In 2002, Marcos Ambrose gave the Ford AU Falcon a round win in the last event of its largely unsuccessful era.

In both 2001 and 2002, Mark Skaife had already secured the championship title before the final round of the series, and as such the V8 Ultimate was a dead rubber on each occasion.

It was held at Eastern Creek Raceway and was won by Marcos Ambrose, who secured his first championship win in the process.

Lowndes was stranded in the middle of the track and was hit by Will Davison, sustaining steering damage which caused him to finish in thirty-first place.

Despite receiving a drive-through penalty for his role in the incident and finishing eighteenth and a protest from Lowndes' team, Kelly was crowned champion.

Having been on the calendar each year since 1971, it was the circuit's final championship event before it was demolished for a housing redevelopment.

Garth Tander again won the event but it was Whincup who sealed the championship, over Mark Winterbottom.