Maddy Brook: Fat Duck Racing And The Need To Feel It

Welcome And Maddie’s Story

Melinda Russell 0:01

Hello everyone. This is Melinda Russell with the Women's Motorsports Network podcast. And my guest today is Maddie Brooke. And Maddie, I want to welcome you to the show. You've got a beautiful smile for those that are watching on uh YouTube or our video. And I want to um tell you how happy I am that we are able to connect. And would you share a little bit about yourself?

SPEAKER_00 0:27

Yeah, hi, I'm very excited to be here. My name's Maddie. Um, I'm from Sydney, Australia, so western part of Sydney. Um, I'm 17, so I've just started driving by myself. Um, I have two dogs. I have a Kelpie and I have a Pubcross Cavalier. Um, I also have a brother, he's 13 months younger than me. Um and yeah, I left school in the end of year 10. So I'm now pursuing a career in zookeeping, uh, which is very fun. I work with cheetahs, cloud leopards, everything cats I really enjoy. Um yeah, that's a bit about me.

Melinda Russell 1:15

That's very cool. Now, where do you work as the uh zookeeping?

SPEAKER_00 1:20

Um, as a zookeeper, I work at the Wildcat Conservation Center um in Wilberforce. It's a private park, so you have to book um tours and experiences. Uh, but it's very fun and it's a very good job to have because it's very um you have to hang out with animals all day, which is really fun and nice.

Melinda Russell 1:39

Yeah, especially when you're young and 17. What could be better, right? I know, yeah. Yeah, that's very, very cool. Excuse me. So do you have any hobbies or anything that you do besides we get into your before we get into your racing store? Is there anything else you like to do?

SPEAKER_00 2:00

Um I do, I did used to do a bit of dancing before I started racing. Um I would do that like four days a week. Um, and then I would do a dance competition on the weekend. I did that since I was very young. Um, but I stopped that to start racing, so I had my weekends. Um I I like going to the gym. That's really good. Hopefully my racing.

Melinda Russell 2:27

Um so how did you get started racing?

SPEAKER_00 2:32

Racing. So originally my brother, so my brother started racing before me. He started in motocross, um, like mini bikes and everything. Um, and I was just sort of there. I was just sort of hanging around. Mum and dad were there, so I was there watching. Um, and then my dad was a pit crew member for uh one of the 410 sprint cars at Parramatta

Family Roots In Speedway

SPEAKER_00 3:00

Speedway. Um, and that was Warren Ferguson he pitted for. Um he we so we ended up being at the Speedway because Dad was there. So we would sit on the hill while Dad was in the pits helping. Um, and then after the race meet, we'd go down the pits and hang out for a bit, see everyone, see the cars, sit in the cars. Um, so that was when we were probably about five up until now. Like we still work on his car. So yeah, that's that's how we sort of got into speedway racing, his dad working on cars. Um, and then it's actually a funny story how my brother got into go-karts because he was the one that sort of influenced me. So he got into go-karts because he was walking down the pits of Parramatta Speedway one day, and he went down there and there was a marquee gazebo up with go-karts underneath it, and they were taking signatures and phone numbers for people that wanted to come and do come and try days on a go-kart, a dirt go-kart. So my brother went up to them without my mum or dad and put my dad's phone number down and his name down, and he was like five, and he was just put his name down, and um then the day before the come and try at the speedway, dad got a phone call, and they were like, Oh, are you still coming for your come and try day? And then dad said, Oh, yeah, sure. Okay. Um, but yeah, so since then we've gotten, we got one go-kart for my brother, and then I was there again, like what we were doing in motocross, and then I did a come and try one day in a dirt go-kart, which at first I wasn't sure if I liked it, and so I did my come and try, and then I think I left it for another six months, and then I started racing, and that was at Napian Speedway, Napian Motorsport Park, um, which is probably like 30 minutes from where I am, so it's not too far. Um and how old were you when you when you did that? Um, I started racing in 2021, so I would have been 13, maybe? Yeah, 13. But I started racing five years ago. Okay, which doesn't feel like too long ago, but it feels like a lifetime ago.

