Now he's within striking distance of Brock's record of nine race wins.

Defending champion Lowndes will join forces with Jamie Whincup for next month's race knowing that another win would leave him just one shy of Brock.

And that's a scenario Lowndes could never have imagined during his childhood years watching Brock piloting Toranas and Commodores around the Mount with precision.

This year's race marks 50 years since Brock made his first attempt at what was then the 500 mile edition of the event.

Lowndes and 2018 Bathurst 1000-winning co-driver Steven Richards made their way to the Bathurst Motor Racing Museum on Wednesday, where they stood beneath the Peter Brock statue.

It was there where Lowndes reflected on some of his earliest memories watching the Bathurst 1000, where Brock won six editions of the Great Race in the space of seven years.

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"For me that was quite an amazing time to sit in the lounge room at home and watch it on TV," Lowndes said.

"You look at the upgrades that's been made to the circuit in that time and it's quite amazing. It's fantastic to see the evolution of the circuit but also the cars.

"There's no doubt that when they drove them back then they had to manage the cars. For Brock, for him to do a lap record in 1979 on the last lap was incredible."

To have the chance to learn from such a storied driver was something Lowndes never took for granted.

"Brock was always a positive outcome person. He'd always look at things glass half-full. For me, he was a huge mentor. We went to high school together, played football together and I grew up in the same area," he said.

"He helped me enormously when I first came here in 1994. He helped me understand the circuit and where to position the car. All those things we still use today."

While Lowndes would make his own breakthrough in 1996 alongside Greg Murphy, it was the second Bathurst 1000 victory a decade later with Whincup which would leave the greatest impact on him.

The 2006 race was the first contested since Brock's death.

Drivers raced for the Peter Brock Trophy for the first time that year and winning the prize was a moment so special for Lowndes it's difficult for him to put it into words.

"That '06 was the most emotional race I'd ever done. I remember walking back to the garage and Roland [Dane, team principal] could see I was emotional and he asked if I wanted to not start the race," he said.

"I said I wanted to start and finish it, which I did, and then to be presented the trophy by Phil Brock, Pete's brother, was the emotional time for me.

"The trophy has given drivers more motivation to win here. Having your name engraved on that trophy is a legacy people will look back on decades down the line."

Lowndes currently sits level with another Bathurst icon, Jim Richards, on seven victories.