Although Jimmy and Ross Stone only opened the doors to Stone Brothers Racing in 1998, their own involvement in professional motor racing dates back to the 1960s.
The New Zealand brothers were always around cars and racing. Older brother Jimmy worked with New Zealand’s most famous racing identity, Bruce McLaren; whose name still dominates Formula 1 today. Jimmy was a key member of the McLaren Can Am sportscar operation and other projects before re-uniting with Ross as part of Dick Johnson Racing in the early 1990s.
In the 1970s Ross was a driver in Formula Ford and Formula Atlantics, before switching his attention to race car preparation where he worked with the likes of Formula 1 World Champion Alan Jones.
Jimmy and Ross were charged with the running of Dick Johnson Racing when the V8 Supercar era started in 1993. By 1994 they had won the title with John Bowe as well as a thrilling victory at Bathurst for Johnson and Bowe.
By 1998 Jimmy and Ross had gone it alone with a fresh-faced Jason Bright behind the wheel of the Pirtek Racing Falcon in 1998. Faith in that decision was paid off when Bright combined with Steven Richards for victory at Bathurst.
They moved to their current race shop in Yatala in Queensland in 1999; the addition of a second car with backing from Caltex would start to bring true rewards in 2003. Marcos Ambrose (Pirtek Racing) was the dominate driver over those three seasons, winning titles in 2003 and ’04, before finishing runner-up to teammate Russell Ingall (Caltex Racing) in 2005. This period would bring outstanding rewards for the Stone Brothers Racing organisation with championships for the drivers, the team and the Ford Motor Company.
Along the way Stone Brothers Racing introduced young star Mark Winterbottom to the series through sponsorship in Formula Ford and the V8 Supercar Development Series where he won the title. Stone Brothers Racing expanded its race engine division to supply other leading Ford teams with the renowned SBR power. This has included Triple Eight Race Engineering who has scored three-straight Bathurst victories and the 2008 driver’s title with Jamie Whincup.
One of only two operations to have backing from the Ford Motor Company in 2009, Stone Brothers Racing will enter the #4 IRWIN Racing FG Ford Falcon of Alex Davison and the #9 SP-Tools Racing FG of Shane Van Gisbergen in the V8 Supercar championship series.