Triple Eight Race Engineering was founded in the United Kingdom in 1996, initially running Vauxhall's program in the British Touring Car Championship. The team expanded into Australian V8 Supercars by purchasing the Briggs Motor Sport team in September 2003, inheriting a facility in the Brisbane suburb of Bowen Hills and a staff of 35 people. Competing first as Team Betta Electrical, the squad debuted at the 2003 Sandown 500 with Paul Radisich and Max Wilson but struggled through their first full season.
The transformation arrived in 2005 when Craig Lowndes and Steve Ellery were signed. Lowndes finished second in the championship and won at Sandown alongside Yvan Muller. The following year Lowndes was joined by Jamie Whincup, who won immediately at the Clipsal 500, and the duo shared Bathurst 1000 victory in 2006. A dramatic championship finale at Phillip Island that year ended controversially in Rick Kelly's favour after a collision between Kelly and Lowndes in the final race.
The team rebranded as Team Vodafone in 2007. Whincup narrowly missed the 2007 title before winning his first championship in 2008, the same year he and Lowndes claimed the Bathurst 1000. When Ford withdrew factory support ahead of 2009, the team painted their cars in a pink pig livery referencing sponsor Hog's Breath Cafe and won fifteen of twenty-three races, with Whincup taking the championship convincingly. That success prompted the team's controversial switch to arch-rival Holden for 2010.
Racing Holden VE Commodores, Triple Eight dominated the early 2010s. Whincup won titles in 2011, 2012, and 2013; Lowndes contributed multiple Bathurst victories; and the team repeatedly locked out championship top-two positions. In 2012, Vodafone ended its sponsorship and Red Bull stepped in, giving the squad its most widely recognised identity from 2013 onwards.
Under the Red Bull banner the team continued winning. In 2016 a third car was added for Shane van Gisbergen, who claimed the championship in his debut season with the team. The team periodically split its branding to accommodate commercial agreements — Lowndes raced as Team Vortex in 2016-17 and as Autobarn Lowndes Racing in 2018 — while Whincup and van Gisbergen carried the Red Bull name.
From 2017 to 2020 Triple Eight served as the official Holden factory team, rebranded as the Red Bull Holden Racing Team, and led development of the ZB Commodore that debuted in 2018. When Holden announced the retirement of its brand at the end of 2020, the team rebranded again as Red Bull Ampol Racing, with Ampol replacing Holden as a major commercial partner.
Jamie Whincup retired after the 2021 season — his sixteenth full-time year with the team — and was replaced by Broc Feeney. Van Gisbergen departed for NASCAR with Trackhouse Racing after 2023, opening a seat filled by Will Brown in 2024. The transition to Gen3 regulations in 2023 saw the team switch from Holden Commodores to Chevrolet Camaro ZL1s following General Motors' closure of the Holden brand.
In 2026, the team switched back to Ford for the first time since 2009, completing a full circle in their manufacturer allegiances.
The Bathurst 1000 has been the centrepiece of Triple Eight's legacy. Their ten victories include partnerships across multiple eras: Lowndes and Whincup together, Whincup with Paul Dumbrell (three times), and van Gisbergen with various co-drivers. The team also entered wildcard Bathurst entries in multiple years, most notably running Broc Feeney and Russell Ingall in 2021 before Feeney graduated to the full-time seat.
Beyond their own championship cars, Triple Eight built and supplied chassis to numerous other teams including Dick Johnson Racing, Paul Morris Motorsport, Tekno Autosports, Lucas Dumbrell Motorsport, Team 18, Matt Stone Racing, and PremiAir Racing, making them the dominant technical force in the category at both competitive and commercial levels.
The team was originally co-owned by Peter Butterly, Roland Dane, Ian Harrison, and Derek Warwick. Dane took majority control over time, with Harrison retaining a minority share. In late 2015, Paul Dumbrell, Tim Miles, and Trinette Schipkie acquired a 30 percent stake, with Jamie Whincup and Jessica Dane (Roland's daughter) also buying minority interests in subsequent years. Dane stepped down as team principal in 2021 in favour of the retiring Whincup, with New Zealand-based Tony Quinn acquiring a 40 percent share. By late 2024, following Jessica Dane's sale of her shares to sponsors Earl Evans and Steven Blackmore, the ownership structure reflected the new commercial partnerships underpinning the team's continued competitiveness.