Women's Motorsports Network Podcast & Let's Talk Racing LIVE
Women's Motorsports Network Podcast shares the stories of women involved in motorsports from around the world. The first episode was in 2018 and new episodes are added each week. Feel free to suggest potential guests to Melinda at melinda@wmnnation.com.
Let's Talk Racing LIVE airs on Wednesdays at 7pm EASTERN TIME on the Women's Motorsports Network-A Media Company Facebook Page.
https://www.facebook.com/womensmotorsportsnetworkandpodcast
Melinda Russell
Women's Motorsports Network Podcast & Let's Talk Racing LIVE
What Racing Teaches You When You're 9,000 Miles From Home
At age nine, Veronica McCann received racing gear for her birthday. Now, decades later, this Perth, Western Australia native is still pursuing her passion across two continents. Nicknamed "Red Hot Ronnie" for her distinctive auburn hair, Veronica brings a refreshing perspective to dirt track racing that bridges Australian and American motorsports cultures.
From winning a track championship at Perth Motorplex at just 19 to placing third in prestigious Australian series for three consecutive years, Veronica's competitive spirit is matched only by her willingness to learn. She candidly shares what drove her to pack her bags at 21 and fly alone to America to chase racing opportunities, describing the courage required to leave her close-knit family and how this journey transformed her personally and professionally.
The conversation reveals fascinating contrasts between Australian and American dirt track racing approaches. While her home season follows a regimented schedule from October through April, Veronica's recent Tennessee racing adventure introduced her to the more spontaneous "winging it" style of American racing—deciding where to compete just days before events based on tire compounds and prize purses. This adaptability has expanded her racing toolkit in unexpected ways.
Now balancing her own dirt late model team in Australia with a professional role managing speedway operations at Perth Motorplex, Veronica embodies how racing passion evolves throughout life's seasons. Her story resonates with anyone who has stepped outside their comfort zone to pursue their dreams, proving that racing's greatest lessons sometimes happen far from home. Follow her continuing journey on Facebook at Veronica McCann/Red Hot Racing as she takes what she's learned from American dirt back to the Australian racing scene this October.
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Welcome to the Women's Motorsports Network podcast, the show that puts the spotlight on the incredible women who fuel the world of motorsports, from drivers to crew members, engineers to fans and everyone in between. We're here to celebrate the trailblazers, dreamers and doers shaping the sport we love. Each episode we share inspiring stories of females of all ages, from every corner of the motorsports universe, past, present and future. It's a journey through the seasons of life filled with heartfelt moments, laughter and a whole lot of horsepower. So, whether you're a lifelong fan, a racer yourself or simply curious about the extraordinary women behind the wheel, settle in, relax and enjoy a fun and uplifting ride with us.
Speaker 1:This is the Women's Motorsports Network podcast, connecting and celebrating women in motorsports, one story at a time. Let's hit the track. Hello everyone, this is Melinda Russell with the Women's Motorsports Network podcast, and today my guest is Veronica McCann. Hopefully I said that right, veronica, and if not, you can straighten me out in a little bit. Veronica is joining us today. I'm happy to have you on the show, so would you first start by telling us a little bit about yourself?
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely. So. My name is Veronica. I am actually from Perth in Western Australia. Right now, though, I am based out of Tennessee, because I'm over here doing a little bit of racing, some dirt track racing. My background is all dirt track, all in Australia, a little bit of overseas racing, yeah.
Speaker 1:Awesome, and did you race dirt in Australia? Is that how you ended up coming over here, or is this something new for you?
Speaker 2:no, so my, my whole background. I started racing when I was nine years old, so many many years ago now. Uh, my, all dirt track racing, so all speedway oval track. Um, I came over to the US in my my early 20s and and tried to make a bit of a swap over to asphalt racing, so moving into paved ovals, and then I went back to Australia again, continued on with dirt track racing. So that was to summarize it.
Speaker 2:It's through junior categories, then moving into a senior category, I stepped into sprint car racing and it's sprint car racing that ultimately led me over here to the US, just to to follow the path of some other guys that have done it prior to me doing it. And, yeah, I still race dirt track in Australia and it's super cold at home now so, and it's nice and warm over here. So I've got a car owner over here who reached out to me last year and, yeah, we just decided to put a little bit of a holiday together for me and a little bit of a program together, and I've just done my fifth week racing over here in the US and I'll head home shortly.
Speaker 1:Okay, I wonder. I was going to ask you how much longer were you going to get to be here? One more week? Oh, so you're almost done.
Speaker 2:Almost time to go home Almost yeah, yeah, unfortunately Now when you go back home, will it be?
Speaker 1:how soon will it be race season there? For it'll be a while yet no, so I'll get home in.
