Legend reveals ‘stinging insult’ that led to ugly Supercars split
Updated . First published
Legendary Supercars commentator Neil Crompton has finally broken his silence nearly a year since he exited the sport he had been the voice of since the turn of the century.
And in doing so, he revealed the "stinging" line from then-Supercars chief executive James Warburton that "insulted" him the most.
Veteran Supercars commentator Neil Crompton. Getty
Crompton and co-caller Mark Skaife were ousted following the 2025 season finale in Adelaide, without being given the chance to say farewell to fans. He revealed the category originally also planned to sack popular technical guru Mark Larkham, but backflipped.
Crompton told Speedcafe there were "a whole range of things that were pretty tough to swallow", and that he would have been happy to "have a ramp to ease down" towards retirement, rather than a complete and immediate exit.
"I was told the research says you’ve got to go. It's old and tired. You're old. You're conflicted. Your language is old," he said.
“I’m sure there’s some truth in it, and I’m willing to accept those punches. But if there were deficiencies, I’d like to have had an opportunity to rectify them.
"I've got no doubt it would have been the right thing to start to build a ramp, but many sports have tribal elders working with a younger group of people.
"The one that actually did insult me was 'we need a proper caller'. I don't know what the f--- (Warburton) thought I'd been doing for 25 years.
"Even if you said that I was borderline incompetent, that one stung."
Warburton returned to the sport in April 2025, and then himself abruptly left 12 months later in April this year. He previously held the job between 2013 and 2017.
Crompton said Supercars offered for him to run its second-tier Super2 series. He has been successfully running the Toyota GR86 series since its Australian debut in 2016.
Supercars originally planned to draft in a dedicated caller from the NRL to pair with six-time Bathurst 1000 winner and 2007 championship victor Garth Tander. Instead, it opted to rotate callers in the early rounds, before settling on Richard Craill alongside Tander.
Popular Kiwi Greg Murphy was added as a third caller for the endurance races at The Bend and Bathurst, which Crompton and Skaife had previously been resistant to.
Garth Tander has been a popular addition to the Supercars commentary box. Getty
Crompton said he declined the offer of a farewell at the Bathurst 1000 earlier this month.
"They wanted to do a parade like I was dead," he said.
“I already knew I was shot by the time we got to Adelaide. I took the headset off, I thanked the audience and the beautiful crew, some of which I’d worked with for decades.
“I don’t want to be given a forced farewell. I’d rather have just walked out at the end of last year than sit in the back of a windswept ute on a Sunday morning with half the people throwing stuff at you.”
Crompton was crucial in Toyota's addition to the series with the Walkinshaw and Brad Jones Racing teams. He has since taken up a consulting role with the former, and still attends every race meeting.
The Supercars season continues at the Gold Coast 500 this weekend – the first meeting of the finals series.
