Finding Your Lane: Balancing School, Racing, and Growing Up with Ella Wu-Heilman

When Ella Wu Heilman climbed onto her first PW50 motorcycle at just two years old, no one could have predicted the remarkable journey ahead. Now fifteen and speaking with the wisdom of a veteran racer, Ella shares her extraordinary thirteen-year motorsports journey that's taken her from backyard dirt tracks to competing on a Kawasaki Ninja 400.

The Pacific Northwest teenager reveals how her father's passion for dirt bikes sparked her own enduring love for racing, creating a foundation that would carry her through multiple disciplines of motorcycle competition. From early days riding in fields to her current racing schedule that spans Washington and Oregon, Ella articulates the unique progression that's shaped her identity both on and off the track.

What stands out most in this conversation is Ella's profound understanding of what makes motorsports special: "The community is so strong. You learn so much from other people and their experiences... it creates this bond with people that you can't find in everyday life." This sense of belonging drives her forward even when balancing the demands of high school, friendships, and competitive racing becomes challenging. Her thoughtful approach to managing these competing priorities demonstrates a maturity that belies her fifteen years.

Particularly fascinating is Ella's experience as often the only teenage girl competing against adult men in their 20s and 40s. Rather than being intimidated, she's embraced the challenge: "I keep up with them. There's been times where I've beaten them." This quiet confidence, coupled with her grandmother's trackside support (leading to a heartwarming story about beating another grandmother's grandson), showcases the changing landscape for women in motorsports and the intergenerational connections racing can foster.

Subscribe to hear more inspiring stories from women changing the landscape of motorsports, and follow Ella's journey on Instagram as she continues breaking barriers on two wheels. What racing memories have shaped your own journey?

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction and Sponsor Messages
• 1:35 Meet Ella: 15-Year Racing Veteran
• 3:59 From Dirt Bikes to Supermoto Racing
• 7:40 Community and Confidence Building
• 13:33 Race Day Routines
• 19:36 Racing as a Teenage Girl
• 27:50 Social Media and Building a Brand
• 32:49 Closing Thoughts and Outro

Transcript

Melinda Russell: 0:02

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Melinda Russell: 0:55

Promoting a track takes heart, and now showing appreciation can be just as easy With Send Out Cards. You can thank sponsors, volunteers, drivers and fans with personalized digital cards sent right from your phone or laptop. Add a photo, write a message and hit send. It's that simple Unlimited sends for just $10 a month. Go to sendoutcardscom forward slash 53240. That's sendoutcardscom forward slash 53240. Because gratitude builds great tracks. Hello everyone, this is Melinda Russell with the Women's Motorsports Network podcast, and my guest today is Ella Wu Heilman, and that's sweet. She just waved at all of you, so if you're listening to it, I'll just tell you she waved and said hi, she's such a sweet, sweet young girl and I'm excited to hear about her story in motorsports. But first, ella, I want to welcome you to the show and I would like you to share a little bit about yourself, your pets, what other sports you do, all those kinds of things that people want to know about you, yeah.

Ella Wu-Heilman: 2:16

I'm Ella, I'm 15. I live in the Pacific Northwest in Washington. I've been riding motorcycles for 13 years now. I've tried plenty of other sports like soccer and karate, but none of them have just called my name, unlike racing. And I have three pets right now and I just got out of school and life's been great.

Melinda Russell: 2:42

So you're out for the summer.

Ella Wu-Heilman: 2:44

Yes, I just got out two days ago actually.

Melinda Russell: 2:48

Oh wow, so you guys go a long time then.

Ella Wu-Heilman: 2:51

Yeah, we had a lot of power outage days.

Melinda Russell: 2:54

So, make those up. And then, when do you start school? After Labor Day or before?

Ella Wu-Heilman: 3:01

I start school in the middle of August.

Melinda Russell: 3:04

Oh yeah, so that was a long, a long year, wasn't it?

Ella Wu-Heilman: 3:07

Yeah, very long.