SPEAKER_01 5:45

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 5:46

Um, yeah, and I started racing at Napian. Um, we started in New South Wales. There's two um associations that we raced with. So we started with New South Wales Go Carting, um, which is just people in New South Wales, where we'd race at Napian and another track called Gosford. Um and then the second association that we're currently racing with is the Speedway Carding Association of Australia, which is SKAA. Um we started racing, I started racing that one in 2022.

Melinda Russell 6:27

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 6:28

So that was four years ago.

The Come-And-Try Karting Moment

Melinda Russell 6:30

Right.

SPEAKER_00 6:31

Um, and so the difference between those two is that the New South Wales carding um only does like New South Wales titles, it only has two race uh tracks for that. Whereas the SKWA has multiple tracks, like multiple tracks across Australia. Um they do national titles and they do state titles, so Queensland, Victoria, Tasmania, New South Wales. We've raced in South Australia, which is quite fun. Um, which is a very far away, 16 hours away from me. Um, yeah, so we travel by car for that, which is really fun. Yeah, we have little road trips. Um yeah, so up until then I've done, I think, four Australian titles in go-karts. My first one I got 14th out, I think 30. Um, this is in junior divisions, and then the second was in Maryborough, and I got seventh out of 20. And then we had a rain out one last year, which was very upsetting because I it was my last year in juniors, and I was like, oh, let's do it. I really want to get, I really want to win it. Um, I was in the top five, and then it rained out about two races before the feature, and I was like, no, I was so excited. Um, and then the latest one happened in April. That was in Miljura at Timmers Speedway. That was that was a really, really fun um weekend, actually. Um, I gave because we have a lot of friends in Speedway, and they're like our Speedway family, so we got to go hang out with them a lot. Um, and I got seventh out of 20 in that one in a senior class, and I was leading for like I think a lap, me and the leader were going back and forth on the corners, and then mid-race, my tires just didn't want to hook up properly, and we fell back a bit, but that's okay. Um it's it's racing. Um but yeah, so go-karts. I raced them, and I've now progressed into lightning sprint cars or leader cars. So I started them probably I so this was my first season, um, but I started in October, and I've only done four races this season in the lightning sprint car because I had to get my appendix out, so I had to have a few weeks, months off, um, which was quite upsetting. So it was my rookie season. But the first three the first three um races we were trying to find our groove like in the car, work out car, work out my driving, because it's very different to a go-kart. Um, and just me and my crew tip are just trying to work out where to put the car, what to do with it, like you know, everything. Um and then the fourth race, I finally found my right foot, um, and put the pedal to the metal a little bit more, and we got around the track faster. We finished that was a pretty big race. It was at Western Sydney Speedway, um, which is one of the

Chasing Titles Across Australia

SPEAKER_00 10:00

it's a newer one in Sydney because Parramatter isn't there anymore. Um we got ninth out of 20 cars, which was pretty good. Um we had another girl racing as well, it was Chloe Rains. She jumped in the lightning sprint, which was really good to see um more girls in this um class because speedway is a mal dominated sport.

Melinda Russell 10:23

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:24

And we love to see girls out there. Um yeah, we definitely do.

Melinda Russell 10:29

Yeah, yeah.

SPEAKER_00 10:30

And so this season, so our season runs October to March, I mean April, May. Um, so it runs through our summertime. And we're looking to get as many shows as we can get in. We want to try and do everything, but some things you can't just do one weekend now and then next weekend. Um, yeah, because we do have a small team. Um, and now with my brother racing, the light another lightning sprint as well, um, double the workload. So we're gonna have to definitely pull our load there.

Melinda Russell 11:06

But so do you kids help do you and your brother help work on the cars?

SPEAKER_00 11:12

Oh, yeah, definitely. Ever since we started racing, like dad's rule has been that if you want to race, you're gonna be working on your cars. Um we like it as well, because then we know what's what's happening, like we've with the go-karts, we've learned like what is on the go-kart, how do you take it off? If you need to take it off in a hurry at the track, you know how to do it. Um, but yeah, I also quite enjoy it because not everyone gets to work with tools every day, and I kind of like it.

