Already the most titled driver in Australian touring car racing history with a record six Supercars crowns, Whincup joined Lowndes in the exclusive club of winners of 100 or more championship races by beating his popular teammate in the second race at Sydney Motorsport Park.

The win denied Lowndes a fairytale victory in his record-breaking 600th championship race start after he blazed into the lead from fourth position on the grid to dominate the first 30 laps.

Whincup jumped Lowndes during their second pit stops, getting away fractionally faster to hit the front and run away to an unchallenged 100th race victory.

He achieved his century 14 months after Lowndes became the first to reach the 'ton' of race wins, a mark he has since extended to 105 successes.

While it took Lowndes, 42, almost two decades to amass his 100 wins, 33-year-old Whincup got there in just over 10 years.

He scored his first victory in his first event with the Triple Eight Holden team at the 2006 season-opening Adelaide 500, whereas Lowndes' first two wins were in his championship debut in 1996 at Sydney Motorsport Park, which was previously known as Eastern Creek Raceway.

Whincup's 100 wins is the latest milestone in his remarkable 10-year rise to become the most dominant and successful driver of his generation, and the best of all time if measured by his unmatched tally of championships.

Along with his narrow defeat by his other Triple Eight teammate Shane van Gisbergen in an epic battle in the closing stages of Saturday's opening race of the Sydney SuperSprint, his win on Sunday – his third this season – consolidated his title points lead as he bids for a record-extending seventh Supercars title.

He is 137 points ahead of van Gisbergen, who faded to fifth place on Sunday, while Lowndes regained third place in the championship standings, 198 points off the lead, to stay in contention for an elusive fourth V8 crown 17 years after his last title-winning season.

Whincup was presented with a gold-painted replica of his race helmet in recognition of reaching his century, an achievement he acknowledged with typical humility.

"I'd be lying if I said there wasn't a bit of relief there," he said. "I'm very, very proud to join Lowndesy on the ton. It's an honour. I think today (with Lowndes joining him on the podium) was very fitting.

"I like to think it's 100 not out. There's still a lot left in me.

"I'm not trying to tick boxes. I'm just out there for the fun of racing. The feeling of winning never gets old and that's what drives me."

Lowndes paid tribute to Whincup, who has been his teammate and nemesis for the past decade, and predicted he would eventually surpass his records for race wins and starts.

"I think it's fantastic," he said. "It was a matter of when rather than if. He's had a stellar career and he's still as intense as ever.

"Records are made to be broken and there's no doubt in my mind Jamie will do it (break Lowndes' records)."

The next Supercars event is the September 16-18 Sandown 500 in Melbourne – the first of the two-driver endurance races and the traditional warm-up for the October 6-9 Bathurst 1000.