Melinda Russell: 3:09

Yeah, it's going to be a short summer, so you got to make the most of it for sure. So you're 15 years old and you've been riding motorcycles for 13 years, so you started as a little tiny girl.

Ella Wu-Heilman: 3:22

Yes, I did.

Melinda Russell: 3:23

Wow, so we'll get it. We'll get into that a little more. You have three pets. What kind of pets do you have?

Ella Wu-Heilman: 3:29

I have two cats and one dog. I'm a big cat lover, I would say, but I also do like my dogs.

Melinda Russell: 3:36

Okay, all right, and do you have any siblings?

Ella Wu-Heilman: 3:40

I don't. I am an only child.

Melinda Russell: 3:42

Okay, all right, so there's nothing wrong with that.

Ella Wu-Heilman: 3:45

Get all your mom's attention.

Melinda Russell: 3:46

Right, that's great For sure. So, ella, tell me, how did you get interested at two years old, to ride motorcycles, and now you're involved in motorsports.

Ella Wu-Heilman: 3:59

My dad had grew up in eastern Washington and around there it's all farms and all of that. So he grew up riding ATVs and dirt bikes and tractors and all that and he loved riding dirt bikes all the time and it continued with him into his adult years. And then I came along and he wanted to put that passion towards me and, you know, really set me up to know learning how to drive in the future and how learning of dirt bike or a motorcycle may help with that. And I started off, you know, riding around in like little fields on like a little PW 50 and him just learning me and then eventually going to, you know, dirt tracks and stuff like that.

Melinda Russell: 4:40

Yeah, yeah, and it just gets in your blood, doesn't it? You go to the track and then you're Dad. When are we going back to the track? I can hear you saying that to him for sure, yeah. So, ella, what's your favorite thing about being involved in motorsports?

Ella Wu-Heilman: 4:56

The community. The community is so strong. You learn so much from other people and other people's experiences and you know it's lovely finding other people that really love the same passion as you and it just creates this. You know strong bond with people that you can't find you know in everyday life like I have friends in school and stuff like that. But that bond is way different than the bond I have with people who race, and you know I also I'm a big adrenaline junkie, so the adrenaline that comes with it is also like you can't find that anywhere else either.

Melinda Russell: 5:33

No, that's true, and you know I often ask kids how their classmates or friends you know when they're off doing something else on the weekend and you're like no, I can't, I'm racing. They don't get it, but but it's such, if you're passionate about racing, you're not going to miss racing to go to the movie. I'm sorry, you can watch it on TV later or whatever. You can't redo the race, and so that's. That's something that I think a lot of people who are not involved in mother sports don't understand about all of us that are, because we are serious about not missing out on whatever it might be that we can watch or be a part of for sure.

Ella Wu-Heilman: 6:13

Yeah.

Melinda Russell: 6:14

So tell me, what do you race? How you know? What did you get started? You got started on little 50 CC, you said so. Where have you gone from there?

Ella Wu-Heilman: 6:23

Well, I, the biggest bike I race right now is a kawasaki ninja 400, which is way bigger than a 50 oh yeah but I've gone from, you know, in the beginning to rate, only racing dirt.

Ella Wu-Heilman: 6:38

I hadn't touched a street bike or anything like that. So in my dirt days I was racing 125s and little 85s and then COVID hit and every track in America shut down, so pretty much yeah, very limited. So I only rode like little trails and then that was it. And then my dad had brought up you know, supermoto and riding on tracks because he had gone to a couple of track days with bigger bikes like that and he wanted to get me involved in that because I hadn't touched a bike at all during COVID and he wanted to regain confidence and start riding again. So I picked up a YCF 125 and that got shipped and me and my dad built it up and then I soon got comfortable on that bike and then started on a Honda 150. And that's what I race in supermoto. And now I'm involved with Wimra. So now I'm racing a Kawasaki Ninja 400.

Melinda Russell: 7:39

Wow, you went from a 150 to a 400. Yeah, that's a big, that's a big jump. Um, what was the hardest thing for you to overcome when you jumped to the 400?