Melinda Russell 11:46

Yeah, yeah, absolutely. Yeah, so um when you when you switch to the sprint car, and no, there's such a difference in those cars. What was the hardest thing for you to have to learn?

SPEAKER_00 12:00

Um, I think so. In my first race, I did have a little bit of a tip over where I went on my side, coming in a corner. Um, so I think that I was a little bit nervous for that to happen again. Um, but there was so many people telling me like it like just just put your foot down, just trust it a bit more. So I think my biggest problem with getting quicker was trusting it a bit more because it the back, the two back wheels and the lightning sprint would feel like they're gonna spin me around and flick me out, and I was always a bit nervous about that because in the go-kart you have to control it so that it's not gonna flick out. Um, but yeah, they said just just trust it, just let it sail around the corner. So, yeah, that was probably my biggest thing. Um, yeah, but yeah.

Melinda Russell 12:57

What do you love most about being involved in racing?

SPEAKER_00 13:01

Oh, there's so much. I love I love being um involved in racing. I love how when there's younger girls that are sitting up on the fence that go, oh, I wish I could do that. Um, especially because it's not a like there's not a lot of females in the sport. There is a few, like you've got Brooke Newson, she races a 410 sprint car in Australia. Um, Zoe Pierce, she's very good. She races a smidget, um, she races a micro. She was actually the 2425 Australia number one in a micro, which was pretty cool. Um, she's from Victoria, and then you've got Chloe Rains who races a compact speed card, and she also raced with the lightning sprints. Um, but I think it's pretty cool that little girls like look up to you, and other girls in the sport look up to you. Um, because you want as many girls to join the sport as you can because you need to have a good community of us in there. Yeah. Um, some other things I like about racing, I love the family that we have going. Like you've got me, um, my brother, like my family, and then you have my best friend Chloe Manif, who she's there, that's her family, and then we can join because we're really good friends, and you've just got all these other people that you race with and you become friends with, you go away

Rookie Lessons In Lightning Sprints

SPEAKER_00 14:30

with. Um, you stay at the same caravan parks, you stay at the same motels. Um, but yeah, and I love that we all whenever we go away, it's like one big group friend hangout, it's like a party with your family, yeah, exactly. It's like that, and you get to race, so it's a bonus.

Melinda Russell 14:49

Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, so what's been your most successful time on the track? And I don't necessarily mean a win, I mean like where you came off the track and felt really good about the race. Do you have a memory like that?

SPEAKER_00 15:09

Yeah, I do. My latest race that I did in the lightning sprint, um, that was probably my most I felt very happy and I felt like I improved a lot from where I had come from. Um, I so I started the race meeting, um, and I was like, oh, like I was a bit nervous because you know, I was a bit nervous about flipping, um, but you can't be nervous about it, otherwise it's gonna happen. So yeah, I went in, I went out for the race. It was the feature race at Western Sydney Speedway for the final round of the lightning sprints. Um I started out of 13th and I got to 9th. I passed a few cars, which I hadn't done a lot of passing, so I was really proud of that. And then I started me and my crew, so my dad and my crew chief, we all have this joke where you have to, when you go around the corner, you have to feel it in your bum going around the corner, you have to feel it in the seat in your bum. And so I started feeling it, and I was like, oh, this is how you get it around the corner. Like, I started working it out, um, which I was really happy about. I was like, yes, get it around the corner. Um, and I because it was out of 20 people, I thought I was gonna come like probably back of the pack because I was new, just starting out, there was a lot of people, so it was a lot at stake. Um, but I came in, mum shows me the timing, and she's like, Oh, you got nice, you got a top 10, and I was super excited about that because I was didn't get lapped, which I was super happy about because the last four like three feature aces, because I was so nervous I was getting lapped, which I was so happy I wasn't. Um yeah, and I was the one that was lapping people, so I was excited about that. Well, I'm not not excited for the other people, but I was excited that I was not the one being lapped. Um, and then yeah, it was just I felt really, really good, and I felt like I had achieved a lot and I had come like a far like from I've come so much more further than I thought I would in such a short amount of time.

Melinda Russell 17:35

Yeah, that's awesome. So, Maddie, you're what'd you say, 17 years old? Yeah, yeah, so you're 17 years old, but I know you're gonna know what I mean when I say life lessons. What are some things that you've learned by being involved in motorsport that maybe you wouldn't have learned at such a young age?