Speaker 2:I'll get home mid-september, uh, and then our season starts. Our actual racing season starts second week in october, um, but prior to that we've got a rebuild to do on. So I own my own Dirt Lake model team in Australia and we've got a little bit of work to do on that prior to the season starting new colours and wrap and rebuild of the car, which isn't a massive rebuild this off-season. And then we've got some media stuff to do a bit of a media day, a launch as a part of the series that I compete in. That's all prior to the season starting. So when I get home, it's going to be busy, busy yeah, it's that.
Speaker 1:It sounds like it's going to be busy, busy, and I always laugh because people who are not in motorsports talk about the off season and there really is never an off season. It's if you're not racing, you're doing other things. It's, it's continuous, for sure, yeah correct, tell me about? Tell me about your car. What kind of car is it? You know um how fast does it go? And you're? You're obviously racing for someone. You're racing someone else's car here and then when you go home. So tell me about both of those cars.
Speaker 2:So dirt light model racing they're, um, if, if you're not familiar with it, it's an american-based class. Uh, they run them regionally and nationally here in the us. We in australia we adapted the national rules, um, in australia, so the national rules that they use here in the US were probably about 20-odd years ago and the class is, you know, continuing to grow. It's very strong in my home state and basically that means that we can load a container with a couple of cars and ship that out to Australia and race the cars as is. So JetLight Model Racing is what it is.
Speaker 2:I run a different brand of chassis back home, so I run a rocket chassis over here in the US I'm running. This is a Team Zero car by the late Scott Blomquist, who passed away last year, unfortunately, and engine wise, the engine rules are fairly open in the in the category. So at home it's, and here it's essentially like an old school push rod carburetor setup. So you can have anything from a CT525 crate engine, which some guys do and I run back home in Australia. To you know, you can have a 410 cubic inch, 430, 450 wide bore, you can have whatever. So that's the beauty of the class when it comes down to track changes over the night. That's where the horsepower aspect kind of gets taken away. So hence why you can kind of have an open engine rule.
Speaker 1:Yeah, yeah, that's. That makes a lot of sense. It sounds like it's a pretty exciting life that you have. How did you end up, you know, getting into motorsports? Who exposed you to the world of motorsports?
Speaker 2:so we blame mom and dad for that. Um, my dad is a. He's a ex motocrosser and enduro rider. So I I don't really remember I got I was obviously went to the track when I was little, um, but I don't really remember going there. But I do remember my dad had a fantastic group of friends that he used to race with, and most of the guys there they had kids that were mine and my brother's age. So we grew up around this amazing group of people and I felt like if we weren't at a racetrack or watching some form of racing on TV with these other families, we were away camping with those families. So I feel like I had such an awesome childhood that was definitely motorsport related.
Speaker 2:I've got a brother who's three years older than me. He started racing cars. My dad was looking for something for him to get into and the usual sports sort of didn't fit the bill for him. So, um, and he kind of took a liking to racing this junior category that was based in New South Wales, in Sydney, new South Wales, which is where I'm originally from.
Speaker 2:Uh, and then at the time I actually couldn't start racing straight away because there was a, an age, a starting age limit on it. So I had to wait about a year to be able to do it. And then, as soon as I turned nine, my ninth birthday, um, my presents were, you know, helmet, gloves, race suit. So I was, I was, you know, I was in heaven and I finally got to start racing. So that is that's where I started, so just just just kind of grew up around it. I didn't really know any different. My parents certainly got me into other sports, you know, through school, and I was a ballet dancer right through my my schooling as well. So it's just that racing cars kind of was the one that I couldn't live without, was the one that I couldn't live without.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it gets in your blood. That's what we say about this sport. You can't deny that for sure. So is there a specific moment that you remember, when you first started racing, even as a little girl, that you knew this was something you were going to do for a long time?
Speaker 2:I reckon I was 13 or 14 when I probably was like, okay, I'd actually like to make a career of this. And so I reckon, 14 years old, the goal was always to come over to the US and try and race. Reckon, 14 years old, the goal was always to come over to the US and try and race. Um, how you do that as a 14 year old? Uh, the age differences between Australian uh drivers and and US dirt track drivers over here in the US they start them a fair bit younger, um, whereas you know, 14 was quite young for me to probably turn around and go yeah, I want, I want to race cars and I really want to give it a shot overseas. So, yeah, I reckon it was a 13, 14 age bracket where I just sort of went I love this, I don't want to not do it, and you know we'll figure out a way to always make it work. And then it's always very different when you hit your you know the, the years where you transition out of a junior category to a senior category and sometimes the funding from you know, mum and dad normally fund the junior career for most people. And then when you transition into a senior career and you start having to find funding yourself. And you know I was very fortunate, uh, with mum and dad.
