"Oh, um, sorry to all the little kids out there."
Holden's Red Bull Racing juggernaut rolled on with Whincup making the perfect start to his quest to claim an unprecedented sixth touring car title by taking out race one ahead of teammate Craig Lowndes.
Veteran Lowndes turned the tables by claiming line honours in the second 39-lap event - the first twilight V8 race held - with Whincup third.
However, it appears traditional powerhouses Red Bull won't have it all their own way in 2014 following Volvo's stunning first Australian touring car appearance in 28 years.
In scenes once thought unheard of in petrol-head heaven Adelaide, the locals rose as one to cheer on a Volvo driver as McLaughlin went toe-to-toe with idol Whincup in race two.
And veteran Whincup looked to have the youngster's measure at the death, overtaking the flying Kiwi on one of the final turns only for McLaughlin to incredibly outgun the V8 great to finish second, bringing the Adelaide faithful to their feet.
"I was an idiot. I slowed down too much. I should have blocked him a bit better then we went side by side - it was good racing," McLaughlin said of his race-two final-lap stoush.
"You guys are making the Volvo jokes but hopefully they are gone now."
Volvo's arrival brought to five the number of manufacturers on a reduced 25-car grid in 2014 - something not seen since 1992 when Ford, Nissan, BMW, Holden and a Toyota were part of the field.
But it seemed like business as usual after race one when Whincup claimed line honours ahead of Lowndes and fellow Holden driver Shane van Gisbergen.
However, McLaughlin ensured the form guide was thrown out the window with his race two heroics.
The Adelaide round will be completed by a 250km race on Sunday.
Lowndes (144 points) leads the series ahead of Whincup (139), Ford's Mark Winterbottom (120) and McLaughlin (117) ahead of race three.
-AAP