SPEAKER_00 17:58

I think composure is uh one thing that I've learned is to learn to keep my cool. Um learn to just

Mindset, Community, And Girls Racing

SPEAKER_00 18:11

when I'm out on the racetrack, if something doesn't go my way, I think I've learned just to pull it, pull it in. Don't like bang your steering wheel or get cranky with yourself because there's still if you're at the back and you get center rear, there's still probably half a race left. So if you want to make up some spots, breathe and keep cool. Um that's probably one thing I've learned. I think there'd be some other things that I've learned, maybe social media, actually. Yeah, I've learned how to tackle that a bit more. Um I don't think when I started, I didn't have like a page or anything, but I think I've learned how to use that a little bit more, which is good. And do you use it?

Melinda Russell 19:01

Is it is it your name or what's the name of your page?

SPEAKER_00 19:04

Um, my Instagram and my Facebook are both Maddie Brook94.

Melinda Russell 19:11

Okay.

SPEAKER_00 19:12

M-A-D-D-Y-B-R-Dou-O-K 94.

Melinda Russell 19:16

Yeah. Okay.

SPEAKER_00 19:18

Yeah.

Melinda Russell 19:18

Yeah, because people are gonna want to start watching, you know, to see kind of follow you, even if we live way over here and you live, you know, in Australia, it's still fun to keep track of what you're doing. And so, you know, you're ahead of me, as we talked about already. So you're gonna be racing, you know, and I'm gonna be sleeping, and then when I get up, I can see how you've done. So that's kind of fun for sure. Yeah, little wake up for you. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. So do you think motorsports is a good sport for girls to be involved in in spite of all those men around?

SPEAKER_00 19:56

I think if you have the right mindset and the right headspace to do it, then it's definitely a good spot for all girls to participate, even if you're just you know putting around at the back in a dirt go-kart or a tar go-kart. It doesn't matter where you are, it matters if you're having fun and if you're enjoying it. Um, because the main reason that we all do it is to have fun. So any girl could do it, and I encourage any girl to try it because um you don't know if you like it until you try it. So you can't say you don't like it until you go and try it.

Melinda Russell 20:36

And how it looks when you're standing on the sidelines to how it feels when you're in the car are two completely different things.

SPEAKER_00 20:44

100%, yeah. It's feel you feel it a lot more in the car. You can feel it in your body, um, yeah, with the motor and everything going on. Um, but it also it's very much an adrenal adrenaline rush. Um, you come off the track and you're like, I'm awake. You don't need any energy drinks for that, it just wakes you up straight away. Um but yeah, it's very much different to what it looks like from the sidelines.

Melinda Russell 21:14

Yeah, for sure. So, do you have sponsors that help you? Um, yeah. Yeah, would you like to share about them?

SPEAKER_00 21:23

Yeah. So I would first of all like to thank my crew chief, um, Cameron Hughes. He is a big part of helping us getting the cars ready on race day, helping us with setup, getting the cars to where they need to be, um, helping me with you know, teaching me where to put the car, how to drive it, how to put it into the corner, um, drive lines, everything, helping with my mindset. He's been a real good asset to the team, and I think that um he's just a really nice guy in general. So it's really big thanks to him. Um, massive thanks to my dad. Because we wouldn't be here without him. We wouldn't be racing without him. And he always supports us and you know helps us out when we need. And he's always there. And also mum. Mum helps us. She cooks the food for us while we're racing. So can't be um complaining about that. I'd also like to thank. So you've got Blake's Marine, online concrete cutting services, AG in Plumbing, 0414 Lawyer. You've got

Sponsors And Fat Duck Racing

SPEAKER_00 22:32

Right Lie Electrical Services. And what's the name of your race team again? Fat Duck Racing. Fat Duck.

Melinda Russell 22:44

I thought that's what you said. I love that.

SPEAKER_00 22:47

I know everyone, everyone goes, Oh, what did you just say? No, it's the other one.

Melinda Russell 22:53

Yeah. So what so what kind of a design do you have on your car? Does it have a duck on it?