Speaker 2:We went into sprint car racing straight from my junior career, uh, and then when I came over to the US, then that's when they decided to you know, this is back in early 2000s um, they decided to. You know that they were going to sell up because they had, um, you know, funded my, my sprint car racing, you know, modestly. So it wasn't. You know, we weren't a super hollywood team or anything like that. Um, but you know we had good equipment and some good spares and and, and that was it. But, um, yeah, when I kind of started coming to the US in the early 2000s, I guess I figured I'm going to have to try and make something of this and figure out how I can run my own deal back home in Australia. And that's what I ended up doing. I run my own team now and it's been. It's hard work, but it's very exciting now, and it's been.
Speaker 1:it's hard work but it's very exciting. Was it hard for you to find sponsors coming to the United States, where maybe you weren't known very well yet or you know? It was kind of a learning curve, I'm sure, for you to race in the United States somewhat and then to find sponsors. So how difficult was that.
Speaker 2:Very my trips in the early 2000s. I was surrounded by a small but very good group of people who assisted me to be able to get my foot in the door. Lynn St James was a massive mentor for me in in the early 2000s. Um, you know, she allowed me to stay in her apartment, uh, while I sort of chased this dream and those kind of things are priceless right, because there's a living cost that's then taken away so I really only needed to. You know, when I was back home in australia, I was working and I really only had to try and save up money for food and travel and that while I was over here.
Speaker 2:And then, you know, I just happened to be in the right place at the right time where we spoke to some people from the IRL and then that's how I got my foot in the door for Indie Lights, what was Indie Pro at the time. But as far as the searching for sponsorship side of things, I because I haven't done I essentially haven't done very much racing in the US so when I was chasing the pavement pavement deal, um, you know, I we went to a sports management company, uh at the time and that kind of they they had a. There was another sport that was having a bit of an issue, so they kind of dropped all their other categories at the time. So that was a bit of a letdown but they were fantastic, you know, with handing me my information and that. But to try and find sponsorship from the other side of the world to do something, you know, on the opposite side is just it's hard, um, it's it's very hard and and motorsports a very financial sport. It takes a lot of money to to move up. Um, so ultimately for me, uh, I ended up going back and and racing in Australia. So I did another season, uh, back home in a sprint car at the time, and then I took a few seasons out. Personally, um, you know, because it was I spent a lot of time going back and forth between America and and Western Australia and I'd raced non-stop from nine till, let's say, 23 at that stage so, and not really had a break, um, so I took some time out.
Speaker 2:When I finished up in the US and I had a couple of surgeries on my back from a back injury that I had sustained racing cars and and that was sort of my time to grow up and go. Okay, if I'm going to have the surgery on my back, I probably need to be grown up about this and actually take some time out and let myself properly recover. For if I do want to get back into it and then bad thing having time out of the sport, but the good thing was is that it lit the fire in me again to to want to go back in and give it another shot. So that's when I actually started up.
Speaker 2:My I think I had about five years out of the sport and just giving my body a fair bit of time to recoup and then also letting that at that passion sort of come back, and it came back in a big way and I started my own team and, um, you know, ultimately that's led to the opportunity to come over here and and just you know it's not fair. I'm certainly not making any money from it, um, but it's just to come out here and have it skid in on some dirt tracks and I tell you it's been so much fun. I've had an absolute ball over here.
Speaker 1:Yeah, you know. So I grew up around asphalt okay, there really were. There's only one dirt track that I can remember where I grew up, which was in West Central Illinois, and then I moved to Michigan and it's all it 99% asphalt. So that's what I'm used to. But if you're not, if you've not grown up around it, and then you get introduced to it. It's addicting as well because it's so fun to watch and you know the way they slide and the and just all the things, the way they take the corners and things. You just have to love it. And I, you know the way they slide and just all the things, the way they take the corners and things. You just have to love it.
Speaker 1:And you know I have flow racing. Well, I have a bunch of streaming, but flow racing I just there's nothing good on TV in the summer. And I'm on flow racing watching all kinds of tracks all over the country that I could never go to on a weekly, monthly basis. And yeah, I'm so, I'm so spoiled that I get to watch all that. And then I've, you know, I I come across names like Veronica McCann and different people and and I'm like, wow, that's cool, there's a young woman that's racing and and I love seeing that, um for sure. So you'll go back to Australia. You're going to fix your car now. What kind of car do you race in Australia?
Speaker 2:so the same kind, same class, um, basically, that I'm racing over here, it's just a different brand of chassis, um different engine combination as well to what I'm racing over here. So you know small differences, um, but essentially same class.
