Winterbottom livery salutes centenary celebration

Mark Winterbottom will look to defend his Darwin victory with a new Indigenous Round livery, which pays tribute to the centenary of sponsor DEWALT.

Winterbottom, who snapped a seven-year winless drought in Darwin last year, will carry the artwork of renowned artist Chern’ee Sutton for the third successive year on his Team 18 entry.

Sutton, in collaboration with DEWALT and Stanley Black & Decker, created '100 Years of Striking Performance’ in celebration of DEWALT and Team 18.

The Kalkadoon woman witnessed her artwork on Winterbottom’s Camaro score Team 18’s first ever win in Darwin last year. She will be in attendance with the team this weekend again.

“I am incredibly honoured to have my artwork featured on Team 18's Supercar for the third consecutive year, for the Darwin Indigenous Round,” Sutton said.

"This collaboration is a meaningful way to celebrate and share Indigenous culture through a dynamic and visible platform.

“Each piece I create is a reflection of my culture and stories, seeing it speed around the track is both thrilling and humbling.

“The design I created this year also incorporating the 2024 National NAIDOC Theme 'Keep the fire Burning: Blak, Loud and Proud' through the use of the flames on Frosty’s Supercar. The flames represent the burning passion and desire of Team 18 and DEWALT to race and to win.

Winterbottom wanted to reward Sutton’s efforts with the livery, saying: “Indigenous Round is one of my favourite rounds.

"We get to unveil our great livery with DEWALT celebrating a hundred years and NAIDOC week’s theme of ‘Keep the Fire Burning’. The DEWALT Camaro looks pretty fast and pretty flash.

“My favourite part of the car is the shield, which resembles a hundred years of DEWALT strength, reliability and durability which are all the things I need as a driver to get this race car up the front.

“Last year was great to win. Any round is great to win, but when you can run a car that's got history and meaning and all the work that Chern’ee puts in, to get that car across the line first does mean a little bit more.

“She’s been great with what she's done for us the last few years and it’s very special to have her do our artwork and my job is to repay the faith and put that car up the front.”

Matt Francis, Stanley Black & Decker Brand Partnerships & Activations Manager, said: “The Darwin Indigenous round holds special significance for DEWALT this year with Mark and Team 18 securing their first victory together here last year and it would fantastic to perpetuate that again.

“DEWALT is proud to be celebrating its 100th anniversary this year, and while it is a great opportunity to celebrate the brand and our products over a century of innovation, it is also timely to recognise the partnerships of those who have supported us over this journey.

“Once again, DEWALT and Team 18 have partnered with Chern’ee Sutton to produce our Indigenous Livery on the #18 Camaro. Chern’ee has been our partner for this event since the first year in 2022 and this year her artwork has captured DEWALT’s 100 year anniversary along with many other artistic and symbolic representations.”

Winterbottom and David Reynolds are 15th and 13th, and Team 18 seventh in teams' heading to the betr Darwin Triple Crown on June 14-16. Tickets for the event are on sale now. International viewers can follow all the action on Superview.

#18 DEWALT Chevrolet Camaro artwork explained

Artist: Chern’ee Sutton

Artwork: '100 Years of Striking Performance'

The artwork '100 Years of Striking Performance' represents DEWALT and Team 18 on their journey to race and win.

At the heart of the design is a shield representing 100 years of DEWALT, with the spears symbolising their quality and striking performance.

The community symbol around it represents the people who have made DEWALT such an outstanding and quality company for the last 100 years and will continue to do so well into the future.

The fire which surrounds this community symbol represents the burning passion of DEWALT and Team 18 and this year’s NAIDOC theme, 'Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud & Proud’.

The white and yellow community symbol represents Team 18, and the travelling lines which lead from this community symbol and continue throughout the design represents the communities and regions the team travels to, large and small all-around Australia to compete.

The kangaroo and emu footprints represent Team 18 and DEWALT always moving forwards, never backwards and the human footprints represents the teams journey to race and win, while the yellow and grey dots in the background represents the many spectators who follow the action trackside and at home.