SPEAKER_00 22:59

Yeah, it's got a massive duck on the wing on the top of the wing, looking like it's coming out of the wing.

Melinda Russell 23:09

Yeah. Yeah, you're gonna have to send me some pictures. I will, I will, I can see that. I have I interviewed a gal in her car. She drives a dragster, and it has Wonder Bread on it. Now, I don't know if you have Wonder Bread in Australia, but Wonder Bread is a very old brand of bread. It was probably, you know, before the United States had 50 kinds of bread, when they only had three or four, Wonder Bread was one of them, and it's got a bright color scheme. And so it's fun for me to learn about what your inspiration is for those kinds of things. So who came up with fat deck?

SPEAKER_00 23:53

So the story behind it was so in go-karts, my brother started, he was number four in go-karts. And we were looking at making um like a motorsport team or like doing something so we have a name behind us, um, because the two of us were gonna start racing. Uh, and dad's like, oh, what about Brook Motorsport or Brook Racing? Because that's our last name. And then we were like, oh no, because we want to have something a little bit, I don't know, better. And then one day dad said as a joke, well, in bingo, two fat ducks is 44, and you have a four, and you have a 44. So why don't we just be fat duck racing? And then we're like, oh, that's actually a good idea, and so for um from then on it's just stuck, and everyone knows us because we're fat ducks, fat duck racing. Um, and so yeah, we just are like, well, we might as well keep it for when we go into lightning sprints, too. Um, I love it.

Melinda Russell 24:56

I love it. And do you have t-shirts that have a fat duck on them or anything?

SPEAKER_00 25:00

Yeah, we're gonna get new t-shirts with our lightning sprints on it. Um because we have some with our um we have some with our go-karts on it, which has like a duck in a go-kart, yeah, which is pretty cool with our sponsors on the back. Um, but yeah, we will be bringing out new t-shirts next season. Okay.

Melinda Russell 25:22

Well, you'll have to let me know because I love wearing t-shirts that of girls that I've that I've interviewed. There's a there's a gal I interviewed from I believe Wisconsin, and they call her the weather girl. So she does more like announcing. And we know when the we and you guys, you know, have to quit racing when it rains, right? And so she she gets on and says, No racing tonight, and she's standing out in the pouring down rain, you know, because it's raining, or just fun stuff. And so I have one of her sweatshirts that has the the weather girl for uh their track, and so I love I love collecting some of those that are fun, you know. Um fun shirts and fun sayings and stuff on them, yeah, exactly. Yeah, so if if a mother came up to you and her daughter said, Maddie, my little girl wants to be just like you, what would you say to them as far as how should she get started? And what are some of the things

Getting Started And Final Encouragement

Melinda Russell 26:30

that you have to kind of be aware of before you start racing?

SPEAKER_00 26:35

Um, well, I would honestly be shocked and very happy that um someone has come up to me and said that. I would be over the moon. Um oh, it's gonna happen. Yeah, oh I hope I hope so, but it's very it's very um like you know kind and nice of someone to be saying that. Um I would first of all you have to oh sorry, first of all, you have to consider the costs and everything. So it's an expensive sport. Um yeah, but you'd have to be a little bit mindful of that. But if a if uh if a um parent or a child approached me in the the pits after racing, I would for sure ask, would you like to sit in my car? Um, because that's definitely probably what started me. Yeah, I was sitting in a sprint car, the one that my dad was working on. So I would definitely put someone else in my car. Come sit in here, I'll get a photo.

SPEAKER_01 27:39

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 27:40

Um, and I'd probably just, you know, tell them if you want to start, you can start in go-karts, you can do dirt go-karts, you can do tar go karts. Um, well, there's plenty of other um, you know, racing divisions that little girls can start. Like there's um, they've brought out a new midget class in the dirt go-karts, which is for kids that just aren't ready for sub juniors yet because of their age, um, which is really good because then you get all these little kids getting like littler kids getting a feel for it, so that when they get into sub juniors, they sort of know how to navigate the go-kart and the track. Um, I definitely recommend that. Um, but yeah, I'd be over the moon if someone said that to me.