Speaker 1:Uh, and you know, if I I essentially could ship my car over here, or this car that I'm running back home and race it yeah, okay, and so tell me about your your successes and then your frustrations, because one thing we do know is that every night at the track is not a success, unfortunately, but yet there are nights that are surprisingly successful. So tell me about that part of your journey. What do you do when you have a bad night? And then tell me about some of the successes you've had.
Speaker 2:Bad night is always a learning night, unless, I don't know, unless you do something drastically wrong. You know you try. I think you know most people who you know and I'll say you get to get to my age and they've been racing for a long time. You don't do it just to make up numbers, you do it because you're competitive. So I still feel very competitive. I feel very competitive at home. Um, coming over here was was an eye-opener and I wasn't oblivious to that. Um, these guys over here get to do so many more laps than than what we get to do in Australia, so our season's quite restricted compared to over here. So you know, coming over here is like a you know arse whooping pretty much. Sorry to say that, but it's you know. They just get so many more labs and if you can't learn from the experience then you're probably not doing it right.
Speaker 2:You know, like I know that I'm going to driver than what I came over as. And I feel, you know, like I said before, I feel like I'm competitive at home, as it is across the country, so not just in my state, but across the country. I learn from the guys who are better than me all of the time at home, and then what I've learned here in the us, uh, you know I, I know I'm going to be able to use those skills and and go back home and, and you know, hopefully be a better driver. But as far as the frustrating stuff, I'm uh, I'm a bit of a I. I do dwell on things, um, because I'm competitive and it's it's incredibly frustrating if you're having multiple races in a row and then, and then you're one before you know a week's break is your bad one, because I feel like I dwell on that a whole bunch more and you can't go and rectify it right. So if you're racing back to back to back, you have enough, enough shot the next night to make up for that. And when you have the bad night on your final night before a break, that's what's tough, like I struggle with that Definitely.
Speaker 2:Yes, successes. Yeah, successes over my career. Yeah, successes over my career, like as a junior, I won series championships, track championships, titles, and that's, I guess, what helped me progress straight into the sprint car ranks. I think it was in my second season in a sprint car I won a track championship at the Perth Motorplex, which was pretty damn cool. I think I'm one of the youngest in the country to do that, which is also pretty damn cool. I think I'd won that at 19. And then we have a very prominent series in Western Australia. The sponsorship of that series changes over the years, so it was called something different when I ran it, but these days the Mannington Toyota Sprint Car Series. I ran third in that series three years in a row, which is all a nice little tip to have on your racing resume.
Speaker 2:So I've had some decent successes. Have I won a whole bunch of feature races in multiple categories? Um, you know, no, but championship wise, I feel like I've always been, you know, a half decent championship contender, um, but I'll always credit where credit's due for the guys who, who you know, can win championships and feature races. And you know, and because you can only learn from that, you can only learn from them and what they do. So I'm just I'm, you know I'm in my um, you know appreciating everything for for what it is phase of my my racing career and I'm not doing this to become a professional. I've just turned 42, so I'm not doing it to become a professional. I do it because I absolutely love it. My life has been around it since I was a baby and I really enjoy doing what I do and the fact that I've got to come overseas and do this has been pretty special and something I'll always remember.
Speaker 1:Yeah, because you know, just going to another country to get that experience and you know, even like I'm a huge NASCAR fan.
Speaker 1:So, Shane Van Giddensbergen, you know, came over and, and he, you know, I I just love hearing him talk about the things he had to learn. That are different, and he was very successful. I'm sure you know, you're aware of him. He was very successful. But when he came over here, things are so different and and yet you know he's learned so much and he's, and, and yet you know he's learned so much and he's he's progressed so much in the short time that he's been in NASCAR.
Speaker 1:And then if he went back and started racing again, you know in New Zealand or where I'm sure I thought that's where he came from, but whatever, he would have things to take back with him that those drivers have an experience, and that's what you're going to do. You've learned from the bank and are banging and bumping, you know of the American dirt car racing series. And then you'll go back home and you'll have more time under your belt, more experience and more things that you've learned. That's just going to make you that much better back there. So I bet they're not looking forward to you coming back.
Speaker 2:I think I've always said laps are. You know, I call it laps, so laps are so hard to beat. And when there are quite a few Aussies that do come over here, especially in dirt track racing, that come over here in the sprint car ranks and not so many in the late model ranks that I'm from, but you know we definitely do have, you know, one or two come over every Australian off-season. They'll come over and get laps over here whilst everyone else is at home and they've got their cars stripped down ready for, you know, their off-season servicing and prep and laps are so hard to beat. So when, yeah, yeah, I can't say it any better than that.