Ella Wu-Heilman: 7:51

I was really hard on myself. You know, I didn't think I was gonna get it or I wasn't gonna use that bike to a full potential right away, because I was so used to a 150 and growing up in those classes and still being from an amateur class, going up to a novice class and then advanced class, and I just thought I wasn't capable of doing it. And you know, being out there with the older people on this way bigger bike because I was out with older people on the 150 but the bigger bikes is just so different well, they're heavier for one thing, yeah, and you don't look like a very big girl, so it probably outweighs you by several hundred pounds yes, it does.

Ella Wu-Heilman: 8:39

yeah, and I just thought, you know I had to gain this confidence to being on it, just sitting on it, and I've only been on it a couple of times. You know school's held me back a little bit, but I just have to keep telling myself you know I'm going to get there. I haven't been on it a lot of times but it's. It will come to me like it came, like how my 150 did so that's all I can tell myself yeah, and it's just gaining confidence and seat time and it'll all get there.

Melinda Russell: 9:09

For sure is. Is motorcycle racing something that you think you want to do for a long time?

Ella Wu-Heilman: 9:16

you for sure. I don't think I'll ever let it go. I think it will always be there with me.

Melinda Russell: 9:20

I figured, figured as much because you're you. Just your smile is from ear to ear when you talk about it, for sure. So do you work on the bike or does somebody else work on it, or does it really need much work in between the races?

Ella Wu-Heilman: 9:38

My dad has definitely restored a couple of bikes other than our race bikes, so he's got some knowledge in that. But I think some of our race prep he's definitely Wimra is very like stingy on what you need to have on the bike and what you can't have on the bike. So he's read the list of things top to bottom and made sure you know I have what I need to have. So he's worked on that. And then some other big, big projects. We take it to Two Wheel Dino Works, which is a shop out in Washington, but other than that all of our bikes stay in our little little garage and you know, have some time to work on it. My dad teaches me some things and I'm able to learn. You know what goes on in the bike, not just you know riding it, but you know knowing what I need to do.

Melinda Russell: 10:31

Yeah, how it works, how it makes, how it makes everything go for sure. Yeah, so you go to school, you um.

Ella Wu-Heilman: 10:41

are you involved in any other activities at school, Mm hmm, you, are you involved in any other activities at school? Um I, this was only my freshman year that I finished, so I was mainly focused on testing the waters.

Melinda Russell: 10:57

You know school and getting everything figured out. Yeah, and that's a big deal to get into high school, isn't it?

Melinda Russell: 11:00

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, there's a. It's a. It's a big change from being the eighth grader. That's like you're the oldest ones and then you get to high school and now you're the youngest ones and then you know, kids grow a lot in those four years. So there's a lot of age difference between. So you know and you're busy, you have friends and you do things. How do you take care of Ella? How do you make sure that Ella sleeps good, eats good?

Ella Wu-Heilman: 11:33

gets her homework done, does all the things that she needs to do. I really put my school work first. I think Sometimes I miss. I do miss out on races that I really want to go to, like last week. To Like last week I had my finals all going on and I did have to miss a big race and I had to. My dad did have to text people.

Ella Wu-Heilman: 11:54

You know I won't be showing up for, you know, the third time in a row because school had just put so much on me and so many tests and so many big projects, and I think for me school is a big deal and I want to achieve good grades for college and all of that. So I do make sure my homework is done and out of the way and I'm prepared for stuff and I do bring, when I have the chance, homework to the track or track days, and I do that after I'm done racing. So there's not really any me time. Sometimes I'll race three weekends in a row and it's just so much going on. And then I also try to put friends there also because I know those are my big supporters as well and so I try to find time for them as well. But you know, during I think breaks, when I have spring break or winter break, I really try to put myself first. You know, take a day to relax. So right now I've been silent and relaxing.

Melinda Russell: 12:56

Good, good, you need that. Everybody needs some downtime, for sure. So everybody has bad days at the track. That's a given. Everybody I talk to, they all say, yep, that's true. So when you have a bad day at the track, whether it be something you did or somebody else did, or the bike's not running right, how do you handle that? Do you throw things? Do you go to the hauler and you cry? How do you handle that?

