[citation needed] In 2018, Hughes would make his car racing debut in the Australian Formula 4 Championship driving for Team BRM.

[8] Hughes would clinch the championship at the final round at Circuit of the Americas taking two wins to cap off the season.

On 6 October 2022, it was announced that Hughes would stay with Jay Howard Driver Development and make the jump up to the USF2000 Championship full-time in 2023.

[10] At the opening round at St. Petersburg, Hughes would beat competitor Nikita Johnson to pole position by just eight hundredths of a second.

[13] Claiming five wins, four pole positions and eleven podiums, Hughes won the title at the season finale at Portland ahead of Nikita Johnson.