Speaker 1:No, that's true, and you know we call it seat time, the more seat time you have. That's really what it is, so how do? You. You know I've got so many questions. I'm so interested in all the things you're doing, so tell me first what series and where are you racing here in the States.
Speaker 2:So this is the very different thing that I'm not used to and you were just talking about Shane Van Gisbergen and the things that he had to learn so quickly and I'm telling you, it's not necessarily the things in the car. For me, a lot of it, the inside, the car part, was the most comfortable of my whole experience here in the us. It's the, everything else that goes on. So I'm so as an with our season, it's very regimented as far as I know where I'm racing at home, from October right through to April or May. Even so, my calendar is basically set, whereas over here so because I didn't follow a national series I stayed in the Tennessee and Kentucky area Over here you have your choice of, especially in the category that I'm running over here you have your choice of, especially in the category that I'm running over here, you have your choice of five to ten tracks that you can go and race at and, uh, you know, on a wednesday, a tuesday or wednesday night, here we're sitting in the shop and then we're looking at okay, so what tires do we have, what series do we want to go do what? Because different series run different tire compounds. So we're looking at that, then we're looking at just a normal, a regular dirt track show.
Speaker 2:So it wasn't a particular series that I followed. It was a a lot of winging it. I've called this this whole time I've been here. I've said we're winging it, we're winging everything, because you've just got so many choices as to where you want to go and if you want to follow a, you know for the car owner, a prize purse or um tire compounds or whatever you want to follow. You've got your choice of what you want to do, so the options are endless.
Speaker 2:And then that's a learning curve for me, because I wasn't given a schedule prior to coming out here. So I had nothing set in stone as far as I knew I was going racing and I knew I was going to be able to go racing multiple times a week. But it was very foreign for me to not have a schedule set out. You know from July through to September and me know exactly what tracks I'm going to be at, where and when. I guess you could do that. But the issue is, you know your tires that are left over and the compounds to run. Whatever series you want to run or follow, you know for that Wednesday night or Friday night or Saturday night, and so it's.
Speaker 2:It's like I said, it's been very foreign for me and that's been a learning curve, but it's actually been. It's been a whole lot of fun, because a lot of the time you don't even know what other competitors are turning up, depending on what series we were going to. We didn't know you know who was going to turn up. You roll up to a track and you know there could be 18 cars, there could be 35 cars. So yeah, it's been, it's been interesting, it's been a learning experience, but it's yeah, like I said, it's been, it's it's.
Speaker 1:I've had so much fun so how so is this where your car owner lives? Is that how why you're in the Tennessee Kentucky area? Is that why you ended up there?
Speaker 2:Okay, yes, so he's, he's. He's based out of Tennessee.
Speaker 1:Okay, all right, I figured that's why you ended up there, because there's all kinds of places you could go and race as much as you are there.
Speaker 1:I figured that must be where, the where the car was at, yeah, for sure. So, yeah, so are you a planner, veronica? It sounds to me like more you're. You're like me. I have a list, I have this. I'm a planner. I need to know where I'm going to be, when, as much as possible, and I can be flexible. But I also like to know the plan. Is that similar to you? I?
Speaker 2:like to know that there's a bit of a plan, and I get that from my mom. So my mom is very she loves to have a list written down, loves to have a plan. So, um, but I I can be very much a wing it person, it's just as, in the sense of racing cars, it's unusual to not have a have a plan. But again, that's because it wasn't, we weren't following a national touring series. So any you know, regardless of whether you were doing dirt track or asphalt racing, if you're doing a, you know a national series of some sort or a touring series, you know the dates and that's what you would stick to. But that was never the plan for, for when I came over here I just I knew that, um, tennessee, kentucky, was a they've got a, you know, hotbed of local drivers who are super competitive here, and I knew that. I that you know. That's kind of what I wanted to. To race against in this area is just to get my my feet wet in late.
Speaker 1:Model racing in the US yeah, yeah, that's so fun and and you, you understand this because you said it, but you're very fortunate that you're able to do that, because so many people can't. And yeah, you're, you know, and you're old enough to appreciate all the things that you're able to do, whereas, you know, younger kids sometimes don't understand, and then they look back when they're 30 or whatever, and say, wow, I was really lucky that I got to do that. So I'm glad that you're you're a little bit older to where you're soaking up every moment of your trip and all your experiences, not just on the racetrack, and so I think this is probably going to be the trip of a lifetime for you in many ways.
