But it wasn't smooth sailing for the 2006 V8 champion, Rick Kelly, as his teammate, Paul Radisich, had a massive shunt and hobbled away with a broken ankle. Kelly was able to jump into the sister HSV Commodore, replacing an ill David Reynolds who was to partner Paul Dumbrell in the #15 Autobarn Commodore.

Tander took the pole from Winterbottom, Courtney and Kelly were on row two with Lowndes and Murphy taking up row three. The start saw Skaife creep forward before stalling and having to rejoin rear of the field....then, to make matter worse, he had jumped the start and got a penalty as a result. Lowndes and Murphy made contact on the run up to turn 2 as they attempted to go three-wide with Courtney, the contact damaged Murphy's steering while Lowndes got away relatively unscathed.

The #888 Falcon took the lead at the first round of pitstops and never looked back. Despite the late rush of safety cars, the duo appeared in complete control leaving the best battle on the track between Richards, Murphy and Courtney. Richards battled a majorly loose car, dirt-tracking his way around most of the 6.21km track and Murphy got by on lap 157 while Courtney slipped past on the penultimate lap.

However, no one had an answer for Lowndes and Whincup as they became the first driver pairing in 25 years to win this race three years in a row.

Final results of the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000:
1 - Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup (#888 Ford Falcon)
2 - Greg Murphy and Jason Richards (#3 Holden Commodore)
3 - David Besnard and James Courtney (#4 Ford Falcon)
4 - Steven Richards and Mark Winterbottom (#6 Ford Falcon)
5 - Brad Jones and Max Wilson (#14 Holden Commodore)
6 - Will Davison and Steven Johnson (#17 Ford Falcon)
7 - Dean Canto and Luke Youlden (#5 Ford Falcon)
8 - Jack Perkins and Nathan Pretty (#11 Holden Commodore)
9 - Jason Bright and Adam Macrow (#25 Ford Falcon)
10 - Fabian Coulthard and Alex Davison (#111 Ford Falcon)

For those who want to know how Boris Said did on his first visit to the track, his #67 Supercheap Commodore covered 140 of the 161 laps before having to retire...love to tell you what happened but since I missed the entire race weekend, I have no idea. My plan was to watch Lowe's, have the V8 website giving me updates of Bathurst and washing it all down with the F1 race at Fuji but I got asked out to a Thanksgiving dinner with my girlfriend's family instead...she owes me a real good Christmas present now I tell you!

So here we are, coming into the wint...uh, summer. Sorry about that, Southern Hemisphere and all that. Let me start again.

Here we are, coming into the summer stretch of races for the season and we have the situation where the Busch guys won't be racing at the same tracks as the Cup guys for the next three weeks. So what does that mean for them? A chance to gain points mainly.

As it stands, the top 10 drivers is dominated by Busch-whackers who fill up eight spots (including Regan Smith since he subs for Mark Martin). There's only 2 drivers who are Busch-regulars and the one leading the bunch is the rookie, and Aussie, Marcos Ambrose...uh, hang on a tick, how did that happen? This is a guy who is currently 16th in the NASCAR.com driver rankings for the Busch series.

My North American friends will probably be scratching their heads trying to figure out how a...a road racer can possibly be doing this well on ovals. Well, I'll let you in on a secret; I wondered the same thing six years ago.

The only difference is that I wondered how he could make racing tin-tops look so easy.

Let's wind the clock back to the year 2000. Marcos had just won the European Formula Ford Championship as he chased his dream of Formula 1. He raced in the French Formula 3 series before switching mid-season to British F3. By seasons end, his money had dried up, forcing Marcos to come back to Australia.

Accepting an offer to race in a support race to that years Gold Coast Indycar event was a bit of a risk; for Marcos wasn't used to racing anything with a roof. Didn't affect him much, he won anyway and Stone Brothers Racing decided to sign him up for the V8 Supercar category starting from 2001.

Marcos showed his politeness by offering to pick everyones jaws up off the floor when he stuck his AU Falcon on pole position in his first ever race (the non-Championship round at the Aussie F1 race in Melbourne). Proving this wasn't a fluke, he did the same at Eastern Creek, Queensland Raceway and on the hallowed tarmac of Bathurst, Mount Panorama. He finished the year as top rookie and 8th in the points.

2002 saw him gain his first win and ending the year in third place overall. Season 2003 brought changes as Ford Australia launched the new BA Falcon for the category...and it fitted Marcos like a glove. He managed consistancy along with wins and assured that his car would be carrying the number 1 on its hood for the next year as he picked up the title in just his third season. Along the way, he led home a Ford 1-2-3 in a round, their first since 1997.

2004 was even better; five round wins and the Championship was all but done and dusted before they unloaded the car for the final round. Not that he backed off...he won the round anyway. It was the first time Ford had won back-to-back titles since 1988-1989. His teammate, Russell Ingall backed him up as the Stone Brothers finished 1-2...just in case anyone thought they were a one car team.

Season 2005 began amid rumblings that Marcos would be heading across the Pacific, unable to resist the lure of NASCAR. He confirmed this in a press conference in March, at the Aussie GP for the non-Championship round. This did slow him down...he "only" managed to finish third, behind both his teammate and fellow Ford driver Craig Lowndes.

On to 2006...he was forced to miss the first few races of the Truck series as he awaited NASCAR to offically give him approval to run the season. Despite that, he still finished 21st in points, was the first rookie to win a pole and finish in the top 3 of a race and the only rookie to win the "laps led" award.

Moving up a class this year and he sits inside the top 10 a third of the way through the year...now where to from here? Assuming Marcos stays where he is, he'll no doubt gain some interest from Cup owners who are either looking to expand their team or wondering if their current driver/s are all they're cracked up to be.

So what will 2008 bring? I would like to see him stay where he is for another year, getting more experience on ovals before maybe going for a fulltime drive in the Cup series for 2009. If he does stay in Busch for 2008, it wouldn't surprise me one little bit if he wins a race or three along the way...his history at least says he will anyway.