It is the 83rd time Darren Smith and Garry O’Brien have had the opportunity to hear someone tell their story. From an early age Jason was at a race track and skimped, saved and worked his way from the grassroots to the top level of Australian motorsport.
Daz and Gaz also catch up on the latest happenings on the state and club motorsport scene, covering off the recent results and upcoming events.
https://player.captivate.fm/episode/020d4568-5526-4a7b-8ac7-5fcc9a82cbe0/
Jason Bargwanna is probably the best know of what is a racing dynasty. It includes his father Harry, uncle Alf, cousin Scott, son Ben and Scott’s son Jude.
Jason commenced his racing career in the late 1980s, initially competing in Formula Vees. He made his Bathurst 1000 début while still a teenager in 1990 and won the 1992 Bathurst 1.6-litre class at age 20, with Scott sharing the driving duties.
Jason’s career started to move forward in the 1995 Australian Formula Ford Championship. He impressed in his seven-year-old Reynard, racing against younger drivers with the latest cars from Van Diemen and Swift and against drivers of the calibre of Jason Bright and Mark Webber.
He attracted the budget to update in 1996 and finished second in the championship to Van Diemen’s factory supported David Besnard. Jason also represented Australia in the EFDA Nations Cup in both 95 and 96. A move to Formula Holden resulted in second place in the 1997 Australian Drivers’ Championship.
He had a long career in the Supercars’ series that covered 25 years, the pinnacle of which was winning the 2000 Bathurst 1000 with Garth Tander in a Garry Rogers Motorsport Holden Commodore. From 2014 to 2016 he was the Supercars Championship’s Driving Standards Observer.
His days of driving were by no means over. He continued to race in New Zealand V8s. He was runner-up in the 2011/12 season behind Angus Fogg, win a round and snared podiums in all the others, driving a Tulloch Ford Falcon. The team switched to a Holden Commodore for the 2013 season and won nine out of 15 races and captured the TLX title.
Since then he has driven in TCR and Trans Am but lately his attention is directed to managing and mentoring his son Ben who is competing in the Trans Am Series. There is also his own successful courier business, although he has not ruled out getting behind the wheel in the future.
It is also worth catching up on the other entertaining 82 Grassroots Racing Podcasts. There have had many of the big names in the sport, where they discuss where it started for them and their progression through their careers.
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