Ella Wu-Heilman: 13:22

There's been some times where you 100 degrees out, I'm over it, lock myself in the trailer, lay down with the bikes in the trailer and you know, cry it out sometimes I go to my parents, you know, we talk it out and we say, hey, maybe this is a sign you do need a break and let's just take that off, and yeah. So we cancel some races and I, just I sit there and I reflect on what what is really happening.

Ella Wu-Heilman: 13:49

We're a family that's big on, you know. Let's find out what's making you feel this way. So I think that's a big part. When it comes to me being frustrated, I do get frustrated very easily, I think, and I've been very aware of it, and I've been trying to, you know, really be more aware of it.

Ella Wu-Heilman: 14:10

I tell myself you know, oh, I'm aware of my emotions, but I'm definitely trying to put more effort into that because it shows how it affects my racing and people around me. So that's a big thing. So I'm trying not to lock myself in the trailer anymore. I'm trying to take it all out on the track and talk about it. So that's what I do.

Melinda Russell: 14:33

You know, racing teaches so many things that are what I call life lessons. I talked to a lot of young girls and I talked to a lot of older women too, and they say the same thing. You know, I had a lady, she was in her forties and she said until I started racing, I didn't deal with adversity very well. I was an introvert. Now I'm an extrovert. All these different things. You know that racing has helped her overcome some challenges, things you know that racing has helped her overcome some challenges. Whereas she said if I wasn't involved in racing, I don't know where I'd be. I'm going to ask you I know you're 15. So you know you've got a lot of years ahead of you yet. But has there been anything that you can say? If it wasn't for racing, this would not have happened or I wouldn't be where I am today.

Ella Wu-Heilman: 15:24

Yeah, if it wasn't for racing, you know, I definitely wouldn't be as active as I am today. I I don't think I would have met as many people as I do and, you know, gained communication skills along the way because, as you know, a little kid I was extroverted and I did do stuff outside of school. But you know, racing, you know, really helped me be more extroverted and want to talk to more people and you know, it was a great conversation starter, just racing, you know. Yeah, I think it's great on all aspects, you know, taking people out of their shell and I love meeting new people, I love gaining new friends, you know, who seem introverted and making them extroverted Like that's such a fun thing to do.

Melinda Russell: 16:12

Yeah, for sure. That's so true. So let's, let's pretend today's race day. You get up, you probably have breakfast or whatever, but do you do you have a routine, do you like? I always have McDonald's for breakfast on the way to the track. I always wear the same socks when I race, whatever it might be. Do you have anything like that going on when it's race day at your house?

Ella Wu-Heilman: 16:38

I'm waking up by my dad every single time I forget to set an alarm. You know I never know when we're leaving. Yeah, he wakes me up, I turn the music on and I pack you know what I forgot to pack the night before and I help my mom get all the food into the RV and you know, help. A big thing I do is help back up the trailer, because some people have big problems with that. I'm great to have it done first try. So I really focus on that when getting ready so we can just leave and I sit in the back of the trailer and I put my headphones on and I kind of just zone out. You know, listen to what I need to listen to and maybe stop at Starbucks on the way. Starbucks is essential, yeah, and then we show up to the track, sign in and that's it. And then I walk in and that's. That's the rest. That's how it starts.

Melinda Russell: 17:38

Yeah, is there any kind of track food that's your favorite, Like when you go to the track you're like, oh, I always have to have this have this.

Ella Wu-Heilman: 17:45

I a big thing. That's a big thing for me. Well, it's not eating on during lunches. You know, I don't eat during racing at all. I don't know what it is for me. It's not like a big set routine, it's more of like oh, I just don't want to eat, but I don't eat lunches at all. I need to be finished with all of my races before I want to eat. I don't know what it is. I think it's just, you know, all the adrenaline that's going and it just doesn't feel like eating. Or you know, I've had things where I do eat lunch and then I like end up like feeling like I'm going to throw up, like it's time, so I don't eat until I'm done with races.

