25 best Supercars drivers since 2000: #14 Russell Ingall

As 2025 gets underway, Supercars.com is ranking the top 25 drivers of the last 25 years, continuing with Russell Ingall, who comes in as our #14.

A man considered by many to Supercars' primary villain of the 2000s, Russell Ingall had already established himself as one of the major drawcards of the championship by the year 2000.

Well-suited to 'The Enforcer' moniker, Ingall's brash style both on and off track won him legions of fans and disapprovers, whilst also accumulating several high profile adversaries on track such as Mark Skaife and Greg Murphy.

Already a two-time Bathurst winner with Larry Perkins in the 1990s, Ingall's career came to life in the following decade with a move to Stone Brothers Racing to partner exciting Tasmanian Marcos Ambrose.

The Ambrose/Ingall partnership proved a dynamic one, with the pair launching the team from contenders into the standard bearers in the mid-2000s with the might of Ross and Jimmy Stone, Paul Forgie, Barry Hay, and the late Campbell Little behind the scenes.

Though his career tapered off through to his final full-time year in 2014, his services were still sought after by the biggest teams come enduro time, with the Holden Racing Team, Prodrive Racing Australia (now Tickford), and Triple Eight all hiring The Enforcer for enduro drives up to 2021.

Russell Ingall's key stats since 2000

Years active: 2000-2016, 2021

Rounds: 211

Races: 467

Best championship position: 1st (2005)

Best finish: 1st (11 wins)

Top three finishes: 47

Best start: 1st (1 pole position)

Best Bathurst result: 2nd (2002)

The highlight

Forever the bridesmaid in the late 1990s and early 2000s, 2005 was finally Ingall's year as he claimed his only Supercars Championship crown.

Having been outshone by Ambrose in the Tassie Devil's title-winning campaigns in 2003 and 2004, the #1 Pirtek Falcon looked to have the wood over Ingall's #9 Caltex machine once again in 2005.

However, what Ingall lacked in outright pace he made up for in consistency, claiming the championship at Phillip Island after winning only two races and a single round all season long.

Ingall's celebratory burnout has become an iconic image in Supercars history, the newly-crowned champion hanging outside the driver's door as he smoked up the rear tyres.

Why we picked him

For almost two decades, Ingall was part of the furniture of an era where the Supercars Championship truly boomed to become one of the most popular sports in Australia.

Never one to back down from a fight on-track, Ingall's combative nature only served to boost the amount of attention shone on the series in a time of fierce manufacturer-based rivalry.

Ingall's move to Ford coincided with off-track spats with Greg Murphy after a pit lane run-in at the Gold Coast round in 2003, and the infamous 'Shriek at the Creek' with Mark Skaife at Eastern Creek to end the year.

Whilst his aggression made him one of the sport's most polarising characters, he had the on-rack nous and record to back that up, even if he could not add to his two Bathurst wins in 1995 and 1997.

The views in this article do not necessarily express the opinions of Supercars, teams or drivers.