With helmet marks still imprinted on her face and a race car with broken steering, Brooke Newson speaks in a surprisingly calm and collected manner for someone who just slammed into a wall at top speed.
"The titanium tie rod stud, which holds the car steering together, snapped causing the right wheel to fold in ... it was a soft crash, but it didn't feel very soft," she laughed.
Newson was the only female competing at the WA sprintcar championships in Carnarvon over the weekend and one of only two females competing in the sport in Western Australia.
"When you hear the engine chugging over and you flick that switch, for me I love it. It's the best feeling ever," Newson said.
Initially, her sprintcar was feared a write-off but after an inspection at the pit and some fiddly and fast repairs by her team, she's off and racing again.
An insight into why this 31-year-old from Perth has a fierce reputation on the speedway track, despite only racing sprintcars for two years.
It's the first time the WA sprintcar title has been held at the Carnarvon Speedway for 24 years.
In all, 32 sprintcar drivers from across the state trucked their toys and teams into Carnarvon for the event and a chance at winning the $20,000 cash prize.
The event is renowned for attracting speedway characters from all over the state.
Speedway racing is very much a country affair, with 21 of the 24 speedway tracks in WA located in the regions from as far as Kununurra, out to Newman and down to Esperance.
A family affair
And sprintcar racing is also very much a family affair.
Chevy Francis is a fourth-generation sprintcar racer and at only 14 years of age, he admits he's already hooked on the natural high of adrenaline.
"Once you get that taste for the accelerator, you just want to keep on it ... the adrenaline is actually addictive," he said.
He says the fast-paced sport has taught him some valuable life lessons.
"You can't just not talk to each other. It won't work like that. You've gotta talk to the driver, you've gotta talk back."
And the tiniest of teams took the prize with a well-deserved win.
After sitting in the top five all season, Tim Boujos took out the title from Michael Keen, who had held it for two years.
His only support crew in the pit is his wife Jess, who is a four-time Australian champion on two wheels.
"Without Jess I'd be lost because she does most of the stuff while we're here," Boujos said.
And the former two-wheeled champion could be one to watch next year. When asked if she'd consider sprintcar racing, Jess's response was more than enthusiastic.
"Oh, hell yeah. I'm trying to convince him [Tim] to get a 410 or go and drive something else, so I can commandeer that one," she said, gesturing towards their sprintcar.
Call for more women to join racing circuit
Carnarvon's speedway is considered one of WA's fastest, with drivers hitting around 150 kilometres per hour on the track.
Carnarvon sprint racer Jim Andreoli says the track is run entirely by volunteers.
"Everything you see out here has been done on a volunteer basis," Andreoli said.
"We buy the materials, but the catch fence was put up by members, the grandstand was put up by members, the bar was built by members' help, and the track has been resurfaced this year as well."
If you're interested in giving speedway racing a go, the Carnarvon Speedway has cars for hire to race on their track and they say they'd love to see more women behind the wheel too.
