Jarrod Hughes. Image: Richard Gresham
The 21-year-old Queenslander starred in the treacherous conditions aboard Jobe Stewart’s Camaro, during what was just his third main game race.
Hughes started ninth and rose through the pack to be placed as high as second during the opening stint, subsequently inheriting the lead when Tim Slade suffered a huge moment during a restart on lap 50.
“It was the sketchiest conditions I’ve ever raced in, but I guarantee it was the sketchiest conditions a lot of the experienced guys have ever driven in too,” Hughes reflected to Speedcafe.
“It was just crazy. Turn 10 under the first Safety Car, I almost put the thing in the fence doing 30 kays an hour. You were just a passenger a lot of those times.
“Timmy [Slade] off that restart, Jesus Christ. I thought he was in the fence hard. You’re driving in a straight line and the thing is trying to ping-pong off the walls.
“After the restart, I thought, ‘Ah, there’s some bloke up further that had an even better start. I’m not actually leading’.
“They’re like, “No, no, you’re leading the race’. ‘F***! Okay’. It was just surreal.
“The only reason I wanted to get out was because it was just so sketchy. But I was having a blast.”
Erebus’ decision not to pit either of its Camaros during the second or third Safety Car periods meant Hughes ended up leading 27 laps – pulling a gap on Kai Allen and holding a large buffer to Chaz Mostert.
That strategy also proved the team’s downfall as the car ran short on fuel while the track was still drying, forcing an early move to slick tyres that resulted in a 14th place finish.
Regardless, the point was made. A year on from the breakout co-driving performance from Stewart that thrust him into a full-time seat, Hughes laid down his own marker.
Hughes led 27 laps in Sunday’s AirTouch 500 at The Bend. Image: InSyde Media
“I already knew I could do it, I showed that last year. But this actually gives me a bit of a boost behind what I say,” he surmised.
“I could easily go to a team boss and say, ‘hey, I’m ready to go, put me in, coach’.
“But now I’ve actually got a bit of evidence to say that in probably the toughest conditions we’ve seen in a long time, I can actually turn it on.
“It’s good to actually have something to back it up rather than just say, ’yeah, I’m lit’.”
Hughes noted the sweet and sour of being able to give the Erebus team a morale boost amid a trying season, while missing out on putting a big result on the board.
The next step is doing just that at next month’s Bathurst 1000 and then seeing what 2027 brings.
Hughes believes a main game promotion would be just reward for all who have supported his career to date.
“My family has got no money, so the investment up to this point from the supporters behind me is huge and it’d be so cool to actually be able to pay them back,” he said.
“I know I’m ready to do it, they know I’m ready to do it, so if we can get that seat, that would just be a dream come true.
“I’m certainly not going to waste it, that’s for sure. So many people have put their time and money into me to get there and let off the gas pedal.
“We’re going to get there and we’re going to have a crack. We’re not going there to come outside the top 20, we’re going there to win straight off the bat.”
Erebus Motorsport is yet to confirm drivers for either of its cars next season, while uncertainty also exists over line-ups at fellow Chevrolet outfits PremiAir Racing, Matt Stone Racing and Team 18.