Speaker 2:Yeah, definitely, definitely, and you are so spot on. So when I did come in my early 20s, it wasn't that I wasn't appreciative. I knew what I was doing, you know, in my early 20ss, and I knew it was something very cool and it was something that helped shape my life, because that was the first time I had moved out of home, you know, first time I didn't have mum cooking me dinner, you know. So I had to find my feet, like quite early on and more in the regard of back then you didn't have the camera on your phone or you know, like little things like that. I say that to people. So if I ever whip my phone out and I quickly take a photo or quickly take a little video, it's because I didn't have that in um when I came over to do my indie stuff, um, back in the early 2000s, because that wasn't a thing. So now I try, and I always try and appreciate it.
Speaker 2:But now you know, we're always trying to take photos of people and as silly, as sometimes I might feel saying, hey, let's get a photo Like I do it, because I didn't get that when I came and did some really cool stuff with some really cool people back in my early 20s, so that just wasn't an option.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and I think nowadays it's so common for people to be like, hey, let's get a picture. That's so normal, that's normal life, you know. So I don't think anybody probably thinks anything about that, for sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:So do you help with your car setup, do you work on the car, or is that pretty much what's left to the owner?
Speaker 2:my husband. He definitely is a big part of of my program. Um, back home. He, yes, yeah, so I I work on my own stuff back in australia. Um, my husband's a big, big part of my program at home. Um, he took on so in in this class of racing dirt late model racing your shock absorbers are a primary component, um, and he took that on, so he's my shock guy. So when I came over here, he came over for the first weekend of my racing in the US and that assisted me as far as team dynamic and me learning this car owner. So me learning Josh versus bringing my husband who he already knows how I work and how I operate at a racetrack right Because he sees me from time we get up to the time we end up getting back home. So he sort of was the buffer for that first weekend just while I'm figuring out how I work as a driver with a new car owner and a new person that's essentially going to assist setting the car up with me. So what it ended up being is I worked hard with Josh on setup of this car and dirt track racing. Your setup is changing a fair bit, um, all throughout the night because you're chasing the track, so it's not the same all night.
Speaker 2:Um, and I've kind of I got thrown in the deep end a bit with this trip because I was so used to having a crew guy there and then this trip it was just myself and the car owner most of the time, and then during the night, just before the night would start, we'd have a couple of crew turn up.
Speaker 2:But you know, I really had to step up as far as what I was doing during the week, especially with the shock side of things. So the maintenance and prep of a car I'm fine with because I do that at home anyways, which I have, you know, this much understanding of. I really had to step back because I was the one who was, you know, trying to work it out with the car owner, you know, on my own. So you know, there's nothing wrong with that and it's made me grow as a driver. That's another one of the things that can only make me better. So it's just something you know. Like I said, I got thrown in the deep end and I knew that was the case coming over. But it's just, you know, when you actually have to do it, then it's a reality.
Speaker 2:Keep your head above water.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's reality for sure. Yeah, it's reality for sure. So, veronica, have you ever had an oh no moment on the track or at the track where you've like, oh no, I can't believe that just happened and then you had to fix something or something crazy happened? Do you have any fun stories, anything along those lines?
Speaker 2:well, I don't know that any oh no moment is a fun story.
Speaker 1:No probably not.
Speaker 2:I've definitely. Dirt track racing can get a bit hairy at times. So I've definitely had moments, that's for sure, and when it's crucial moments like just during my racing season in March at my home track was our Australian title Sorry, not our Australian title. It was a week after the Australian title and we had about 48 guys there racing and it was our nationals and I was running second in one of my heats and just slid, just you know, I just hit my mark the tiniest bit wrong and the car went into the wall. So there wasn't much room between where we were running on track.
Speaker 2:So in dirt track racing early in the night, you know, you can kind of race anywhere, but most of the time you'll hear people talk about how the track moves up and which means that the ledge to lean on gets closer and closer to the wall. And the ledge very early on was quite close to the wall and I was running up there and just just skipped it wrong and it sucks the car into the fence. And you know we say we knocked the right front corner out of the car, which means you know the the right front corner took most of the hit, which is your suspension components. So as soon as you, you know, went from running second to having a dnf, it did not finish and then, um, you know that just hurts you for points and we still qualified for the the main event had to go through a last chance qualifier but we still still made it through. And, yeah, definitely, you know, that's probably the most recent all-know moment that I I can think of. Over the years I've definitely had a lot of them.
Speaker 1:Yeah, the more you race, the more of those things tend to happen. That's for sure, isn't it?
Speaker 1:Yeah, it, yeah absolutely so what keeps you coming back to racing? I mean, you know you're you, you. You told us how old you are. You're in your early 40s. You could be doing a lot of different things, but you continue to focus on racing. And no, it's not your career, but you focus on it because it's your passion. What keeps you coming back? Is it the people? Is it the adrenaline? Is it what is it that that keeps you?