Melinda Russell: 18:33

But you know, what that's the norm. Yeah, most girls I talk to that race. They might have a little snack or something, but they do not eat any kind of a meal or a sandwich or anything until they're done. So you're right there among the normal, for sure. Yeah, that's, that's pretty typical. So, um, if a mom came up to you and, and maybe your mom or dad at the track and her little girl had been watching you and and they said, you know, my little girl wants to be like Ella, how do you get started racing? What would you say to them and would you encourage them to get involved in motorsports?

Ella Wu-Heilman: 19:11

I tell everybody, no matter the gender, no matter the age, you know, always get into motorsports. There are risk factors, but those factors don't really matter when you're out there and you know you're having fun and doing what you love to do, like this is what some people spend their lives on, because this is truly what they love to do. And I think getting started is, you know, learning how to ride a bike and then getting that little 50 or a stasic or anything, and going out to a field or going out on some trails, and you know just learning how the bike works and not committing a hundred percent until you try it, and you know you're going to fall in love with the sport deeper and deeper as you go.

Melinda Russell: 20:02

Yeah, exactly, and and there's.

Melinda Russell: 20:05

you know, nowadays we're so lucky we can Google just about anything and you can Google, you know closest place to practice motorcycle, you know all those things, and so I always encourage people that you know. If you don't know where to go, google. And then go to the track on track day and talk to people. Yeah, everybody, everybody's going to encourage you to join and be part of it. So that's something that I I always like to tell people to do, to do as well. Now, are there a lot of girls that race motorcycles against you, or are you pretty much the minority?

Ella Wu-Heilman: 20:39

um, I think in supermoto I've met a handful of girls I would say five other girls that I've raced Supermoto. I've met a handful of girls I would say five other girls that I've raced Supermoto for five-ish years but you know, going into the bigger bikes I've definitely met a bunch of other women, but you know girls my age. It's just hard finding girls my age that are doing what I do.

Melinda Russell: 21:01

And.

Ella Wu-Heilman: 21:03

I think that really limits to me who I talk to, because I'm more comfortable, you know, talking to women or talking to girls my age, because this is what I grew up in school doing and it's definitely put me out of my comfort zone. To talk to older men or talk to dudes, I'm racing, and that's I would say I'm a minority. Or talk to dudes, I'm racing, I would say I'm a minority, definitely when it comes to racing. I've been racing men in their 40s and early 20s and stuff like that. It's definitely a difference in everything.

Melinda Russell: 21:38

Do they make you feel welcome, though, or do they just not pay any attention to you? Or do they race you differently because you're a girl?

Ella Wu-Heilman: 21:47

There's definitely some different vibes they give off when they talk to me or when they race to me. They're not talking like how they do to their buddies or anything like that, but I would say they race me, they race me the same. They don't guess that because I'm a girl, I'm going to, you know, be all over the track and race't guess that because I'm a girl, I'm gonna, you know, be all over the track and race differently. No, I, I keep up with them. There's been times where I've beaten them and stuff like that. So they don't. I know they're giving their 100% on the track because they want that medal or they want that pole, and I think you know I've tried to put that 100% on the track with them to show them. You know, this is what I can do too, and I can do your same hundred percent.

Melinda Russell: 22:31

Yeah, that's good. I think things have gotten better as far as a woman being treated more equal at the track, because there's so many more out there now that are doing it, and even if you're, even if there's still only maybe four or five of you racing against 20 guys um, there used to be none or one, and so now they're accepting it way more than they used to for sure.

Melinda Russell: 22:56

So, do you have somebody that you look up to as far as, somebody that races motorcycles or that you follow, that you're kind of like, you know, or maybe somebody you've met that you really like, that you follow.

Ella Wu-Heilman: 23:10

Not at the moment. I definitely do follow a bunch of people on Instagram and girls like that and I follow, you know, their track journeys, or you know first time on the track journeys and I think you know watching all these different women not just one person, but all these different women you know shows me, you know.

