History and tradition make the Bathurst 1000 what it is.
Peter Brock is responsible for a lot of it, his incredible nine titles the stuff of legend.
It's only fitting, then, that his prodigy Craig Lowndes has the opportunity to create some history of his own on Sunday.
Lowndes and his Ford teammate Jamie Whincup are aiming to be come only the fourth and fifth men in history to win three successive titles at Mount Panorama.
A record-equalling Bathurst hat-trick would put them in the same company as Brock and Jim Richards (1978-80) and Brock and Larry Perkins (1982-84).
Lowndes can also move to equal fifth on the all-time Bathurst win list with four, his first title coming way back in 1996, 10 years before his second.
"It'd be a tremendous effort for the team, but we've got to get there yet," said Lowndes, never one to get ahead of himself.
"For us we're pretty confident and we're looking forward to it."
The man equally, if not more, important to Triple Eight Racing's success come Sunday will be Whincup.
At 25 he is nine years Lowndes' junior but he may well play a senior role over the weekend.
Whincup has been the team's leading driver this season, leaving Lowndes in his wake in the championship standings.
And Whincup believes he's earned the right to perform the "prestigious" driving roles this year.
"I think we all have a preference to hopefully qualify and start and finish the race," he said.
"They're the prestige jobs for the weekend. It's what every driver wants to do.
"It's completely a team decision but I've played second fiddle for the last two years and bided my time so I'm hoping that this year is my opportunity to take more of a lead role.
"But I'll just be happy to be there, to be honest, in a fantastic car and teaming up with one of the best drivers in the country.
"It doesn't bother me either way but it would be a great honour to do one of those roles."
On the three-peat, Whincup said: "We're very confident."
The other thing that has made Bathurst what it is are the loons up on the mountain, but there seems to be a bit of a change of culture going on.
With event organisers trying desperately to make the event as family-friendly as possible, the drunk and disorderly are being weeded out.
Police will, for the second year in a row, have a very strong presence at Mount Panorama this weekend and it appears that will continue for years to come.
"To those who want to come here to be anti-social, to interrupt, to be stupid ... don't bother because we will make sure that you are weeded out and we will take you and you will miss the event," NSW Police Deputy Commissioner Dave Owens warned.
"There was a lot of talk last year that we went over the top, we didn't go over the top. There was also talk that we wouldn't be back here year after year but I'm telling you we're here to stay."
More than 160 people were arrested at last year's Bathurst 1000 for offences such as supplying or possessing a prohibited drug, possessing weapons and fireworks, malicious damage, offensive behaviour, drink driving and speeding.
NSW Police Minister Tony Kelly said it was important to make the event as safe as possible to encourage families to attend.
"This is the second year of a police operation in Bathurst and we've already seen the benefits of it. We've seen families coming back to the mountain ... because they now feel safe," Mr Kelly said.
V8 Supercars events general manager Shane Howard agreed.
"We're very supportive of the police initiative here at the mountain. Last year there was a strong police element attached to the event and that's to secure this event's long-term future in regards to providing a safe environment," Howard said.
"The public have supported that. We've sold out more grandstands than ever before, campsites were sold out a week before the event started, so that says that it's working and people are confident that it's a safe environment that we're providing here."
Howard also admitted the police presence was changing the feel of the event.
"There is a change of culture here and the culture in our sport is changing as well," he said.
"In regard to our demographic, we're really split 50-50 between blue collar and white collar, we've got a 30 per cent attendance in women, we allow children under the age of 13 free admission and that in itself creates a family environment."
Meanwhile, Paul Weel is expected to be cleared of any serious injury following a heavy accident during practice at the Bathurst 1000 today.
Weel had to be extracted from his PWR Holden after a collision with Team Kiwi Racing driver Chris Pither.
Pither has walked away unscathed, while Weel is experiencing some lower back pain and has been airlifted to Nepean Hospital as a precaution.
Pither and Weel will take no further part in the weekend though, with both cars suffering extreme damage.