When Lowndes snubbed his home of the last 21 years – the now Ford-bound Triple Eight – for an ongoing commitment to GM back in March, it was clear the veteran wanted to race on.

And a month later when GM made a sudden U-turn and selected Team 18 over PremiAir Racing as its new homologation squad, the logical conclusion was Lowndes would end up there too.

Fast-forward to mid-August and it’s become a reality, complete with photos of a beaming Team 18 owner Charlie Schwerkolt standing with his prized catch.

When it comes to profile, Lowndes remains the biggest fish in the Supercars sea and reeling him in off the back of the GM deal is a genuine ‘yibbida yibbida’ moment for Schwerkolt.

Sponsorship from Supercheap Auto means the wildcard program is effectively a continuation of that which Lowndes has fronted since 2022, only with a different team.

Lowndes’ decision to stick fat with GM and walk away from the most successful squad in the history of Australian motorsport for Team 18 is one that will have its critics.

Team 18 has made strides forward lately but still has a lot to prove. One race win in 10 years as a standalone outfit measures up rather poorly against the bulging trophy cabinets at Triple Eight.

But the reality of the wildcard entry in which Lowndes is joined by a young gun is that it’s unlikely to deliver the legend an eighth – and that magical ninth – Great Race win anyway.

It’s at heart a brilliantly executed marketing program that was initiated in 2021 when Supercheap Auto lost naming rights sponsorship of the Bathurst 1000 to arch-rival Repco.

Still, to do it justice Team 18 needs to step up and show it is better than its history suggests, while Lowndes is in the opposite position of needing to prove he still has the magic of old.

Having seemingly outrun the clock up until now, the two-year tenure placed on the deal – covering 2026 and ’27 – is surely a retirement timeline in everything but name.

Lowndes himself is yet to utter the ‘R word’, while Schwerkolt tells Speedcafe there’s an option for the star to slip into an ambassadorial role in 2028.

“We’re not saying that [it’s definitely the timeline], but it’s an option to do that,” Schwerkolt clarified.

“Maybe he wins Bathurst in ’27 and goes ‘I want to do one more year’. It’s to be decided. Our deal is two years with an option. That’s what we’ve got.”

Lowndes will be 53 years old by the time the 2027 Bathurst 1000 rolls around and almost a decade on from the end of his full-time driving career.

It’ll take him to 34 Great Race starts, just one shy of all-time recorder holder Jim Richards – who Lowndes sits equal second with on the all-time wins tally, behind only Peter Brock.

For now, the unanswered questions are which young gun Lowndes will be paired with in 2026, and what number the entry will sport.

There’s no shortage of rising stars that fit the bill to play apprentice to the master.

Porsche champ Harri Jones and Super2 tearaway Rylan Gray are surely in the conversation, should neither end up replacing David Reynolds in Team 18’s full-time line-up next year.

As for the car number, Schwerkolt’s declaration that there are “a few iconic and creative options in the mix” has sent social media into an unexpected frenzy.

Will GM wind back the clock to Lowndes’ early HRT days and select his first championship number, #15? Or get even more creative and hark back to his Great Race debut with #015?

It may seem unimportant, but a number other than #888 on the windows of the Lowndes wildcard in 2026 will be the starkest reminder that the once unthinkable is indeed a reality.