Melinda Russell 28:29

Well, I bet somebody's going to, I'm sure of it for sure. So um, what have have you had any issues like when you started racing? And there are a few girls, which is good that you get, you know, you mentioned their names that race, but have you ever had any issues with the the men, the boys on the track, or are you and the other girls pretty well accepted?

SPEAKER_00 28:56

Um, I'd say that we're pretty accepted in when we're on the track. Like we don't get treated differently by officials, we don't get treated differently by the competitors or anything, most of the because most of the competitors are friends with us, um, so they know us. But no, we don't we feel I feel quite accepted in the um motorsport sort of scene. Um and I don't I haven't seen anything where girls aren't accepted as much. Um, which is yeah, really good because you want more girls to start racing. So to show that we have a good environment, um it will definitely encourage other girls to start.

Melinda Russell 29:41

Yeah. So do you have streaming like over there? Like, can you stream races going on in other parts of Australia? Like, if you want to watch, or do you watch any of the you you know USA teams? Like uh High Limit is my favorite, and because my friend is the pastor, the race. We have an organization called Racers for Christ, and she's the person for the High Limit team, and so they're they're my favorite. I watch them on Flow Racing. Do you watch anything like that?

SPEAKER_00 30:16

Yeah, I do watch. Um, I've got uh we have flow, so every Monday I usually watch the highlights from uh the weekend. Um so Monday here, I'll watch the highlights and everything that's on racing going over there. So yeah. Um over here we have to stream our racing, you can do clay per view. Um I don't know if that streams to America, I'm actually not quite sure. Um otherwise, like there's YouTube that's usually sometimes live, or when I'm racing, I like to post the link um if there's live racing so that people know that if you get it from my page that I've gotten it from the page that's um sent it out so that it's not a scam because we do have we have had um Facebook links go out in Australia of um scams, people I'm sure. Yeah, yeah, just putting in links and they're not actually racing links.

Melinda Russell 31:22

So would your um would the links for where you race the track is the one that streams it?

SPEAKER_00 31:28

Um it's not usually the track, it's usually um I know for SKAA go-kart racing, it's usually uh East Coast Motorsport Media.

Melinda Russell 31:41

Okay, so it's kind of like flow, only it's in Australia.

SPEAKER_00 31:45

It's kind of like it's it's not like flow, it's more like you press the link and then it comes up with like a little video.

SPEAKER_01 31:54

Okay, all right.

SPEAKER_00 31:56

The uh racing, but with the lightning sprints, there's a Facebook page for the lightning sprints and leader cars. Um, and our president of the club goes live on that page when we're racing and then videos the race, which is pretty cool.

Melinda Russell 32:15

Okay, I was just wondering if it there was something that I could watch, so probably your YouTube page. Yeah, yeah, YouTube. Okay, yeah, that's cool. Yeah, so Maddie, there's a lot of things you could be doing besides racing. Yeah, at your age, especially. Um, a couple of questions for you here. One, what takes you but what takes you to the racetrack on the weekends instead of hanging out with your friends? And two, what do your friends think about you racing, the ones that don't race?

SPEAKER_00 32:53

Um, well, where what takes me to the racetrack is probably like the feeling of being there and like it's a great atmosphere to be around. Um, I just really enjoy watching the racing, and um, because I've been on the track, I understand it, and I like I can see, I don't know, I like to watch it and go, oh, this person should have took this line, or that's a great line someone's taking. Um, and also all my friends are at the racetrack too, so it's like like what I said before, it's just one big hangout, usually. Um, and we all catch up, like some of us are from Victoria, or you've got Queensland, or you've got Tasmania. Um, so when there's a big event on, we all we're all at the same place, so we all get to catch up, um, which is what usually brings me to the racetrack as well. Um what my friends think about me racing, when I was in school, a lot of people thought, oh, she just wants to be a professional race car driver, that's what she wants to do as a job. Um, whereas in Australia, you can't like I'm not saying you can't, but um it's hard to race full-time and not have another like have a job. Um but I think they just sort of thought of it as a gimmick, like it wasn't really something that was serious.

Melinda Russell 34:18

Um yeah, but yeah, like you really like you really weren't passionate about it, you know.