Speaker 2:going to the racetrack. We'll say all of the the above, but for me, I went through a period where, um, I I was racing when I came. This is when I came back from the us, actually in my early 20s, and I was racing when I came. This is when I came back from the US, actually in my early 20s, and I was racing because it's I didn't know any different and that's probably not the right reason to go racing. But then when you have that time out, you know, like I said, I had that time out. I had two surgeries on my back in that period of time and all up I had about five years out, and I think that's when things kind of get put in perspective. So when you're forced to forced or choose to have some some time away, you either are okay with it or you miss it, and I missed it.
Speaker 2:And the thing that keeps me going now is I just I feel so incredibly comfortable doing what I'm doing.
Speaker 2:Not comfortable in a race car, because you know you've got to be on the verge of uncomfortable, but um, I don't know. I'm just in a phase of my racing career where I'm just everything is just falling into place and you know, I've had some cool opportunities these last few years and I'll just keep rolling with the punches because you know, at some point my body's you know my body's pretty yeah, I've had a few injuries and obviously a decent back injury over my racing career and my body, I know, at some point I know it's probably not far away that I'm my body isn't going to want to do it anymore. So I think that's a part of what's making me enjoy it and because I'm enjoying it so much, I'm comfortable and I'm just in this weird stage of my career where everything's dandy and you know it's really cool and I'm taking it for what it is. And that's probably the biggest thing is, I'm just taking it for what it is and trying to enjoy every moment of it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's good you have to do. Do that what's been your proudest moment in in all of your career.
Speaker 2:That could be more than one yeah, I, my proudest moment, I'm gonna say, is at 21, packing my bags and flying to the US on my own. I reckon and I say that because it I grew as a person so much then, like I I think I said earlier I had, you know, I'd never been away from my parents. I love my mum and dad. You know my family just so much and I'm very close with my family.
Speaker 2:So to to pick up and leave and go the other side of the world and I at that stage I'd probably not even been away from my mum and dad for more than a week so to to pick up and leave and come to the US for three months was that was huge. And I think I just grew so much as a person, like during that period. I reckon that's. You know, I did some cool things in that period of my racing career and met some amazing people and that's because I wanted to give it a shot. And I think there's a lot of people who say that they want to do it, but not many people will actually do it. I think, you know, people will come up with whatever excuses they want that make them feel a bit better about not going for something.
Speaker 1:And yeah, I think you know, actually packing up and getting on a plane and heading over was was pretty cool yeah, and you know that takes a, that takes a lot of confidence and or, or maybe crazy, I don't know which you know yeah like, oh, it's gonna be fine. You know, I mean I've talked to, I've talked to some, some women that have moved from California to North Carolina. Well, that that's a move too, but it's not like going across the world for sure.
Speaker 2:Yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:So will you be coming back, do you think?
Speaker 2:Look, I'd love to. So we you know, myself and Josh, a car owner we've had a couple of little chats, but we're very fresh into finishing up what we've just finished up. So we're only a day into actually having some time to have a breather, because it's been a bit full on. It's been a bit, the schedule's been a bit crazy. So we'll have a chat and I'll go home and enjoy my summer of racing and if the opportunity comes up to come back again, then you know absolutely.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I hope you get to come back, because that I'd love. I'd love to meet you and come and watch a race. I just think that would be so fun.
Speaker 2:So, go ahead. No, I was going to say just to say just, I love coming over here. This place is the US in general has always just sort of felt like a home away from home for me. So it's you know, everyone that I've ever met over here has always made me feel incredibly welcome, so it's always been lovely to come over here, and it's been too long since this trip from the last one. So, yeah, I've got to make it a bit closer in time now.
Speaker 1:Right, don't wait so long to come the next time. Yep. So, veronica, tell me how we can follow you on social media. Where would I go to watch how your race season is going in Australia?
Speaker 2:Look, my primary stuff is all on Facebook. So if you search my name, veronica McCann, and you'll see Red Hot Racing on there as well. So it's Veronica McCann, red Hot Racing. That's pretty much, you know. I know social media plays such a big part in things, but I'm I'm of the age bracket where, you know, social media isn't a massive thing for me, but I love being able to share my you know, I always say my little journey. So I love being able to share my little journey. So if you have listeners or that you know follow you, that have Facebook and want to follow along on Facebook, then that's where I do most of my you know, updates and little bits and pieces.
Speaker 1:Okay, yeah, cause I'd like to keep track of what you're doing. You know it's going to be winter here, which is not necessarily a slow time for me either, because oftentimes, once the racing gets started, the drivers and the people that I want to interview are busier. So in the winter time, you know, it does slow down a little, but I still want to keep track of of you and what you're doing. And and did Red Hot Racing come from your beautiful red hair?
