John Bowe is poised to chalk up a significant career milestone in Gulf Western Oil Touring Car Masters competition at Sandown this weekend.
Should the veteran racer take the start of Saturday’s Trophy Race he will become the first driver in series history to make 300 race starts.
Bowe has competed in at least one round of Touring Car Masters in every year since 2008.
That saw him initially take the wheel of a Chevrolet Camaro SS before a stint racing the Ford Mustang Trans-Am affectionately known as ‘Sally’.
Since 2015, he’s switched camps and campaigned a Holden Torana and now logged 144 starts in the machine.
Bowe isn’t the only driver set for a landmark weekend with Ryan Hansford set to make his 100th TCM start in Saturday’s Trophy race.
Hansford joined the series in 2015 and has raced a four-door Holden Torana SL/R 5000 throughout – his current steed the second evolution of the car he debuted in.
Bowe and Hansford are split by just two points at the top of the TCM point score heading into the weekend, to the former’s advantage.
Also noteworthy this weekend is the return of Steve Johnson, who has been absent since the opening round of the season.
He’ll drive a Ford Mustang Trans Am previously raced by Cameron Mason.
The weekend will also see Adam Bressington in action for the injured Michael Almond aboard the #95 Whiteline Racing Chevrolet Camaro SS.
Cameron Tilley is also set to compete with his Valiant Pacer repaired following a hefty crash in Townsville.
The 21-car TCM field has four races ahead of them at Sandown this weekend, where they’ll run as part of the Shannons Motorsport Australia Championships and SpeedSeries.
Each race will be shown live, ad-break-free, and on-demand via Stan Sport. The weekend’s opening race on Saturday afternoon will also be broadcast live on the Nine Network.