SPEAKER_00 34:26

Yeah, I am quite passionate about it.

Melinda Russell 34:27

Um right, and so other kids, other kids who aren't involved in something maybe that they are passionate about, whether it be softball or dance or football, whatever, if they don't have a feeling like that about something, then it is hard to understand how we all feel about motorsports.

SPEAKER_00 34:47

Yeah, exactly. Because we have the same passion as someone would about playing football, like NRL, um, playing soccer, playing like doing dance, like it's the same sort of thing, it's just a different sport that not many people. I'm sorry, my husband just decided to mow the yard.

Melinda Russell 35:05

So you probably heard that go by anyway. So sorry. That's okay. I can't hear you and you're all right. Okay, good, because he doesn't know that I'm in in here recording, so he would have no idea that he's disrupting me. You're all right, okay. Yeah, so so the feelings that we have about motorsports are hard to explain to people who are not involved, is how I feel. I feel it's hard for people to understand why I would want to go sit at a racetrack and you know, especially a dirt track and get all dirty and be sweaty and whatever, instead of staying home where it's air conditioned and I could be crafting because I love to craft. I think it's hard to explain that to people, don't you?

SPEAKER_00 35:54

Yeah, it is a bit hard to explain to people because it's a different atmosphere to what you would be at a dance competition or a soccer match or something. It's very different, and it's a unique sort of atmosphere and a unique sport that not a lot of people get the opportunity to be a part of. Um, so yeah, I would definitely say it's very different to any other sort of sport.

Melinda Russell 36:20

I agree. My daughters, when they were young, um, did dance and tumbling, and we would go to competitions and all that, and even though they had a dance team that they did or whatever, I never felt as close to those parents or you know, as I do to the parents of the kids that race, it's just a different atmosphere, yeah. It is, yeah, it's completely different.

SPEAKER_00 36:51

It's really good. Um, you know, it's a really good atmosphere that is unique and it's not an everyday sort of thing that everyone experiences.

Melinda Russell 37:01

No, it's not. So, Maddie, is there anything that we haven't talked about or that I haven't asked you about that you'd like to share?

SPEAKER_00 37:11

I want to quickly share, I have to say a really massive thank you to someone else that I haven't shared with. Um, so there's two people. I have to thank Donald, Donald Stevens, for helping us out with the go-karts. He's a very big help um to us, especially when it's national title time. Um, and also I have to thank Dave Jackson, um, Curtis Jackson and Kayleen Jackson, the Jacksons, um, for coming down to the track and helping me. Um and always welcoming me into their house. Oh I forgot to mention that in my thank yous.

Melinda Russell 37:46

No, that's okay, because you know it's hard to keep, it's hard to remember everything when we're going kind of fast and talking about all kinds of things. So yeah, absolutely. Make sure that we mention everybody that you want to want to give a shout out to. So yeah.

SPEAKER_00 38:01

Um, anything else you want to share, Maddie? Um, just that if you're a girl and you're listening or you're watching, um, that if you ever want to get into a go-kart or into motorspan, you're scared that oh, there's not a lot of girls doing it. I don't know, maybe it's not a girl sport. Um, or if someone tells you it's not a girl sport, don't listen to them, just go and have fun. If you enjoy it, then you shouldn't be listening to other people and saying that they're saying it's not a girl sport because you're supposed to do what you love. And if you love racing, then go ahead, chase your dream, do it for yourself, don't do it for anyone else.

Melinda Russell 38:40

Absolutely. I love that. That's a great piece of advice for for little girls out there who, like you said, they think they can't do it because they don't see maybe they don't see very many girls doing it, and so that's all the more reason if you're a little girl to get started. Let's grow those numbers. That's it, that's what we want to do. Yeah, absolutely. Well, Maddie, I've really enjoyed talking to you today. I love your accent, it's so cute, and and you've got the best smile. So I appreciate that you took the time to be on the show with me. And um, if you tag women's motorsports network when you post things on social media, then I'm able to follow you better. So um be sure you tag me. And uh when those new duck shirts come out, let me know. I want a duck shirt. I will do, I'll make sure to message you. Okay, all right, thank you, Maddie. Thank you.