Speaker 2:Yeah, so I had a my nickname back home in Australia. I did not give it to myself, it was given to me. So my nickname obviously people call me Ronnie, short for Veronica. So my nickname at home is Red Hot Ronnie. And then when we were forming our sprint car team back when my family was forming the sprint car team back in my teens late teens, and I had that Red Hot Racing became the, so it was just RHR, so a lot of people at home call me RHR. And then that fit in with my nickname plus the race team. So that's how that all came about.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I figured I love your red hair. Back in the days when I used to color my hair, my husband loved when I colored it kind of an auburn red color and I finally gave up and just let it be, what it is. But yeah, but that's yeah, we both. We both love red hair and my grandmother had bright, bright red, orange hair and and my mother always wanted one of her daughters to have that color.
Speaker 2:you know, the auburn, the red and none of us got it, so no one in my family has it. I'm the odd one. I think you know I'm three generations from the last redhead in my family and it comes from my I think it's my dad's side. So and then I got this, as I've. As I've got older, the colors changed a little bit, but I got this very deep auburn red and everyone I just remember as a kid it was, it was so annoying, but everyone used to stop me if I was at the grocery shop with mom and um, you know, want to touch my hair and yeah, yeah. So it's been a thing. But now, now I, now I love it. So as a kid I used to, I used to not really like it, but yeah, now I love it.
Speaker 1:Yeah, it's well, it's beautiful, for sure. So, veronica, is there anything we haven't talked about that? I just grossly looked over miss, you know? Miss anything we haven't talked about that you would like to share, about yourself, your racing, your racing any anything at all?
Speaker 2:um, look, I think we covered, covered my racing. Um, I'm very fortunate to be able to work within the industry as well. So, um, I actually we've got a racetrack in Perth, western Australia, called the Perth Motorplex. It's a. It's a facility, motorplex, it's a facility, beautiful facility. So it's a facility that houses a drag racing strip and a speedway track and it's just, when I say world-class, I mean world-class, like, yeah, even before I started working there. So I actually only started working there last September, but I have raced there for many, many years and you know it's a fantastic venue, but now I get to work there. So now I look after, I'm learning the speedway management side of the venue and it's been very cool. I come from the corporate world, corporate sales, and I've run high-performing sales teams before, and this job that I'm now in is, hands down, probably the most rewarding job that I've had as far as you know.
Speaker 2:You get to map out a season and plan these events and for the Speedway side of the venue, we run about 30 odd events during a season and when you see them come to fruition, and especially the big ones.
Speaker 2:So I'm not sure if you're familiar with High Limit, the High Limit Sprint Car Series that's here in in the us, yeah, so you would have watched that, yes, um, so we had high limit international.
Speaker 2:So it was the first international, um, high limit rounds and we had that at the first motorplex and it was a hundred thousand to win race. So, um, that was that was the highest paying, uh, speedway race in Australia. So we pulled that off and that was almost a bit of a teary moment when the final night came around and you know all the planning that had gone into it and you know I was only a part of the planning from the September, so there was a lot more planning that went on on to me, starting at even. You know in that period of time that I had been working there, um, very, very cool job, like I said, to watch these events come to fruition, um, and see them play out pretty, pretty, damn cool. So, yes, I'm, I'm fortunate enough to be able to work within the industry as well so you're, you're racing and you're working in your passion.
Speaker 1:And yes, I've heard of the Perth Motoplex several times. I've interviewed other ladies from Australia and and so I'm very, very familiar with that. And High Limit I'm very familiar with. Not only do I watch it religiously, but my friend Lori Cutter is works for volunteers with Racers for Christ, and her husband is on the medical team that travels with them and so I get to see her and him, you know, on the TV and things back and forth when they're broadcasting. So that's kind of fun. So that's one of the. I know those drivers and that theory is way better than I do world of outlaws, I have to say because Perfect yeah for sure so.
Speaker 2:Perfect yeah.
Speaker 1:Veronica, I have really enjoyed listening to your story and, you know, hearing all the things you've been been through, done and and coming to the States. I just admire you for you know, maybe, maybe if you'd have been a little older, older than 20, you might've thought twice about it. But at 20, you think you can conquer the world and and so to come and follow your dreams is something that I think we, yeah, we need to encourage all young, young people, girls and boys, to work hard and follow your dreams.
Speaker 2:Yeah.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Yeah, absolutely.
Speaker 1:Yeah Well, thank you again for being on, and if you just hold on a second after I record, I've got a little information for you. If you just hold on a second after I record, I've got a little information for you. 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.