And while the Brisbane-based team has enjoyed success in the past, it has only once seen the top step of the podium, a statistic that drivers Craig Lowndes (Car 888) and Jamie Whincup (Car 88) are keen to re-write.

The duo finished third and second respectively last year, coming excruciatingly close to celebrating a win in TeamVodafone colours at the 3.12km circuit.

Lowndes, who won the 300km mini enduro at Queensland Raceway in 2006, said the weekend would provide an opportunity for a strong points haul at a track the team knows better than any other.

“Our form in the last couple of rounds has been good, so we’re looking forward to continuing that at Queensland Raceway,” Lowndes said.

“The circuit is more challenging than it looks when it comes to setup, but in recent years our cars have been strong there.

“Jamie and I were both on the podium last year; it’d be great to repeat that this weekend.”

Heading into the round he maintains a solid top six position, with 1051 points.

Last season’s event was a breakthrough round for Lowndes’ teammate Jamie Whincup, who recorded his first ever pole position at the Ipswich track.

He’s added a further two pole positions to his name in 2008, and said he was looking forward to backing up and taking his first win at the circuit.

“This is the team’s home track and where we base all our testing, we’ve got two very fast cars so are going into the weekend full of confidence,” Whincup said.

Jim Beam Racing’s Will Davison and Steve Johnson head into this weekend’s round expecting to turn it on for their home crowd after an outpouring of support from fellow Queenslanders in recent weeks.

Dick Johnson’s team has put the decision of Ford to cut its financial backing of Jim Beam Racing at the end of the 2008 V8 Supercar Championship behind it as it looks ahead to its home event.

Hidden Valley Raceway two weeks ago provided Davison with a solid platform to build upon leading into the team’s home round at Queensland Raceway, three top 10 finishes including fifth place in the final race gave Davison a nice haul of points after a frustrating previous round at Sandown.

“We did what we needed to do in Darwin and that was gain a big bag of points; we need to keep making the most of what we have got and keep up our consistency,” Davison said.

“Queensland Raceway is our test track and our home track and I am going into the round with a great deal of confidence having finished fourth overall for the round last year.

“A podium is definitely achievable this weekend; we know the track well and despite what some may say about Queensland Raceway it is quite a challenging track. “

Johnson is also looking forward to a home round during a hectic period of the V8 schedule, with three race meetings in six weeks.

The focus will be on qualifying for Johnson, after narrowly missing out on a top 10 spot in Darwin he hopes to qualify well to set up his weekend.

“It all starts with qualifying well and setting up well for three good solid race results over the weekend, I feel really confident with my fitness and preparation for this round and I am in a good frame of mind so I am pumped for this weekend,” Johnson said.

“We are very familiar with Queensland Raceway so I expect to be up the front this weekend.”