Ella Wu-Heilman: 23:28

I'm not alone in this whole like process and I think, just looking up to every single woman that is out there you know, trying their hardest on this sport that all of us love, you know that's who I look up to, not just one single person that I like to idolize, it's just like everybody. I love everybody that like shows their journey online as well.

Melinda Russell: 23:54

That's cool. Do you know who Kayla Yakov is?

Melinda Russell: 23:58

I do I figured you did. You know, it's funny, I started I started this in 2017 and I believe it was 2018 when I first started doing some podcasting type things, interviews, and I'm pretty sure that's the year that I interviewed her. She was little, she was young and she was killing it on her motorcycle, and so I've stayed, stayed in touch and followed her. You know, she was young and she was killing it on her motorcycle, and so I've stayed in touch and followed her, you know, ever since.

Ella Wu-Heilman: 24:33

And she's just amazing for sure, but I figured you'd know who that was.

Melinda Russell: 24:35

Yeah, yeah, has anybody given you any advice as far as how to handle people or how to drive your bike?

Ella Wu-Heilman: 24:47

Anything at all that has really kind of stuck with you, mainly the stuff my dad has told me and my mom has told me. And there is this one guy who has coached me from you know, just starting off. His name is Todd, he does race with Wimra and you know races with Northwest Minamoto and he's he's a good person you know to talk to and to follow and he's definitely told me a bunch of stuff and I've learned a bunch of stuff from him, you know, on the track and off the track as well yeah, that's good you know, um, it's.

Melinda Russell: 25:24

It's good that you listen to your parents, but you know some kids don't listen to their parents, and so it's always nice to not only hear it from your parents, though, but from somebody else, to reinforce you know some things, so that you know you can be the best you can be and learn as much as you can. So have a favorite race memory. It could be good or bad, it could be when, hopefully, you never flipped your bike or had a wreck, but it could be that or it could be you almost want to race or you want to race. What would be your best favorite memory?

Ella Wu-Heilman: 26:01

I think it was definitely a funny one. I think think I was racing. It was a small race. I was racing against two other people and my grandma was there and she was on the side of the race line on the straightaway and I had just passed this guy coming out of, you know, the second to last corner and I passed him on the straight and I looked back and my grandma was right there and he was right there and I had just beaten him, being like maybe half a second, a second, and my grandma started cheering and this other lady that was right next to her and she's like that's my granddaughter and that's my granddaughter that just won, and the lady that was right next to her, she goes and that's my grandson she just beat.

Melinda Russell: 26:49

So so funny. So that is great. That is so funny, oh my gosh. But you know what? I bet they became friends because they both had a common interest in that race. That's too cute. I love that. I love that your grandma was there and saw that.

Melinda Russell: 27:11

So fun for sure, fun for sure. So, um, what about social media? I know that that's a big part of you know everybody's talking about. You gotta have a brand or create your brand. You gotta be on social media, all these things. You're at the age where social media is where it's at for sure. Yeah, how do you use it? And then how can we follow you? And what's the best place to like, keep track of your racing and follow your career?

Ella Wu-Heilman: 27:38

Yeah, so I post a lot of stuff on Instagram. I'm definitely trying to post more. I'm really stingy about it. I post a bunch of photos that photographers are taking on the track and posting what a day at the track looks like, and videos my mom takes or my dad takes and stuff like that, or, you know, parts that I get from sponsors and the other people I'm really connected with on there, and I think that's where you know I put everything out on. I don't have a lot of followers on it right now, but I'm definitely going to gain it up more and more and definitely I think I need to post more to do that.

Melinda Russell: 28:19

So, yeah, yeah, you probably, you know, you probably have to ramp that up. That one works with the other, you know. But it's also, it's one of those things that in due time it will happen. As you, as you go to more races, as you are seen more and you're on podcasts and all those kinds of things, people start to know your name and then they start to follow, and it's just kind of a continuous snowball in a way that it keeps growing.

