News
The local heroes to watch at AWC Race Tasmania
Five Tasmanian drivers will attempt to make their mark on the national stage when the Shannons SpeedSeries visits Symmons Plains for AWC Race Tasmania.
The National Trans Am Series will feature four of those drivers, Josh Webster, Lochie Dalton, Owen Kelly and Adam Garwood. John Bowe will also kick off his swansong season in Touring Car Masters, as the veteran prepares to step away from full-time racing in the category.
Webster and Garwood will both make their debuts in Trans Am with Dream Racing Australia, and the two drivers will benefit from valuable experience at the iconic circuit. Webster is a multiple championship winning driver in the Hyundai Excel Racing Series, which has also featured on the support bill for each running of Race Tasmania. In 2022, Webster ran away with the round win with four race wins from the five race program.
Garwood has seven years of Touring Car Masters experience under his belt, including victory on home soil in the 2021 edition of Race Tasmania. During his TCM career Garwood has been a regular front runner in the Whiteline Racing 1970 Chevrolet Camaro RS, taking multiple race wins and podiums. The switch to Trans Am will put Garwood in a Dodge Challenger, contrary to his teammates as all will be in Camaros, including Webster.
Dalton and Kelly will both race for Garry Rogers Motorsport, who ran the duo in the 2022 Trans Am season as the team took the title with Nathan Herne. Dalton enters his second year in the category after a maiden season in which he made steady progress. Dalton will be looking to replicate his stellar debut in which he finished third in race three of the weekend.
Kelly has raced everything from the Bathurst 1000 to multiple starts in the premier division of NASCAR. The exploits from Kelly in Trans Am however, have been mightily impressive. The Tassie local finished second in the 2022 season and has been fighting at the front in each of the category’s two visits to Symmons Plains.
In Touring Car Masters, Bowe begins his farewell tour at Symmons Plains from a category that he has dominated for almost its entire existence. Since his debut in TCM Bowe has won six titles and amassed an eye-watering 104 race wins. As one of Tasmania’s greatest driving exports, Bowe will be an outright favourite to secure victory in TCM at AWC Race Tasmania.
On top of the five local heroes who will take on the national stage, plenty of local competitors will take to the track in the Tasmanian Hyundai Excel Series and the Tassie Tin Tops.
All of the racing action can be seen live and ad-break free on Stan Sport, plus free-to-air coverage on 9GEM on Saturday, February 25 from 2-5pm.