The race, which was the tenth round of the 2008 V8 Supercar Championship Series, held from 9–12 October at the Mount Panorama Circuit in Bathurst, New South Wales.

Craig Lowndes and Jamie Whincup driving a Ford BF Falcon for TeamVodafone, won the race for the third year in succession, the first 'three-peat' of Bathurst 1000 wins since 1984 when it was achieved by Lowndes' mentor, Peter Brock and present day Jack Daniel's Racing team principal, Larry Perkins for the Holden Dealer Team.

Seven drivers made their debut in 2008 – Chris Pither, Dale Wood, Boris Said, Fabrizio Giovanardi, Marc Hynes, Michael Patrizi and Karl Reindler.

[1] Denyer suffered a spinal injury while competing in the NSW Monster Truck Championships at the Dapto Groundz Precinct and was sidelined for the rest of the season.

[5] A second red flag emerged in the longest third session, for the Sprint Gas Racing Commodore shared by Mark Noske and Dale Wood.

After the resumption Jamie Whincup recorded the fastest time of the day, a 2:07.5975 in the Team Vodafone Falcon, to be two hundredths quicker than Greg Murphy (Sprint Gas Racing Commodore).

[6] In the first practice session on Friday morning a major accident occurred at Sulman Park when Chris Pither struck a stationary Paul Weel.

Paul Radisich had a major accident at McPhillamy Park Corner when a stuck throttle pushed the HSV Dealer Team Commodore into the wall.

[10] Later in the day it was announced that David Reynolds would step out of his drive in the second HSV Dealer Team Commodore in order to allow Rick Kelly to start the race.

Jamie Whincup's car appeared unsettled and Jason Richards had a big moment at Reid Park, losing him two tenths of a second that he never recovered.

Delaminations were to strike the entire field throughout the day, with the cars of Will Davison, Todd Kelly and Lee Holdsworth worst affected of the front runners.

Kayne Scott was the first retirement on lap eight, the hastily repaired Team Kiwi Racing Falcon was four-five seconds behind the pace and effectively unraceable.

The first safety car occurred on lap 73, after Todd Kelly spun his Jack Daniel's Racing Commodore across the Chase dumped sandtrap debris across the most delicate corner of the circuit.

By this stage Mark Skaife had removed the lead Holden Racing Team Commodore from contention, wiping the car's nose across the Forrests Elbow wall.

Tucked in behind were Max Wilson and James Courtney ahead of Tony D'Alberto, Fabian Coulthard, Warren Luff (about to pit for his penalty), Jason Bright and Luke Youlden.

Luke Youlden completed a good team result for Ford Performance Racing in seventh ahead of Jack Perkins and Jason Bright.

Ingall limped his car home for some championship points ahead of Patrizi, while Rick Kelly and Dumbrell were classified in 20th position after the team rebuilt the throttle linkages, having lost 34 laps.

[15] The following table represents the final starting grid for the race on Sunday: ^1 - David Reynolds practiced the #16 HSV Dealer Team, before stepping aside for Rick Kelly after his car was withdrawn after a crash on Saturday.