DESPITE an unsettled start to their 2023-24 season campaign, the Bohud Racing team and their driver Michael Stewart are really starting to hit their straps now, which was evident by the duo claiming their first podium finish for the season during last Saturday night’s second Ultimate Sprintcar Championship round at Toowoomba Speedway in Queensland.
After their original season schedule was thrown into disarray at the 11th hour of the season commencing, following the abrupt closure of their home track Eastern Creek Speedway in Sydney, the Bohud Racing team were forced, like all of their rival Sydney, NSW-based teams, to hit the road in order to keep their season alive.
Although they haven’t been able to do as much racing as they had originally planned, due to the long distances required to travel to interstate events, the Bohud Racing team have so far this season made three appearances at Toowoomba Speedway in Queensland. Their first appearance of the season was a promising one, but it ended in a car destroying crash after Stewart was caught up in another rival’s crash while sitting inside the top-five runners in the feature race.
Following their disappointing start to the season, Stewart and the team have bounced back in impressive fashion with a brand-new Triple X car, which saw Stewart narrowly miss out on a podium finish after fighting it out for the lead in the opening round of the Ultimate Sprintcar Championship to go on to finish in fourth. Determined to continue their good form at Toowoomba Speedway, the team returned on Saturday night and showed impressive speed throughout the night, and they were rewarded with a third-place finish on the podium in the feature race behind winner Lachlan McHugh and second-placed Luke Oldfield.
“For us to finish on the podium is a fantastic reward for the whole team, as our season was thrown on its head a few months ago, but we’ve managed to regroup and our now starting to hit some good form,” expressed the 28-year-old Stewart, who now sits inside the top three of the current Ultimate Sprintcar Championship point standings.
“We had a really good run on Saturday night in the feature race and as the race went on, we got faster and faster, but we just need a little more to be right up there challenging the front runners, which I feel we can achieve sooner rather than later. I can’t thank the whole Bohud Racing team enough for all of the hours in the race shop between race meetings and at the race track to provide me with one of the best race cars at the track.”
Bohud Racing team owner Scott Jones is thrilled with how the pilot of his NS # 14 ARRMA Australia / Illawarra Truck Repairs & Spares backed Triple X is performing.
“I couldn’t be happier with how Michael is performing, as he is a very talented racer who works very well within our team, so it’s a perfect combination,” he said.
“I’m not going to lie, but travelling interstate (3,000km round trip) is a lot of work for our team, and it’s the main reason we can only compete every couple of weeks, but with the results we are achieving with Michael, it certainly makes all of the extra hard work required worth it.”
The Bohud Racing team and Stewart’s next outing is going to back at Toowoomba Speedway on December 2 for the third round of the Ultimate Sprintcar Championship. Meanwhile, the team will be in action on November 25 at Dubbo’s Morris Park Speedway in central western NSW for a club race meeting with former team driver Mark Blyton, who will join the team for a one-off appearance, due to Stewart having to sit out due to a prior commitment.
If you haven’t already, be sure to grab your Bohud Racing / Michael Stewart merchandise. You can come and see us in the pits after a race meeting or you can visit our online merchandise store via www.bohudracing.com.au .
The Bohud Racing team is proudly supported by the following 2023-24 season sponsors:
• ARRMA Australia
• Illawarra Truck Repairs & Spares
• Hills Truck Sales – Wollongong
• Inland Petroleum
• Sloanebuilt
• Suttons Trucks Arncliffe
• AEI Insurance Broking Group
• KRE Race Engines
• B&B Graphics
To find out more about Bohud Racing and their racing activities, LIKE them on Facebook or FOLLOW them on Instagram by searching Bohud Racing.
Photo: Matthew Paul Photography