Melinda Russell: 28:46

So yeah, I encourage you to do that. That's a great way to you know, get your name out there and also, you know, the thing about it is they want to know more than just about your racing. Yeah, and so when you said, you know, show them what a day's like at the track, a lot of people have never been to watch a motorcycle race, and so if you post like you know, here we are driving into mid Ohio here you know, driving into mid ohio here.

Melinda Russell: 29:18

You know I'm going to be racing such and such today. You know the the top runners in this race today will be joe schmoe and whoever it would be. You know they want to. They want to know those kinds of things too, other than just watching you race around the track.

Melinda Russell: 29:31

And there's two gals that, um, they't race motorcycles but they're very good at the social media part, if you want to follow them. One is Taylor Kuhl. It's K-U-E-H-L. She moved from Arizona to Iowa to race cars by herself when she was like 18, 19 years old Whoa, amazing young woman and is really good at social media. And then the other one is Kylie Glick, and she races, you know, like a street stock or some kind of a car like that, but she's a great young gal and she's really good too at, you know, the social media.

Melinda Russell: 30:10

It's. It would be good to follow just to kind of see what they do, because they've really done a good job of being very positive and yet promoting not only just their racing but themselves and who they are, and that's what people want to know. They want to know who is Ella, you know she loves she loves pepperoni pizza and she hates asparagus. I I mean seriously. It sounds funny, but that is what people. They want to know who you are, because once they know more about you, then they want to follow and support you.

Melinda Russell: 30:45

So, you know, that's something that a lot, of, a lot of people on social media forget. They think their brand is all about their bike or their car, or, and it's not. They think their brand is all about their bike or their car, or, and it's not. It's your brand, is who you are. Yeah, so that's that's a good thing to to do and remember for sure. Is there anything that I haven't asked you about that we should have talked about? I think that covered basically everything. You know, yeah, we, we, I try to cover a lot in a short time, to, uh, you know to, for you to be able to tell your story for sure. When will you race again, do you know?

Ella Wu-Heilman: 31:25

um, I think I have a race in a couple weeks, something two weeks or something like that three weeks.

Melinda Russell: 31:30

So and do you race mostly in Washington or do you travel?

Ella Wu-Heilman: 31:35

I think the farthest I've gone so far is Oregon which is, you know, a sister, sister state, you know, trying to be more but yeah.

Melinda Russell: 31:47

So where do you normally go to race? Do you have a track that's like your home track?

Ella Wu-Heilman: 31:53

I love going out to Tri-Cities in Washington or McMinnville in Oregon.

Melinda Russell: 31:59

Okay.

Ella Wu-Heilman: 32:00

Shelton, washington. Those are great places where they have tracks out there as well, mainly the middle of nowhere. That's where the best ones are.

Melinda Russell: 32:10

They are. See, I live in Michigan and we have a lot of little tracks that are really out in the country.

Ella Wu-Heilman: 32:16

Yeah.

Melinda Russell: 32:16

And they're the best. They really are the best. Yeah for sure. Well, ella, thank you for being on with me today. This has been a great conversation. Like I said, if there's anything I have missed, be sure to you know, say hey, yeah we need to say this, Otherwise I think I'm good.

Ella Wu-Heilman: 32:36

How about you? Yeah, thank you for having me. That was a really good conversation.

Melinda Russell: 32:39

That was fun. Okay, well, you hang on. I'm going to stop the recording and then I'll talk to you when it's over. Just a second.

Ella Wu-Heilman: 32:46

Okay.

Melinda Russell: 32:49

That's it for this episode of the Women's Motorsports Network podcast. We hope you've been inspired by the stories I shared today and feel more connected to the amazing community of women in motorsports. Remember, whether you're behind the wheel in the pits or cheering from the stands, your story matters and together we're driving change and celebrating every milestone. If you enjoyed today's episode, be sure to subscribe, leave us a review and share it with someone who loves motorsports as much as you do, and don't forget to follow us on Facebook and Instagram for updates, behind-the-scenes content and more incredible stories. So until next time, stay inspired, stay connected and keep racing through life. This is the Women's Motorsports Network podcast, where every woman's story is worth celebrating.