Generation Change

Craig Lowndes and Garth Tander’s full-time retirements mark the tipping point in Supercars’ most significant generation change in more than a decade.

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The 2019 Superloop Adelaide 500 will be the first event at the street circuit not to feature Craig Lowndes or Garth Tander. The duo won the Adelaide 500 in its first two years in 1999 and 2000 respectively and competed in the event 20 times before their absence in 2019.

Their full-time retirements represent the end of the most significant generation in Supercars since the mid-2000s, off the back of the retirements of Todd Kelly and Jason Bright at the end of 2017.

Tander, Kelly and Bright burst onto the scene in the mid-to-late 1990s, following on from Lowndes’ championship and Bathurst-winning rookie season for the Holden Racing Team in 1996.

Teams were quick to promote up-and-coming talent, with Tander signing for Garry Rogers Motorsport, Bright for Stone Brothers Racing and Kelly a product of the Holden Young Lions team.